Tracings: A figure skating resource

About the Administrator

In the fall of 2003, I noticed that there did not seem to be a skating website that was organized the way that I would have done it, and I hated jumping from website to website to find the information that I needed. After running the idea by a few friends, I decided to begin the groundwork on Tracings.net, not realizing then what an extensive project it would become. A year was spent designing the website, experimenting with organization, researching profiles, and beginning to archive the initial season. When Tracings was officially launched in September 2004, it had a full year of results in the archive and I planned to keep up with the season while adding profiles and more result archives. The task has been slow going, but Tracings has become one of the most comprehensive websites for figure skating results and biography information on the internet. It has also expanded to include photography from the events that I attend.

In "real" life, I have just completed a Bachelor of Arts in English from Olivet College in Olivet, Michigan. This fall, I will relocate to Chicago, my hometown, to begin pursuing a MFA in Creative Writing at Roosevelt University with an emphasis in non-fiction. I have combined my interests in both writing and photography to work with the wonderful staff at Ice-Dance.com, where I covered eight events during the 2007-2008 season. My photography has improved dramatically, thanks to Michelle Wojdyla's photography boot camp and the purchase of a Canon Digital SLR camera, and I have had exciting opportunities for writing as well.

My interest in figure skating began in 1992, when the pairs caught my eye during coverage of the Olympic Games. I may have been young, but I recognized the beauty in the sport, and I loved the way that it was set to music. Things have changed over the years, but my love of skating has not. As a writer, it challenges me to transfer the beauty of movement to the written word; as a photographer, I'm given the task of freezing that movement so it can be shared with others; and as someone who is entirely too emotional, skating has given me countless opportunities to get swept away in the drama of it all. Although I was raised in Chicago, I was always drawn to Canadian skating, even as a kid, and now my favourite event to attend each is the Canadian Championships, and my favourite discipline is ice dance.