Spokane a day away for some

MOUNTLAKE TERRACE, Wash. – It was as if a pack of miniature ballerinas broke free from the top of their music boxes.

There was hardly a moment at the Pacific Coast Sectional Championships on Friday where an energized skater wasn’t practicing on land, spinning, twirling and going through the routine he or she has done thousands of times.

Coaches critiqued and mothers hovered as their gifted skaters prepared for one of the biggest competitions of their young lives.

Finish no worse than fourth place here, and the bigger stage is the 2007 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Jan. 21-28 at the Spokane Arena and the Convention Center.

This sectional, at Olympicview Training Center outside Seattle, is one of three being held this week. By day’s end today the 255-skater field will be set for Spokane’s biggest skating event in its history. The top four skaters at sectionals in men’s, ladies, pairs and dance will qualify for Spokane while another 53 skaters will receive automatic byes.

“It’s a muscle-memory sport,” said coach and choreographer Wendy Burge, whose star pupil Carolyn-Ann Alba of the All Year Figure Skating Club made it through the ladies novice division with a second-place finish. “It’s a timing thing.”

Timing, and staying in synch for what seems like an eternity but is actually 2 1/2 minutes for the short program to 4:30 for the free skate, depending on the discipline.

At this level, it is not uncommon for the athletes to practice five hours a day, especially when they have ballet lessons.

“This is the hardest sport on the face of the Earth,” said Burge, who is based in Southern California. “They’re athletic – it’s ballet dancing and acrobatics. And they’re performing on 1/8-inch blade.

“In two to three minutes, your entire year could be gone.”

Alba, an amazingly flexible 13-year-old skater who already is performing triple jumps, practices at the Yorba Linda (Calif.) Ice Palace one hour in the early morning and two hours after school. She admitted she didn’t know where the 2007 nationals were being held until after she qualified for sectionals.

“I usually don’t tell her too much,” said Alba’s mother, Patricia Alba. “We take it one step at a time.”

For some families, however, Spokane has been a known and desired destination spot for months.

“It’s been the goal for one year,” said Gail Diggs of Palos Verdes, Calif., whose daughter Laney finds herself in seventh place after Friday’s junior ladies short program.

While the mothers typically are the parent dolling up their daughters for the big competition, there’s no lack of father pride and presence.

But for some, like former college football lineman Johnny Alba, it took time adjusting to a sport that involves perfectly coifed hair, makeup and costumes fit for the red carpet.

“It’s a lot of work. There are so many things they have to master and they’re out there alone,” Alba said.

Alba said also it’s taken some getting used to seeing his daughter painted in makeup that’s thicker than Tammy Faye Bakker’s.

“(The first time) I was in awe,” he said. “But when the skating is done I say ‘The competition is over. Let’s get that off.’ “