on to omaha! (m)

Harrison moved up to the Senior Men's level in skating this year.  This is the end of the line which means that many of the competitors stay here for years, hoping to make it to the Olympics.

This past weekend, he competed at the Eastern Sectional Championships in Hyannis, MA.  This is a qualifying event meaning you advance only if you place in the top four.  There are ten competitors.

Going into the event, his coaches warned me that he would face stiff competition.  Five of the ten competitors have medaled at the senior level at nationals.  One is the former World Junior Champion.  All of them are seasoned and older than Harrison, ranging in age from 21 to 28 years old.

His coach Peter pulls me aside at practice on Saturday and says, "You know this is going to be tough, right?'  Peter is the optimist of the two coaches.  I get a pit in my stomach.

My husband and I watch the practices.  Some of the men have triple axels (Harrison doesn't) and quadruple jumps (Harrison doesn't).  I feel like throwing up.

He draws the first position in the short program.  He skates an almost perfect program.  By the end of the event, he is in third place, but numbers 4 and 5 are only five points below him.  That gap could be closed by just one jump in the free skate which is the next day.

Sunday, he is the next to last skater.  The men before him have skated well.  I'm keeping score and doing the math....he could hold onto third place if he skates his best. 

They call his name and he takes the ice.  I can see his lips are white from where I sit.  He's nervous.  I'm a mess.  I look at my husband who is the calmest person I know.  His legs are shaking.

His music starts (Slaughter on Tenth Avenue by Richard Rogers).  He has six triple jumps planned in the program.  He will need all of them to hang onto his slot.

After he lands his first four jumps, I start to relax.  He is on a roll.  Points-wise, he is not quite out of the woods.  He needs the next two jumps.

Jump 5 is perfect.  Okay, kiddo, one more.

Jump 6 is perfect.  His friends start to scream.  He's got twenty seconds left to his program.

And then....he falls.  On nothing.  He gets so excited, he falls on nothing.  Even the judges are laughing.  A minor deduction.

His scores come up.  They are his personal best.  Stuffed animals are being thrown on the ice.

I'm so relieved, I cry.

He ends up with the silver medal.

We are going to Nationals in Omaha.