Selin dances her way to local skating history

After years of hard work and hour upon countless hour on the ice, Carrie Selin has finally accomplished a goal she first set when she was just nine years old.
Selin, 17, scored a perfect 6.0 in her Westminster and Argentine dances in Kenora earlier this month to pass her Gold level dance, which involves a 21-dance sequence.
She now can proceed to the next level–diamond dance.
Selin’s achievement to this level is just the third by a member of the local Border Figure Skating Club–joining Natalie and Nicole Katona as the only others.
Her coach, Tanis Mann, said it was a nice way to cap off years and years of hard work.
“It was nice to see her mature through the dances and get a better understanding of the final dance,” added Mann, who has coached Selin for the past three seasons.
“It is almost like ballroom dancing so posture and expression of the upper body was very important,” she noted.
What makes Selin’s accomplishment even more rewarding was the fact she was forced to practice without a partner leading up to the test day.
In fact, she was only able to practice with her dance partner, James Callan of Barrie, for just five minutes beforehand.
Selin said that definitely intensified her pressure to perform.
“To get there and have no partner until the test day makes it twice as hard,” she said, adding she spends about 10 hours on the ice each week.
Selin must now await the arrival of specific music to proceed with the next level, which she said will require an even higher level of excellence.
“The dance steps will now be more intricate, they’ll require more strength and it will technically be tougher all-around,” admitted the grade 12 Fort High student, who would like to become a figure skating coach herself some day.
Other local skaters to pass their tests in Kenora included:
oLexi Bolstad and Tricia Kostiuk (Ten Fox);
oLaureen Luchka and Kostiuk (Fourteen Step);
oSarah McComb (European);
oShane Katona, Julia Leek and Faith Armstrong (Rocker Foxtrot);
oHolly McRae and Bolstad (Level Seven skating skills);
oLindsey Hallikas (Kilian); and
oLeek, Armstrong and Kostiuk (Level Six skating skills).