When most of her classmates still are in bed, Jackie Jablon is on the ice. During the season, she wakes up long before dawn to prepare for 5:30 a.m. practices. She'll got to her Florida middle school about an hour late, then after class, she gets to go back to the rink.

"I don't think my school friends like it very much, but I have a lot of skating friends, and they understand," the 13-year-old Jablon says. "We all go through it together."

Their performances on the ice might last two or three minutes — only a blink of an eye among the hours and hours on the ice these child competitors spend training.

Figure skating is, by definition, a sport of sacrifice. Most of the top-level athletes in the U.S. Junior National Championships have made major lifestyle adjustments to meet their on-ice aspirations.

Vincent Zhou, a 10-year-old from California, started taking classes online earlier this year to compensate for his rigorous practice schedule. Although Zhou lives in Palo Alto, he does his training more than 400 miles from home in Riverside, where he might work six or seven hours a day leading up to a competition.

"I try to keep in touch with my old friends from my old school, but I also have some friends in my new school who are skaters," Zhou says. "Most of the time, the first thing I do after practice is turn on the laptop, change, wash my hands and start my homework."

Even the athletes who are in general schools don't have the typical schedule. Daniel Samohin, who was the juvenile boys champion last year, gets out shortly after noon from his middle school so he can train with his parents. If his friends at his school think it's not cool for a boy to skate, they often change their minds when they see him perform his triple jumps.

"Everyone says, "Wow, that's crazy," the 12-year-old says. "Most people don't understand figure skating, but it's OK. I think it's fun, and that's what matters to me."

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Often, figure skaters miss many of the birthday parties and sleep-overs that can be a hallmark of childhood. But invariably, they all say the payoff is worth the hours they spend perfecting their routines.

"I like skating a lot because it's very unique," say Rachel Crawford, an 11-year-old from Ogden. "Most of my friends do school sports, like volleyball and basketball. Skating is just different. I love it."

Besides, when the championships are over, most will get a short reprieve from their grinding schedules.

"We're going on a cruise after nationals," says Shari Jablon, Jackie's mother. "We've already told Jackie she can eat whatever she wants."

Jackie can't keep the smile from creeping up her face.

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Jackie Jablon got the Panthers Figure Skating Club off to an impressive start by winning her qualifying round Wednesday at the U.S. Junior Figure Skating Championships at Salt Lake City.

Jablon, 13, posted a score of 58.99, second best out of 41 skaters in the intermediate women's division. She got high marks on a double lutz combination and on a her double axel with a double toe loop.

Jackie Jablon, shown during the recent regional competition, won her qualifying round Wednesday in her first appearance at junior nationals.

"She landed every single thing in her program. She had good spins and good footwork. She won her group, and we're very happy with how she did today," coach Ilona Melnichenko said.

Jablon is one of four skaters representing the Coral Springs-based PFSC at junior nationals. Franchesca Chiera, also 13, was ninth in the other flight of women's intermediate qualifying with 56.02 points. Both girls advanced to Friday's short program. Qualifying round scores do not carry over to the next round.

Chiera, who won the South Atlantic Regional Championship in October and was second at junior nationals last year as a juvenile, has been battling an ear infection and head cold for the past week. Because of the illness and missed practice time she elected not to attempt the triple jump that she has been preparing for the competition.

"Franchesca is a little sick. She's not feeling good at all. We hope she will be feeling better by the end of the week and can show her best," Melnichenko said.

Jablon, who qualified for junior nationals by placing fourth at the regional, showed what she is capable of in her first appearance in national competition.

"She was able to show her confidence. It was a lot of pressure. She did what she can do today," Melnichenko said.

"Jackie has been our secret weapon for a couple of years," said Nancy Mariani, skating director of the PFSC. "She's not flashy by nature. But she's so consistent with her jumps that she stands out. She's very athletic. Technically she's as good and sometimes better than Franchesca. Franchesca has a little more polish and poise, and I think that gets her further ahead sometimes. But Jackie is more than capable of also doing very well."

Qualifying continues Thursday with juvenile competition. the PFSC has Andrew Torgashev, the regional champion, in the boys division and Vanessa Feigenbaum in the girls. Both are competing at junior nationals for the first time.

Lake Worth's Paolo Borromeo, of the Skating Club of Florida, is also entered in juvenile boys. Borromeo was the regional runner-up and placed 16th last year at junior nationals.