Well, we did it! We're the 2009 U.S. National Intermediate Ice Dance
Champions. And are we proud! We won all three events; two compulsory
dances, the Rocker Foxtrot and the European Waltz, and our King Arthur
free dance.
You can read more about it in an article at IceNetwork.com. If you subscribe, you can also see the entire competition.
What made our win even more remarkable was the fact that Danielle skated through both the Eastern Sectionals and the Jr. Nationals on a broken pelvis. Painful!
She fractured a bone in her pelvis in a bad fall during practice before Sectionals. We all thought it was a pulled muscle or a bruised hip, but the pain just lasted too long, so our Dad took her to a pediatric orthopedic doctor who specialized in Sports Medicine. The X-rays showed a broken bone that was healing. He said no permanent damage would result from her competing (just a lot of pain) but she had to take at least two weeks off for complete rest right after Jr. Nationals. Well...not exactly right after because we did a couple of shows. But that's exactly what's she's doing right now.
Of course, we both got bad colds right after competing, and that hasn't been fun either. But winning the Gold sure did a lot to keep our spirits up. What a thrill! Now on to Novice and hopefully the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Spokane next season.
