The Skate-a-Thon held on July 25, 1999, from midnight to 6:00 a.m. in conjunction with I.S.I. was a huge success. I.S.I. Booster Club Treasurer Kelly Doolittle reported that over $3800 in pledges and donations may be available to pay for the purchase and installation of a jump harness. The coaches selected a harness, and it has already been installed in the rink!ALL NIGHT SKATE-A-THON IS A HUGE SUCCESS!
Amber Westmoreland was the most industrious of the participants, garnering $533.45 in pledges and donations. She received a trophy and a Pillow Pal® for her efforts. Second prize, a skating bag donated by The Dressing Room was awarded to Victoria Amador, whose donations and pledges totaled $358.01. Kelsey Doolittle’s pledges and donations of $279.95 received third prize. Top finishers in each of the jump, spin, and lap competitions received ribbons, and door prizes were given away every 30 minutes. All of the skaters had fun, and NO ONE went to sleep although all brought sleeping bags. For the all night event, skaters were divided into three groups, based upon skating levels.
First on the schedule was the axel competition. Participants executed
as many axels as possible with no connecting steps and no tap toes.
Eric Saul astounded the crowd by landing a whopping 21 consecutive axels
before falling. Monica Mathis executed 11. San Antonio newcomer
Ashley Atwell, who skated first, landed 10. Other finishers were
Ker Lu, 8 and Victoria Amador, 7.
Stephanie Stahn outdid every skater by completing an impressive 430 laps on the arena ice without stopping. Anita Vincent-Johnson, who skated earlier, set the number of laps to beat by circling the rink 401 times. Several other skaters skated 200 laps or more: Ashely Atwell, 314, Chelsea Fellows, 210, Candace Pingenot, 203, Haley Bergman 202, and Rebecca Walker, 200.
Rhiannon Bath completed 21 sit spin rotations. Monica Mathis,
Stephanie Ramirez, and Diane Andrade turned 20 times each. Ker Lu
and Victoria Amador whirled 19 times. Megan Greenwood rotated 14
times. Kelsey Doolittle and Amber Westmoreland completed 12 rotations
each, and Jenny Zhao spun 8 times.
Amber Westmoreland led the consecutive waltz jump competition with 38. Anita Vincent-Johnson completed 32. Brittany Brown, Candace Pingenot, Jenny Zhoa, Jordan Keller, Stephanie Stahn, and Megan Greenwood each waltzed 30 times.
Loop jumpers were led by Rhiannon Bath’s 19, followed by Eric Saul at 18, and Ashley Atwell with 16. Ker Lu, Chelsea Fellows, Diane Andrade, and Nancy Hewson all looped 12 times. Jordan Keller landed 11, Monica Mathis executed 9; while Rebecca Walker, Haley Bergman, and Victoria Amador completed 8 each. Amber Westmoreland and Anita Vincent-Johnson landed 6 loops each.
All of the skaters who are learning jumps will benefit from the purchase of this harness. Kudos should not only go to participants and fund raisers, but everyone should extend a special thanks to Kelly Doolittle who conceived the idea, organized this event, promoted it, and tabulated the results. Sponsors were the Crystal Ice Palace (donated all the ice time, popcorn, etc.), State Farm Insurance, The Dressing Room, Regal Cinema, and H.E.B., who donated prizes, as did Theresa Westmoreland and Nannette Amador.
--Submitted by Nanette Amador