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And the skating judges say, "These girls are good.’

Ryan Slabaugh

BRECKENRIDGE – A pair of Summit County’s finest figure skaters are heading to Colorado Springs next week for the first attempt at becoming a world champion.

Cristina Tuso, a sophomore at Summit High School, and Roxanna Schmidt, a fifth-grader at Breckenridge Elementary School, will be attending the Southwest Regional figure skating competition.

With good performances, the duo could make it to nationals and, then, the worlds.



“It’s really the first step to the Olympics,” Tuso said. “You don’t make it the first time, you you get noticed if you do well enough.”

While Tuso will compete the juvenile junior division, Schmidt will be competing for the second-straight year in the pre-juvenile junior category.



“I probably won’t be as nervous this year,” Schmidt said. “I was pretty nervous last year. There’s a lot of people. It’s a big deal.”

Skaters from Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Utah will compete for regional championships.

Judges score the skaters on artistic and technical form in two events – the long program and small program. Both skaters insist they still need work on the technical side, and are best at being Picassos on ice.

It takes a four-day-a-week practice schedule and hours twirling, spinning and jumping all over the state to prepare for a regional.

For Tuso, a Frisco resident, competes with coach Susan Williams at the Denver Figure Skate Club and has to travel four days a week to practice. She tried skating after seeing her mother dance on Keystone Lake.

“She was very inspirational,” Tuso said.

Schmidt, meanwhile, saw it on television and was hooked. She’s coached by Debbie Minter in Breckenridge.

Both Schmidt and Tuso will be leaving Tuesday for regionals and will return Saturday.

Ryan Slabaugh can be reached at (970) 668-3998, ext. 257, or at rslabaugh@summitdaily.com.


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