Shoreline teenager trains for 2012 U.S. Junior Figure Skating Championships

Ikaika Miyata of Shoreline

The U.S. Junior Figure Skating Championships will be held in East Lansing, Michigan, December 10-14, 2011.

Ikaika Miyata of Shoreline, who placed first in the Short Program and first in the Free Skate (Long) Program to win the gold medal at the Northwest Pacific Regionals Championship in Spokane, Washington (September 30-October 4, 2011), will be competing in MIchigan against the top skaters in nation.

The 2012 Northwest Pacific Regionals attracted skaters from Washington, Oregon, Montana, Wyoming, Alaska and Idaho. The 2012 U.S. Junior Figure Skating Championships will be attended by the top Regional and Sectional finishers nationwide at the Juvenile and Intermediate level in Singles, Pairs and Dance.

Ikaika is 15 years old, lives in Shoreline, and has been skating for five and a half years. He attends Edmonds Heights K-12. He is an Intermediate level skater. He started with and is still coached by Steve Baker, former British World Team member and his wife, Choreographer/Coach Sharon Jones Baker, 1988 Olympic British Ice Dancer.

Ikaika trains at the Olympic View Arena in Mountlake Terrace and in Everett, Washington at the Comcast Community Ice Rink, and is a member of the Seattle Skating Club.

Ikaika had a set-back in December last year while the National Junior Figure Skating Championships were taking place, as he underwent knee surgery for a meniscus repair. He returned to the ice in March of this year and has been training hard ever since.