LOCAL NEWS — For anyone who has watched Olympic figure skating, it looks oh so familiar: the unmistakable looks of concentration as skaters circle the rink during warmups, last-minute advice from a coach, the bows and waves to the audience at the end of a performance, and teddy bears thrown to the ice from appreciative fans.

This, though, is a chance to see skaters who are motivated more by dreams than drama, some as young as 6-year-old Jessica Phounsanoy, a member of the Seattle Skating Club.

Phounsanoy is one of the 240 people competing in the Pacific Northwest Figure Skating Championships, which continue today and Sunday at Everett's Comcast Arena. The competition, open to the public, is free.

Phounsanoy was warming up for her freestyle event Friday afternoon, supervised by her teacher, Barbara Murphy of Shoreline.

"Point your toes," she gently reminded her student.

Participants have come from Alaska, Oregon, British Columbia, Idaho and Washington, said Trisha Palm of Everett, who is helping to coordinate the event.

Skaters compete in a variety of events, including freeskate, compulsory moves, jumps and spins.

Some of the participants are as young as 4 years old, Palm said, and are just learning the basics of skating. Others are in the upper teens and early 20s, some of whom have aspirations "to go as high as they can go" in the sport, she said.

The top three finishers in each category qualify to participate in the National State Games of America competition next year in San Diego.

Two ice dancing skaters who have already won a local following are Kamiak High students Jean-Luc Baker, 16, and Joylyn Yang, 14, who will be competing again today.

Friday's program was their first competition of the year, explained their coach, Sharon Jones Baker. She said they have some obstacles to overcome.

"Usually the first competition is not that good as a performance presentation," she said. "Hopefully they're getting it out of their system."

Today, they're scheduled to perform in a free dance competition. Next week, they're off to another competition in Lake Placid, N.Y.

Baker encouraged families to stop by the events this weekend and enjoy both the skating skills on display and the music the skaters perform to, which, she said, expresses the skaters' personalities.

It's an event that's enjoyable for all ages, she said.

The Northwest figure skating championship is held every summer, sponsored by skating clubs throughout the region, including the Everett Figure Skating Club, Palm said. Everett last hosted the event in 2007.

Palm's own two daughters, Haley, 13, and Sara, 10, spend about 10 hours a week practicing on the ice. Both are participating in this weekend's events.

Haley has been skating for almost four years. Her program of jumps and spins will last about two minutes, with one of the tough jumps coming at the end of the program.

"You get on the ice and it's exciting afterward, but you're kind of nervous. It's kind of a mix," she said.

Her sister, Sara, will be performing jumps, spins and footwork to the tune of Chattanooga Choo-Choo. Learning new things and trying different skills is what keeps her practicing each day, she said.

She said she's already set some goals for skills she'd like to learn in the next year, skills used in international skating competitions. "I'd like to be starting on my double loop or double toe," she said.

Nicole Coward, 9, of Edmonds, sat in the arena with her mother, Ginger Coward, Friday afternoon watching other performers warm up.

Nicole has been skating about nine months and won a second place medal in a basic skills competition.

"She's passionate about it," Ginger Coward said of her daughter's devotion to skating. "Just a couple weeks after she started skating, she said, 'The rink feels like my home away from home.' She took right to it."

Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com

When to watch

The Pacific Northwest Figure Skating Championships will continue today and Sunday at Comcast Arena, 2000 Hewitt Ave., Everett.

The event is free. Competitions take place from 9 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. today and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday.

Click here to go to HeraldNet.com for more.

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Let the good times roll.

A group of local figure skaters from the Beverly Skating Club are about to take center stage, as they compete in the 2010 USA Roller Sports Figure Skating National Championships. Raymond Palleschi, Denise Giuevelis, Linda Doiron, Mary Magnuson and Michael Scott all have qualified for the competition, which is being held in Lincoln, Nebraska, July 25 to Aug. 8. The group began heading out west this week, with the rest of the squad expected to land in the Cornhusker State on Monday, ready for action.

"We're just trying to prepare as best as possible," said Palleschi, who is 59. "It's mostly a mental exercise rather than physical, because we've been working on all these figures and dances all year long."

All five team members previously qualified for the National Championship after acing the Northeast Championships in Taunton, June 26-28. The Northeast region covers all of New England, as well as New York.

Sporting retro-era quad skates, the athletes will enter events in one or more categories: Singles, Pairs, Figures, Solo Dance, Team Dance, Precision or Show skating. They are judged on content and manner of performance. This includes the skater's ability to do identifiable but difficult maneuvers, such as jumps, spins and footwork, while also utilizing those movements in an artistic interpretation of accompanying music.

A Swampscott native, Palleschi will compete in two events, including the Veterans A Men Figures and the Novice B Men Figures.

"I started off doing it casually," said Palleschi, who began skating 25 years ago. "Then I got interested in it, and I started taking lessons. I used to skate at a rink in Saugus until they disbanded the club. Then I moved up to Beverly and have been skating here close to 10 years."

Joining Palleschi in Nebraska will be teammate Denise Giuevelis. The Atkinson, NH, native will compete in two events, including the Junior Solo Dance and Senior Solo Dance. A competitive roller skater for the past decade, the Scarborough, NH, resident regularly practices in Beverly four to five times a week. Her commitment has paid off; she placed fourth and third respectively, at last year's Nationals.

"She's got a pretty good chance at placing at Nationals again this year," Palleschi said. "She's really a beautiful skater."

Linda Doiron will compete in the Veteran A Women Solo Dance event. The Portland, Maine, resident has logged plenty of road miles between her home and Beverly, perfecting her craft over the years.

While most of the Beverly skaters will have time to take in sights, Mary Magnuson's schedule remains booked. The Westwood resident will compete in three different events, including the Esquire B Solo Dance, the Veterans A Women Solo Dance and Veterans A Women Figures. The 20-year veteran thrives on challenge, however, and can't wait to get started.

Compared to many of his teammates, Michael Scott is a virtual newcomer to the world of competitive roller-skating. The Tyngsboro native is the newest member of the Beverly Skating Club, making the move from Saugus a year ago. He has shown plenty of technique in his rookie year and looks to make a lasting impression at Nationals.

Roller-skating apparently runs deep in Scott's family: His brother is also affiliated with a skating club based in Connecticut.

In all, some 2,200 athletes (1,200 Figure skaters and 1,000 Inline Speed skaters) are expected to participate at the 2010 National Championships. The first six days are dedicated to USA Roller Sports Youth Division skaters from nine regions across the United States, July 25-31. World Class and 2010 World Championship Team qualifying division events will follow Aug. 1-4. USA Roller Sports Adult division events wrap up the Figure National Championships Aug. 4- 8.

For Palleschi and his team, it doesn't get any bigger than this.

"This is the pinnacle," Palleschi said. "Unfortunately, in roller skating we don't have an Olympics. There are the nationals, followed by a world championship. It's equivalent to the Olympics, but the sport has always been fighting with ice over the years to get into the Olympics."

The fantastic five continue to perfect their craft at the Beverly Skating Club, practicing regularly at Roller Palace on Sohier Road.

"The Beverly Skating Club has been in existence between 25-30 years," said Palleschi, who has seen the team's popularity fluctuate over the years. "It's been big, it's been small, and then it gets big again."

When the Beverly rink opened, it slowly attracted enough skaters to put a club together, with its heyday in the '80s.

"They had a real big club in the '80s," Palleschi said. "They had 30-40 active skaters, but the whole sport is down a little bit right now. To get a club charter with a national organization, you have to have at least five skaters."

Palleschi feels a solid showing at Nationals will undoubtedly help attract more local interest to the club, giving the team even more momentum in the years ahead.

And what better place to achieve that goal than on the national stage.

"There is a sign on the marquee of the auditorium at the National Championships," Palleschi said. "'The best of the best.' This is where the real competition is and the skaters are all very good. It will be a tough competition."

The 2010 USA Roller Sports Figure Skating Championships will be available for viewing live online. More details on the live broadcast will be available on.usarollersports.org.

 

The local contingent

SkatersEvents

Linda Doiron: Veterans A Women Solo Dance

Denise Giuevelis: Junior Solo Dance, Senior Solo Dance

Mary Magnuson: Esquire B Solo Dance, Veterans A Women Solo Dance, Veterans A Women Figures

Raymond Palleschi: Veterans A Men Figures, Novice B Men Figures

Michael Scott: Junior Solo Dance, Senior Solo Dance

The thrill of ice skating has not diminished since childhood for Bob Mock, skating director at Center Ice Arena in Delmont and a former national ice dancing bronze medalist.

"It's the endless excitement of being in the middle of all this energy and creativity," he explained.

"I'm still there, and it's still exciting."

Mr. Mock, 59, of Turtle Creek, said he learned to skate as a boy at the outdoor Turtle Creek Community Skating Rink on Larimer Avenue, which was operated by his late father, Fred Mock.

While honing his skating skills, Bob Mock taught fellow students there, and taught and operated the ice resurfacing machines at the indoor Alpine Ice Arena in Swissvale and the Monroeville Mall Ice Palace.

It was at the Monroeville site that he met his mentor, George Lipchick of Plum, who connected him with a number of coaches and associations, and from whom he learned about the business end of skating, which would later prove invaluable.

While he primarily was a figure skater, he also was a speed skater and hockey player.

In his mid-teens, Mr. Mock began competing. In 1973, he and ice dancing partner Carolyn Fortuna Hawley finished third in the U.S. National Figure Skating Championships in Hartford, Conn.

"I grew up in a factory town, but through skating, a new world unfolded where I could perform and be creative and travel. It was the most amazing opportunity," he said.

In 1975 at age 25, an on-ice accident caused him to re-evaluate his future in the sport.

"I either was skated out, or I accepted the reality it was time to move on and give back to skating," he said.

He said his love of skating is boundless.

"There is an absolute joy of developing athletes and guiding them through the sport and into success," he said of his passion for coaching.

In 1980, Mr. Mock co-founded (and edited for the next 20 years) the monthly "American Skating World," the first skating publication in the country to provide a public forum on the sport.

At the same time, he coached at Monroeville Mall -- managing the rink its last five years, until it closed in 1984 during a national recession.

Out of work, he started skating schools at Rostraver Ice Garden, Kirk S. Nevin Ice Arena in Greensburg and Connellsville Ice Mine.

In 1987, he coached U.S. National Junior Ice Dance champions Jeffrey and Jennifer Benz of Export.

In 1991-1993, he was named a Top 26 instructor by the Ice Skating Institute of America.

He coached U.S. national juvenile dance champions David and Melissa Gratta of Belle Vernon in 1992, and eighth-ranked Senior Ice Dance team of Jason and Shannon Simon of Scott in 1999.

"My job is to take something really hard and make it look very easy so someone will say, 'I can do that,' " he said of coaching at every level.

"The challenge is finding people who have the focus and internal drive when there are so many other activities today that they can be involved in," he said.

Over the past 25 years, his regional, sectional, national and international competitors led him to events throughout the United States and beyond, such as the Goodwill Games in St. Petersburg, Russia; the Junior World Championships in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina; and the Blue Swords in Chemnitz, Germany.

He served as chair of the U.S. Figure Skating Association, Coaches Committee, 1992-95, and president of the Professional Skaters Association, 1994-98.

In 2009, he was named recipient of the Jimmy Disbrow Award for, among other qualities, being "an inspiration to others" and one who "unites the skating community."

A typical weekday finds him at the Center Ice Arena from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., coaching and managing the facility's 23-instructor skating school.

His office overlooks the one rink, of three rinks, that is used primarily for skating lessons "so I can watch my skaters all day long and run out onto the ice if I have to."

His daily attire of parka and hat, despite a room-temperature office, enables him to run "out on the ice anytime," he said.

Mr. Mock said what makes a champion "is the 'X' factor of the right combination of physical ability and the mental toughness."

To those aspiring to such heights, or simply recreational skaters, he offers this advice:

"Everyone experiences skating in their own way. Set your goals and let your motivation and desire and love of skating take you as far as you can go. That is how you measure success."

First published on July 29, 2010 at 5:43 am