July 13, 2011
Vol 13 No 28
December 17, 2014
On the cutting edge
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Photos by Ray Rockwell ABOVE: Figure skater Angelina Huang (center) with her coach Kelsey Himmel (left) her mother Christina Chang and her father William Huang. RIGHT: Angelina Huang practices her routine at the St. Peters Rec-Plex on Dec. 9.
O’Fallon figure skater to compete against the very best at U.S. Figure Skating Championships By Brett Auten Despite being just two years into her competitive career, Angelina Huang will go toe-to-toe with the nation’s elite. Huang, from O’Fallon, will represent St. Peters Figure Skating Association, at January’s Prudential U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Dubbed, the largest winter sport national championships in America, the Greensboro, N.C. event will crown 20 national champions and will feature America’s Olympians from the 2014 Sochi Winter Games. “It’s exciting but I’m a little nervous about it at the same time,” Hunag said. “There will be lots of good skaters there but I’m looking to get past them.” In November, Huang won gold in the Juvenile ladies division at the Midwest Sectional (that included 22 states). She will be among select company come start of the year as she is just one of 11 girls competing in the Juvenile division at the U.S. Championships. The 12-year-old slipped on her first pair of skates at the age of six, four years later she had gained the skill and confidence needed and signed up for her first competition. “She loved it from the start,” William Huang, Angelina’s father, said. “She never wanted to stop and was always the last one to leave the ice. She has always been very competitive and a bit
more serious than the other girls.” The intricacies of figure skating are many. Along with the multitude of jumps and spins, timing and placement are just as crucial. In order to build that muscle memory, Huang’s practices are usually three hours long and spaced out every other day. In between, she takes ballet to help refine the acrobatic and graceful nuances of the leaps and landings. Huang wouldn’t subject herself to such a routine if she didn’t have a passion for it. “I just really enjoy the sport,” Angelina Huang said. “If you want to do well in competition, you have to love it. If you are not committed you won’t go anywhere.” When not logging hours sharpening and perfecting her routine, Huang activates her inquisitive and curious mind. She loves to peruse science videos on her down time and she has already memorized the periodic table, but there’s nothing better than an afternoon or evening playing board games and cards. To get where she is, Huang had to overcome fears and questions all newbies ask when they climb aboard the steel, thin blades. “It’s mostly the fear of falling and getting injured,” Angelina Huang said. “Sometimes skaters will not go 100-percent into their jumps and will use that as an excuse. You just have to push that away.”
To make her way to North Carolina, Huang first cleared an eight state regional where the top four competitors from each division moved on to the 22- team sectional. Approximately 375 skaters will be selected to compete in the nine-day U.S. Championships. National Champions will be crowned in Ladies, Men, Pairs, and Ice Dance at the Senior, Junior, Novice, Intermediate and Juvenile levels. “It’s very tough to go to nationals,” William Huang said. “I’m very surprised. I knew she was good but maybe not this good.”
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