It doesn’t matter that Megan Hodgson has been roller skating frequently for 25 years.
She never grows tired of it.
“It’s honestly become home to me,” the 31-year-old Greenwood resident said of the rink. “I’ve been in the rink I think more than probably anywhere else combined.
“It’s just become when I get on skates now, it’s no different than walking.”
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
Hodgson, who has been competing for 22 years, is one of nine Franklin Skate Club members heading to the July 24 to Aug. 6 National Artistic Roller Skating Championships in Lincoln, Nebraska.
After nationals, Hodgson usually takes a break for a month. She said the layoff from skates is nice for about two weeks and then she is ready to go.
“It feels wrong not to have them on,” Hodgson said.
This will be Hodgson’s 16th trip to nationals. Last year, she captured her fourth gold medal, winning the junior women’s figures class in the nationals at Albuquerque, New Mexico.
“I didn’t skate as well as I wanted to do, so I just came home with one medal,” said Hodgson, who captured her first gold when she was 11 years old. “It was gold so that was OK.”
Hodgson said juniors is a class below the world class level.
Hodgson will defend her gold medal and compete in three other classes, including the world class women’s figures. Hodgson said she competed in the world class last year and did not do well.
“My main goal this year is to be able to calm my nerves more and skate better at the world class level,” said Hodgson, a 2004 Greenwood Christian Academy graduate.
Hodgson said her Franklin Skate Club coach, Cathy Carmack, and the Franklin Skate Club staff deserve credit for her success.
“They’re like family to me,” Hodgson said. “They’re fantastic people. They bend over backwards for their skaters.”
The other club member headed to nationals from Johnson County is Victoria Dorsey, a 19-year-old from Whiteland.
Dorsey, who graduated high school from The Indiana Academy for Science, Mathematics and Humanities in Muncie, has been skating for 10 years, competitively for eight years.
This will be Dorsey’s fourth trip to nationals.
“I’m hoping to make it to finals, which I think is the first 15,” said Dorsey, who will be competing in freshman/sophomore B figures and loops. “I’ve only been to the elimination events. I haven’t made it to finals.
“I’ve been placing higher the more I go.”
Dorsey, who attends the University of Indianapolis, has been practicing about four times a week during the summer. It drops to about twice a week during the school year.
“It’s something I really enjoy doing and keeps me healthy and active,” Dorsey said. “I personally think it’s a really good stress reliever. I love the people I skate with, and everyone at the rink is super nice.”
Carmack coaches 15 skaters. Nine skaters qualified at the Great Lakes Regional in West Chester, Ohio, in June.
“This is the most people that have qualified in one year,” Carmack said. “Franklin Skate Club has had people qualify every year for the past 30 years.”
Carmack has been coaching for 35 years, including 30 at Franklin.
“I think we have good possibilities for being on the podium at nationals,” Carmack said.
The other skaters heading to nationals range in age from 15 to 73. They are Hannah Garrett, Indianapolis; Rick Garrett, Indianapolis, Jeanne Coonse, Avon; Linda Martin, Indianapolis; Michael McDaniel, Muncie; Clare Watts, Collinsville, Ill.; Pam Scales, Sellersburg; and Roger Kissel, Columbus, Ohio.
