SARATOGA SPRINGS — Local 15-year-old skaters David Skoda and Kathryn Toth will be representing the Saratoga Winter Club this weekend at the 2013 U.S. America’s Cup short Track Meet at the Weibel Avenue Ice Rink.
Top speedskaters from across the country will be at the event, which starts Saturday afternoon.
Toth (AverillPark) and Skoda (Niskayuna) have been skating with one another since they were both 8 years old, although Skoda started when he was even younger.
“I played hockey and I hated the pads and stuff, putting them on all the time,” Skoda said. “I was like 3 years old. I was decent at skating and my sister did figure skating. My mom saw a flyer and I’ve been doing speedskating since I was 4 years old.”
While Toth’s roots to speedskating started as a figure skater when she was four, the moment she put the speedskates on was when she knew what sport was hers.
“I liked going fast, so I just kind of fell in love with it,” said Toth, who added that she was influenced by prominent local skaters like Petra Acker.
The nationally ranked Toth came in second at the U.S. Speedskating National Championships in her age group and seventh at the Junior National Championship last year. She also won seven gold medals at the 2013 Empire State Games.
Both Toth and Skoda will be competing in the 135-meter, 500m, 1000m and 1500m, hoping to establish points to be recognized amongst the nations best at their age level.
“My goal is to skate as well as I can and kind of show my place and get my name heard being in the top girls,” said Toth, who is looking to build on to last year’s success.
One of her coaches, Paul Marchese, has been coaching at the Saratoga Winter Club sine 2002.
“(Marchese) has so much experience and knows how you’re feeling and he’s been through it, so he can coach you through it mentally,” Toth said. “Also, he knows all the techniques and how they’ve changed over the years.”
An Olympic team coach, technical specialist and equipment perfectionist and manufacturer, Marchese also operates Marchese Racing, a premier boot and equipment design and manufacturing company. He has been able to see Toth grow into the competitive skater she is today.
“[Katy]’s been doing it for a while,” Marchese said. “She’s progressed really well the past two or three years. Now she’s just beginning to get in the top ranks in the junior class after a good performance last year at the junior world team trials. This year she’ll be even closer yet. I think junior world team is in her future whether it’s this year or the year after. It’s a great opportunity to have an AmCup, this level of competition in our back yard. There’s only two of them in the country each year and it’s nice to have one here that you don’t have to travel for. It’s still early in the year but it’s the first opportunity to really measure yourself against other kids your age or close to your ability nationally.”
With the meet coming not too early in their season, Marchese added that the meet is at a great time to measure talent, as some locations in the United States get ice much earlier in the season than others.
While Marchese has seen Toth progress through the years, he didn’t know what to expect with Skoda—heading into this summer, no one did.
Skoda took over a year off from the sport to focus on school, but has made strides in a comeback, most recently with racing to qualifying times for this weekend’s events after a solid performance last week at the Weibel Avenue rink.
“[Skoda] took some time off, but this year he’s back and just being a year older is a huge gain,” Marchese said. “He started training a little late this summer, but he is still way ahead of where I thought he would be at this time and he’ll certainly open some eyes. He’s a completely different skater now.”
“He’s made exponential gains in a short period of time,” added physical therapist and outpatient coordinator Maureen Cormier, who has been working with the Saratoga Winter Club since 1999. “I think Kate and David work well pushing each other and supporting each other and during every practice they have a certain level of comradely with the ability to keep pushing the bar.”
That bond has helped the two throughout the years and it’s something Toth missed while her fellow teammate was gone.
“Since I started skating, I’ve been skating with him,” Toth said. “It’s cool to have another kid my age because when he was gone I was kind of alone. I had the older skaters but no one my age to skate competitively with so it really helps to push me to my best.”
The two local skaters will be competing in a junior pool of athletes that ranges from 14 years of age to 19, as they aim for a future spot in age-graded national championships and even junior nationals and junior world teams.
They will also be joined by local skater Katie Ralston (Saratoga Springs graduate). Ralston lives out west in Salt Lake City, competing at the senior level, and will return home for the weekend.
Former five-time Olympian and current Saratoga coach Amy Peterson Peck will be also be on hand this weekend, as will national and North American champions skater and Saratoga coach Pat Maxwell.
Tom Porter, the father of Olympian speedskater Erin Porter, will be the chief judge at this weekend’s meet. From the days when the Eastern States Outdoor Speedskating Championships were held at the Eastside Recreation field, he has been a familiar face and avid student of the sport.
This is just one of the many pre-Olympic events, as the 2014 Olympic Winter Games will be held in Sochi, Russia from February 7-23. There are 12 spots on the Olympic Short Track team, six for men and six for women, competing in the 500m, 1000m and 1500m.
“This will be a fun, competitive weekend featuring Olympic hopefuls and strong local talent,” said President of Saratoga Winter Club Paul Ripchik.
The short track competition kicks off Saturday, November 2, with the finals starting off later that evening at 6 p.m. and extra competition continuing on Sunday.
“I think it’s really cool (to host) because traveling takes the energy out of you,” said Toth, who has traveled from Massachusetts to Nebraska, to Wisconsin, just to name a couple of the places she has competed in the last year. “For big meets like this we always have to travel really far, so being able to come here and skate, we know the ice, we know what it gives you and how to use the ice to your best advantage so I think that helps a lot.”
For more information on the single-elimination-type event weekend, visit www.saratogawinterclub.com. Tickets are now on sale for $5.
