2014 NATIONAL SOLO DANCE SERIES FINAL
After her stint on the cruise ship, Jurgensen plans to attend medical school or grad school. She’s currently studying for the Medical College Admis- sion Test. “I’d like to get into pediatrics or sports medi-
cine,” she said. “I’d love to work with athletes.” Zhang, who also placed first in the gold pat- tern dance, skated to music from Cats. “It’s a very fun and technical program,” the
14-year-old from San Jose, Calif., said. “Te pro- gram’s genre was a little out of my usual comfort zone, but I loved doing it because it gave me a chance to try something new and be different, like pretending to be a mysterious cat.”
Zhang used the competition to tune up for
the Central Pacific Regional Championships in the novice division. “I really love solo dance,” Zhang said. “It’s
sometimes hard to describe. In solo dance, I don’t have to worry about jumping or any of those nerve-wracking things. I don’t have to worry, be- cause I know that I’m allowed to just be myself and really skate to the music. I also love doing pattern dances, because I get to skate to a specific mood, such as someone fierce from the tango.” Williams finished on the podium with a pro-
gram that featured a Spanish medley of flamenco and paso doble dances. She received her costume inspiration from Olympic champions Meryl Davis and Tessa Virtue, taking a page from Davis’ paso doble and Virtue’s flamenco dance from the Van- couver Olympics. Te Texas native, who makes her home in
Denver, said she was a career freestyle skater until being turned on to ice dance by her coach Stefano Stangalini. She’s also coached by Trina Pratt and Todd Gilles.
“I fell in love with it,” she said. “I’ve put my
freestyle skates aside; I haven’t jumped in three or four years. I’m all about dance.” Williams’
road to qualify for the Nation-
al Solo Dance Series Final hit a bump in March when she broke her ankle and was sidelined for two months. To maintain her mental edge, she used imag- ery techniques every day that she was off the ice.
Jessica Williams
A COURAGEOUS RETURN Joy Jin, a 16-year-old high school senior in the
Bay Area, counts herself fortunate to be back at the National Solo Dance Series Final after suffering a devastating skating injury shortly after last year’s event. A member of the SC of San Francisco, Jin finished fourth in the junior combined category and fifth in gold pattern dance. Less than a year ago, Jin was in the middle of
a freestyle practice when she collided with a pairs team. Te male skater’s blade sliced her thigh, cut- ting through tissue, muscle and veins. Fortunately, the blade missed the femoral artery in her leg. Jin’s recovery took several months and she was
unable to resume skating until late in the year. She competed at her first solo dance competition in May in an effort to qualify for the National Solo Dance Series Final. In addition to significant scar- ring on her legs, she has no feeling in her upper thigh and, as a result, is unable to continue her freestyle training at this time.
“I feel so lucky to be back on the ice again Elise Freezer
Williams has a master’s degree in sports perfor- mance psychology from Denver University. “I got sick of it,” she admits. “I wanted to get back on the ice, although I still use imagery every day.”
When she’s not skating, Williams coaches and
serves as a secondary mental coach for other skaters in Denver-area rinks. Having already passed four international tests with Gilles, she want to contin- ue testing and moving forward.
BLONDE AMBITION
Elise Freezer, 8, and a member of the Broad- moor SC, stole the show in her hometown. She finished as the youngest skater to medal in the championship rounds of two events — pre-bronze (4th) and juvenile combined (2nd). Te curly blonde from Colorado Springs per-
formed her free dance to a mambo piece from the movie Rio. Freezer, who has been skating freestyle since
age 4, started ice dance eight months ago after watching events at one of the 2013 National Solo Dance Series Championships. She grinned from ear to ear throughout the event, and said that com- peting at the 2014 National Solo Dance Final was a blast. “It was really fun and I made so many new
friends,” Freezer said. “I am excited to have skated my best and that I performed with good presenta- tion.”
SKATING 13
dancing,” Jin said. “I missed being out there so much and feel so blessed to be able to be return to competition and qualify to compete here again in Colorado Springs. My coaches, fellow skaters, family and friends have been so supportive along this journey.” During her time away from the ice, Jin began trial judging and has enjoyed that experience so much so that she looks forward to continuing on this path.
Joy Jin
PHOTO BY NORMAN HAYWARD
PHOTO BY NICOLE CZUHAJEWSKI
PHOTO BY NORMAN HAYWARD
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