Two local skaters spun and twirled their way to the top at the La Jolla Figure Skating Club’s (LJFSC) recent ninth annual La Jolla Open at Ice Town in Westfield UTC. LJFSC members Devon Bowman and Sophia Ung both placed second in their respective age groups.
Sanctioned by U.S. Figure Skating, Devon and Sophia beat more than 200 competitors from California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii and Alaska, including 27 competitors from LJFSC.
Sophia, a freshman at University City High School, placed second in the Novice Ladies Short Program.
“I think I did well because I improved a lot since my last competition,” said 14-year-old Sophia. “I felt as if I trained harder, skating better and performing better.”
Twelve-year-old Devon, a seventh-grader at Muirlands Middle School, placed second in Preliminary Girls Freeskate.
“It was really fun,” Devon said. “I didn’t think I did as well as I could have, because I two-footed a jump, so it was cool to place so high.”
Devon admires the 2006 Olympic Silver Medalist and 2006 U.S. National Champion Sasha Cohen because “she’s so flexible”; however, at the rink, she also respects fellow 12-year-old member Brittany Ward because she “makes it all look so easy and graceful.”
Sophia, who’s been skating for the last six years, looks up to Johnny Weir for his gracefulness.
“I like skating because it’s kind of gutsy,” Sophia added. “You have to be able to take hard falls and be committed.”
In the future, Devon hopes to join a traveling ice show, such as Disney On Ice, following college. She also wants to become a lawyer and attend either the University of Southern California or Yale University.
While Sophia wants “to do as many triples as I can, and do as many competitions as I can,” in general, she plans to go to college and become a pediatrician.
Devon and Sophia both train for more than an hour a day, five days a week. They just competed in the 2007 Southern California Inter-Club Championships, held June 22 to 24 at the San Diego Croc Center Ice Arena. The competition joins skating clubs from throughout Southern California. For more information, visit www.socalinterclub.org.
For more info on the La Jolla Figure Skating Club, log onto www.lajollafsc.com or contact Sheri Fowler, membership chair, at [email protected] or by calling (619) 421-4418.