Tom Zakrajsek saw potential in Agnes Zawadzki. There was so much to like about her in practice — her power and speed, her pomp and elegance, that steely glare in her eyes.

When Zawadzki slipped on the skates under the bright lights, when she attempted to strut her stuff in front of the judges, it all vanished, and Zakrajsek couldn't bear to watch.

"She never could show in competition," said Zakrajsek, who has coached The Broadmoor Skating Club member for nearly two years. "She would always make mistakes."

Now, Zawadzki routinely thrives on the big stage, unfazed by the demand of following in the footsteps of Olympian Rachael Flatt, and her slipups have mostly taken a backseat to steady performances — a sign she's prepared for the transition to the next level.

In her first international competition, Zawadzki, a Cheyenne Mountain sophomore, won a silver medal at the world junior championships in March in The Hague, Netherlands, the beneficiary of a high-energy long program in which she landed six triple jumps, including two triple lutzes, to rebound from an eighth-place finish in an error-filled short program.

Two months earlier, Zawadzki, 15, claimed the junior national title, recording the event's most points for a free skate element with a triple lutz-double toe loop, then executing five triples in her long program. Her score of 171.87 points (0.32 of a point less than Flatt had in winning junior worlds in 2008) was the highest ever at the U.S. junior national championships.

Not bad for someone who practically hit rock bottom after grabbing a silver medal at the 2007 intermediate nationals, with a fourth-place finish at the 2008 novice nationals and a fifth-place finish at the Midwestern sectionals later that year that caused her to not qualify for the 2009 junior nationals.

Not bad for someone who simply couldn't stay on her feet.

"I do think that I am a more consistent skater," she said. "I can feel and see the difference from when I first moved here," from Chicago to work with Zakrajsek, also Flatt's coach. "I've been training not to let a mistake bother me because there is still a program that you have to skate to and present, no matter what mistake you make."

Zawadzki spent last week in Toronto, refining her long program with choreographer Lori Nichol, whose time with Flatt helped the Cheyenne Mountain senior finish seventh at the Vancouver Games in February. She said Nichol showed her "how to use my edges and make every little detail big, so you can stand out from all the other skaters."

Over the summer, Zawadzki will try to fine-tune her spinning ability; increase the height on her triple lutzes and double axels; and develop more combinations. Maybe tops on her to-do list is perfecting her triple axel — she likely won't have it for The Broadmoor Open next month, but she could for the Liberty Summer Competition near Philadelphia in July.

"We don't want Mao Asada to dominate for the next four years because she's the only woman that does the triple axel," Zakrajsek said about the Japanese world champion.

If Zawadzki competes next season on the Senior Grand Prix tour, there's a chance she'll go head to head against Flatt, whom Zawadzki calls "a boost of motivation because she is such a great example of a hard worker and of someone who is so consistent."

For the senior circuit, Zawadzki said "it doesn't mean that I train any less, it means I train harder. … I do feel mentally ready, but I also know that I'm still going to have to work on getting my mind better, since there is a lot more pressure that comes with moving up."