Teen Regional Champ Sets Sights on Salt Lake City Competition

Following her , Gig Harbor's Alison Jeffers is looking to improve her performance at the Pacific Coast Sectional Championships.

With the support of her coach and her parents, Jeffers will travel to Salt Lake City on Tuesday for the five-day competition.

The 17-year-old, who considers herself a "perfectionist," will be competing against 11 other skaters in her junior ladies division.

Jeffers said she has been working with her new coach, Diane Rawlinson, since February. With Rawlinson living in Portland, Jeffers said she splits her time in Tacoma and Portland to train with the former Olympic and World Team coach. She is also part of the Portland Ice Skating Club.

Jeffers said she trains about five to six days a week at the Lloyd Center and Mountain View Ice Rink in the Portland area, Bremerton Ice Center and Puget Sound Hockey Center. Off the ice, she trains at CrossFit Gig Harbor.

"Alison is just like a sponge. She works like a little barracuda," said Rawlinson, who praised Jeffers for her enthusiasm and artistry on the ice. "She skates with her heart."

Jeffers, who has been skating for almost a decade, said her goal is to finish in the top six positions in order to qualify for scholarship opportunities in the future.

"If I make the top four, I make it to Nationals," she said. "But that would be a little bit of a miracle. But, I mean, it's possible. Anything is possible."

Those wishing to help Jeffers with her expenses for this competition may make a tax-deductible contribution in her name to the New England Amateur Skating Foundation, P.O. Box 6881, Providence, RI, 02940. For details, call 253-858-2321.