Mackenzie Domhof is not just a figure skater, she's an athlete.
Although she's only 13, she's already had 10 years of training digging her toe picks into the ice and is also heavily involved in track and field as a sprinter and long jumper.
Higher, farther, faster has become ingrained as her mantra and her strong work ethic helped drive Domhof to the medal podium this past weekend at the Cariboo North Central Regional Figure Skating Championships.
She posted first-place marks (20.07) to win the STARSkate 7 event on Saturday and followed that up with another solid skate in the juvenile program Sunday. Domhof won the silver medal in the juvenile women's under-14 category, placing just behind Ally Norum, her Northern B.C. Centre for Skating clubmate.
"She's progressing really fast and she had an outstanding skate (Saturday) with a positive GOE (Grade of Excellence) in almost all of her elements," said Andrea Ludditt, who coaches Domhof along with NBCCS club director Rory Allen.
"Everything was executed at a really high level. She's beautifully-packaged and has such strength mixed with grace. She's flexible and strong. She works so hard, she's so determined. That raw athleticism, she has those finite skills, the jumping, throwing and running and her movements are so sound, smooth and easy-looking."
Domhof's commitment to training as a runner and long jumper as a member of the Prince George Track and Field Club keeps her overall fitness at a high level, which gives her the stamina to stay strong and sturdy on her blades. The straight-A Grade 8 student at Cedars Christian school likes the thrill of competing on the track in club and high school meets but figure skating is still her No. 1 sport.
"I've always been a sprinter, I like doing 100-metre, long jump and standing long jump," said Domhof. "I started skating when I was three, I did CanSkate, and then Junior Academy of Figure Skating when I was five and started loving it from there.
"Figure skating is obviously my favourite. I love the way you feel when you perform, you can kind of really express yourself."
A growth spurt that added four inches of height in nine months has produced some ebbs and flows in her season that have messed with Domhof's confidence. In figure skating, a sport in which balance, co-ordination and spatial awareness are key ingredients, she's struggled at times to keep pace with her lengthening limbs but Domhof was in fine form despite the added pressure of performing in front of a home audience at the Kin Centre over the weekend.
Domhof nailed three different double combinations in her 2 3/4 minute skate on Saturday.
"My goal was to commit all my jumps because I've been popping lots during practice so I ended up pulling in (on her jumps) and I had a really great double loop and it had lots of height - my presentation was really good," said Domhof. "All my jumps I got some bonus points and my program components are usually pretty good. My double loop is definitely my strongest jump and so I was really help I was able to come out and show that."
In her long program Sunday, she started with a double Salchow-double toe combination and also put together a double toe-single loop-double loop combination, both executed with only slight GOE deductions.
The program Domhof is skating now has taken some athletes to provincial medals and while she's not at that level yet, she's just beginning to scratch the surface with her potential. She joined the track club last summer, knowing her workouts will keep improving her leg strength to help her soon reach the provincial level in skating.
She moved with her family to Prince George from Vanderhoof three years ago and has showed steady progress climbing the regional ranks since she joined the NBCCS club.
The next big figure skating meet on the horizon for Domhof is the Super Series STARSkate final in Kelowna, March 2-4.
She missed the section meet in November, the qualifying event for the B.C. Winter Games in Kamloops, Feb. 22-25, but three NBCCS club members will represent Zone 8 at the Games, including the 13-year-old Norum (juvenile), Reese Johnson (pre-novice), Jayna Mason (pre-novice).
Mason, 14, won the pre-novice event at the 240-skater Cariboo North Central meet and Johnson, 16, skated a personal-best as the only skater in the pre-novice men's class. Justin Hampole of the NBCCS, a 13th-place finish at the national championships, skated the junior men's short program and also took part in an interpretive event Saturday but a back injury kept him off the ice Sunday.
