Four members of the Williams Lake Skating Club will glide to Kelowna this weekend, March 8-10, to compete at the Super Series of skating.
More than 50 clubs from throughout the province will be attending, where the top three skaters in B.C. from each division will be crowned.
From Williams Lake Dawn Henley, Amanda Lane, Jade Johnson and Alana Walters will skate.
And going in, the pressure will be high. Henley is currently ranked first in the province in Senior Bronze Women out of 73 skaters. Lane is ranked fourth in the province in Pre-Juvenile Women Under 11 out of 42 skaters.
Both Lane and Henley were recently recognized as the Cariboo North Central Region (CNCR) regional champions.
“It’s going to be hard, it’s going to be a lot of competition, but it’s going to be a lot of fun,” Henley said.
“We just hope to do our best and nail everything.”
Both Lane and Henley agreed heading into the competition with high rankings means an expectation to skate a clean routine.
“It’s definitely more pressure,” Henley said. “But all that pressure really helps with working harder.”
Lane said she’s proud of their accomplishments so far this season.
“I think it’s really good,” she said. “There are lots of girls in my group and it’s quite hard, so I feel pretty proud of myself. It’s going to be scary but I have a lot of friends in my group. Landing everything will be key.”
Johnson, heading into the Super Series this weekend ranked 32nd out of 115 skaters, and Walters, ranked 16th out of 101 skaters, both said they plan to work hard and do their best.
“I just plan to work hard because the pressure’s on this week,” Johnson said.
“You really have to use your time well on the ice.”
Walters agreed, adding she hopes to have a lot of fun.
“I’m really expecting to finish middle of the pack or higher based on how my competitions have been going, and hopefully I can improve,” Walters said. “I’m looking forward to going to another competition and having some fun.”
WLSC coach Joanne Macnair said the competition will be tough, but added she’s confident everyone will skate well.
“You’re getting the best of the best in B.C. here,” she said. “But we love it. We’re going to rock it. Probably aiming to skate a clean solo, which means landing everything — all your spins, jumps — is what we’d love to do.
“We’re excited.”