August 24-25, 2023
It is hard to believe a whole year has passed since Emily last skated in the National Qualifying Series. It was not a great experience the last time around, so we were hopeful that this year would be better. This year, she would skate in Fort Wayne, Indiana, home to Battle of the Blades, and this year's NQS event. We drove up through Dayton on Wednesday night and had dinner with Grandma. Then we finished the drive just in time to check-in and go to bed. We had to wake up quite early on Thursday morning for Emily's practice ice (which went great) and then her short program. She had been skating really strong leading into this competition (unlike last year, due to the stress of changing schools, mostly) so we were hopeful for a great performance.
She skated great! Just look at that smile in the pic above. She hit all of her elements and every jump! There were 13 in her group and she finished 7th, but she also scored a personal best on her short! What a great way to start the series...and the weekend! Since we were finished early in the morning, we decided to head over to the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo. We really enjoyed it last time we went so we were anxious to go back again.
