Ryanne Jackson takes her talents to the Rink

By: Sammy Miller

Copy Editor 

Sophomore Ryanne Jackson takes her talents to the rink while overcoming obstacles on and off the ice. 

Jackson has been skating since she was just 2 years old and started to compete at age 7. She has been competitively skating for the Los Angeles Figure Skating Club (LAFSC) for 6 years now and is looking to possibly pursue figure skating after high school. 

“My favorite part about skating is being able to train with my best friends and how we motivate each other to work hard,” Jackson said. 

LAFSC was founded in 1933 and is a member of the United States Figure Skating Association. This world-renowned club is home to more than 70 National, World and Olympic Champions, making it one of the largest and most notable clubs in the country. Some of their most notable alumni include Olympians Michelle Kwan and Todd Eldredge and also world champion pairs skating team Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner. 

“I like LAFSC a lot because it’s a great group of people and all of my friends in the club constantly support me throughout the season,” Jackson said. 

Jackson has had to learn how to manage school and figure skating over the years. The balance of the two is necessary in order to get the best of both worlds. She is on the ice 6 days a week which averages around 18 hours of training per week, which limits leisure and homework time. 

“Balancing skating and school can be really difficult at times but the main thing I try to focus on is making sure that I’m trying my best because that’s all I can do,” Jackson said. “Sometimes it can be very stressful trying to balance the two but my friends and family help me get through it.” 

According to Jackson, she had a very bad knee injury for about 2 years that stood in the way of her training. This knee injury created not only a physical obstacle but a mental block in her mind. Due to physical therapy and her strong work ethic, she was able to get back on the ice. The obstacles didn’t stop there, she also had a stress fracture this year that stopped her from competing for a while. Jackson said that having this stress fracture after her knee injury was very hard and discouraging for her. 

“One of the biggest life lessons that skating has taught me is that you can keep going long after you think you can’t,” Jackson said. “There have been many times where I thought I was never going to get better but you have to keep pushing yourself and not give up just when things get tough.” 

Jackson has been able to fight through her injuries and compete at numerous competitions this year. One of the competitions that she has skated in this year was the All Year Figure Skating Club (AYFSC) competition. Out of 16 competitors, she placed fifth overall in the competition. She also competed in the Glacier Falls Summer Classic, placing sixth out of 17 skaters. 

“I enjoy competing and getting the results I want and even though that doesn’t happen all the time I focus on the good parts and what I did well,” Jackson said. 

One of the many figure skaters that she looks up to is Nathan Chen. According to Jackson, he inspires her because she finds it amazing how he’s able to balance both school and skating at the same time. He is both a college student at Yale University and a two-time World Champion in 2018 and 2019 as well as a 2018 Winter Olympic bronze medalist in the team event. Jackson uses her inspiration to continue to push herself in the sport that she loves. 

“I think [figure skating after high school] will depend on where I am at at the end of high school, but as of now I will most likely go to college and major in some sort of art and design and try to maybe still train on the side,” Jackson said. 

“We didn’t play our best tonight and we know we can do better,” Herdman said. “We are going to work hard in practice and get our heads back in the game before our Santa Barbara tournament next week.”