Jessica Marrone, a freshman at Sachem High School East, recently competed in the Empire State Winter Games in Lake Placid and won a Silver Medal in her figure skating group.
There were more than 1,000 athletes competing from across New York this year in various sports. The figure skating competition was held in the Olympic Center Arena where they held the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympic Games.
Marrone was able to skate on the same ice as the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey team that made international history by beating the Soviets and eventually winning a Gold Medal.
“Even the six-hour car ride was enjoyable because I was curious wondering what it looks and feels like, the ice, the arena and to see if my hard work would pay off,” she said. “Lake Placid was also a beautiful village that I would not have seen without competing in the games. I loved competing in the Empire State Games and I would definitely do it again. Even without winning a medal it would have been an awesome experience, but winning a silver medal in my group made the experience that more special.”
Marrone and her coach put in countless hours of preparation at The Rinx in Hauppauge, N.Y. and even started choosing music for the routine as early as Thanksgiving.
“Competition or not the sport requires tons of off ice training,” she said. “The off-ice includes lots of stretching and flexibility, strength, and balance training to help us with our jumps, spins and artistic movements.”
Marrone competed in the Pre-preliminary Test Track Free Skate in Lake Placid. The routine lasted 1:30 and combined an even display of fast and soft elements. The song was almost a rainforest tribal like song. It involved many dramatic elements while keeping up with the speed of music.
“I pretty much needed to split a different technique with in the program, like speed and control and also power and grace,” she said. “Poses needed to be sharp and be timed exactly with the music or else I would lose points from the judges. Even the style and color of my dress had to match the music and routine set by my coach.”
-Words by Chris R. Vaccaro
