Top figure skaters ready for regional

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Alexa Linden practices Tuesday at The RRRink. Linden will compete in the five-day Pacific Northwest Regional Figure Skating Championships starting Thursday at The RRRink.Jamie Lusch

Alexa Linden has been on the ice since she was an infant.

It started on a frozen pond in Canada, has lasted through countless hours after school and during the summers, and it will continue this weekend at The RRRink, which hosts the Pacific Northwest Regional Figure Skating Championships.

"Eat, sleep, skate," says Linden, a 14-year-old freshman at North Medford High.

The event, which runs Thursday through Monday, is the most prestigious regional competition of the year. Linden, who is one of 277 competitors from six states, will compete in one of five qualifying classes — intermediate ladies — meaning the top placers advance to a higher competition.

There are 28 competitors in intermediate ladies. The top six advance directly to the U.S. Junior Championships this December in Ohio.

They will compete Friday in two groups. Every girl will perform a short program, and the top six from each group will move to the finals, with their short program on Saturday and their free skate on Sunday.

"I just hope to do my best, and I hope that all the other skaters do their best as well," Linden says.

Linden isn't eligible for the 2010 Olympics because she's not in the senior division and turns the minimum age of 15 about seven months after the cutoff date.

But there will be a half dozen senior-division hopefuls with Olympic dreams.

In addition to seniors — the level viewers see in the Olympics — the other top classes are juniors and novices.

The top four placers in each advance to sectionals. From sectionals, the top four earn trips to nationals in Spokane, Wash.

Among the senior entrants is Portland skater Kelly Zhou, who competed at nationals last year.

At the next tier are juveniles and intermediates, or Linden's group.

Below that are the non-qualifying events for skaters in the initial stages of competition.

On Friday, the intermediate groups compete at 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., while top classes do their short programs later. The senior division is last to go at 9 p.m.

On Saturday, the finalists in intermediate ladies take the ice at 5 p.m. with the short program, followed by the junior and senior free skates.

The intermediate ladies come back with their free skate at 12:05 p.m. Sunday.

The seniors are the elite class, but the intermediates are no slouches, says Bill Cloran, a local organizing co-chair and past board member for the U.S. Figure Skating Association.

"You remember Dick Button," he asks.

Button won Olympic gold medals in 1948 and '52.

Because of advancements in the sport, particularly equipment, says Cloran, "all of these kids are skating higher-level programs than Dick ever skated."

The international judging system will be used for qualifying events. Routines are videotaped and analyzed by a technical panel, which then advises the five judges.

The fate of the skaters is in their hands.

"It's what all figure skaters work toward throughout the year," says Pam Linden, who is Alexa's mother and co-chair of the event.

"This is what competitive skaters do ... they work for this one event."

As important as this weekend is for the competitors, it's just as significant for the community. Pam Linden put in the bid for the event approximately a year and a half ago, and it has been more than a handful of work ever since. This is the first time the regional has been in Medford.

"It's a very big deal," says Kathy Bosworth, who is part of the organizing committee for the region. "We felt that Medford was a good place, and they have a great facility to bring the competition to help build figure skating in Medford."

Although the attention will be on the qualifying events, there are several local figure skaters who will be competing in non-qualifying events as well.

Desiree Piter, Kaila Calhoun, Anna Maentz, Devin Moriss, Madeline Chun, Grace Anderson, Sarah Tang, Shauri Wentzel, Jonathan Thompson and Matthew Thompson are all representing the Southern Oregon Figure Skating Club in non-qualifying events.

There will also be some big names in the sport in attendance as either a coach or judge. Among them are Tai Babilonia, a five-time U.S. pairs champion and a 1980 Olympian; Olympic medalist Jozef Sabovcik; and U.S. national medalists Tiffany Chin, Terry Kubicka, Lisa-Marie Allen, Rory Flack Burghart, Holly Cook Tanner and Sonya Klopfer Dunfield.

With the familiar faces in the stands and the pressure of a make-or-break performance, the event could produce enough heat to nearly melt the ice.

Throw in the fact that many of the competitors have been working on their routines for at least a year and one can feel collective weight on the athletes' shoulders.

"You just have to push past it," Alexa Linden says. "It's not about gold. It's about having fun."

Tickets, which go on sale at 9 a.m. today or can be purchased at the door, are $15 for a day pass or $35 for an all-event ticket.

The competition begins 8 a.m. Thursday with juvenile girls and concludes on Monday afternoon.

Video and live updates will be available at www.icenetwork.com and the competition schedule is available at www.sofsc.org.

Reach reporter Shawn Miller at 776-4469, or e-mail shamiller@mailtribune.com

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