Student Skates her Way to Nationals

Junior Mia Eckels competed at her first nationals tournament for figure skating on Jan. 26.

Eckels has been figure skating for about 8.5  years and is only getting better.

 Being so high in competition now, Eckels talked about how even though she loves it, it does affect her everyday life. 

”It really affects my social life and school life, because sometimes I’m not able to do homework on time and not able to always hang out with friends when I want,” said Eckels.

Despite that in the end it is always worth it, Eckels said how she feels every time she gets to compete.

“I get really excited because I’m happy to be able put my program out there and skate my best,” said Eckels.

Much like most athletes, Eckels has personal goals for the upcoming years. 

“Making it to the Olympics  is a stretch goal. The goal for next year is to make it to nationals again and make it on to Team USA,” said Eckels.

Eckels gives an inside look on how she did at nationals in January.

“The first day didn’t go as planned, but next day made a comeback,” said Eckels.

Even though Eckels didn’t do as well as she hoped to do, it is still impressive to be at the level she is at.

Eckels stated how this level of competition feels now.

“It was nerve-racking being there for the first time, but now [I] know [the] feeling, I’ll probably be able to do better next time,” said Eckels.