Cheney Skater Glides To Spot In U.S. Jr. Olympics Contest

Figure skating

Lindsay Malcolm By Janie McCauley Staff writer L indsay Malcolm is used to the schedule by now.

She goes to bed at 7:30 each night and wakes up at 4:30 a.m. to train in figure skating. This has been her routine for four years.

And it has paid off.

Malcolm, an 11-year-old sixth-grader at Cheney Middle School, has qualified for the 1999 U.S. Junior Olympic Championships from March 18-20 in Pittsburgh.

She will be one of two from her division to represent the Northwest region, which is made up of Washington, Idaho, Alaska, Montana, Oregon and Wyoming. Malcolm earned the trip when she won the gold medal in the Juvenile Girls division of the 1998 Northwest Pacific Regional Figure Skating Championships in Anchorage, Alaska, at the end of October.

Malcolm trains six days a week at the Eagles Ice-A-Rena.

“I admire her a lot,” says her mother, Deb. “Once she puts her mind to something, she is very persistent.

“It takes her thousands of falls before she gets a jump. It’s inner drive.

“We don’t (push) her at all. I’d rather sleep in.”

Malcolm said it took her two years of begging to persuade her mom to let her try figure skating.

Her mother had been concerned about the time commitment. It’s a 30-minute drive to the rink without traffic.

Malcolm became interested in figure skating when she saw it on television.

There was another reason, too.

“I got sick of going to my brother’s games,” she said, referring to her 15-year-old brother Cameron, who plays football, basketball and baseball. “I wanted him to come watch me do a sport.”

“She just enjoyed it so much,” her mother said. “She wanted to find a niche of her own, since her brother was so sports-oriented.”

And Malcolm feels comfortable on the ice.

“I like putting on a performance for the crowd,” Malcolm said. “It’s just fun.

“You feel like you’re flying.”