Badgers love those Badger Games

BADGER State Winter Games.

Beginner or advanced athlete, young or old, you can still go out and have some wholesome winter fun.

Dedicated students from Stevens Point Area Senior High certainly give it their best every year.

For teens from the Stevens Point area, the figure-skating competition seems to be the favorite.

"Badger State Games is the time to compete against other people," said junior Erin Morgan, who has been skating for 11 years. "You get to test yourself to see what you can do."

"Badger State is great for young people in the state," said fellow skater Annie Luebke. "It brings out the Olympic spirit in everyone."

While some of the 43 skaters from the Stevens Point area dread competition, the more advanced skaters just go with the flow.

Maria Elena Lopez-Frank, a skater for six years, said: "It's all for fun. Even though skating is mainly an individual sport, you get to know people as a group."

Erin Schroth agreed. "It's the fun that counts because otherwise I wouldn't be doing it," she said.

Some skaters like the feeling of accomplishment that comes with competition.

Senior Sandra Redding said: "I'm excited for the games. Competing is so much different than just practice different and definitely better."

Juniors Kristina Lee and Brita Knippel also like the sense of focus that comes with competition.

"I love competing and feeling like I've done something important during the day," Lee said.

Knippel, a 10-year skating veteran, said: "I love to skate. Not only is it good exercise, but it challenges you to push yourself to the limit."

Attitudes like these could be the reason that participation in skating has doubled in central Wisconsin since the first Badger State Games seven years ago.

Copyright 1995
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.