Trenton Ice Skating Star, Wacasey-Shawn, Places At Nationals

The city of Trenton's rich hockey tradition is used to producing stars on the ice; however, this is a little bit different.

Kellie-Ann Wacasey-Shawn is developing into a figure skating star. The fact that is worth a story and a party in itself. The fact that she placed second in her group and fourth overall means there's a genuine star brewing in Trenton. According to her mother Karen Wacasey, her daughter's success has not been by mistake.

"Oh, it's taken a lot of work," Wacasey said as she spoke of 4:00 A.M. commutes to the ice rink for practice. "Figure skating is a huge commitment. You're either all in or you're not. But at the end of the day, to see your kid work hard for something and start to be recognized, fulfill their dream. It's priceless."

Some of the recognition her mother spoke of came when Wacasey-Shawn was invited to visit city council and meet Mayor Gerald Brown and other city officials in October.

"The city of Trenton is proud that she's a Trentonite," said Mayor Brown. "I don't believe anyone from Downriver had ever made it to nationals much less did as well as she did...it truly is extraordinary."

To give you an idea of what it takes to even make it to the Colorado competition, Wacasey-Shawn had to go through two rounds of divisional and regional competitiions through the year. Having to beat out thousands of skaters, she was one of 18 skaters invited to the national competition.

Wacasey said qualifying for nationals was her daughter's top goal this season. Then when she got there, her goal was to make the championship round which consisted of the top eight skaters. After she finished her program in the championship round, Wacasey-Shawn couldn't contain her emotions.

"She broke down and cried right when she got off the ice," Wacasey said. "It just became overwhelming for her to realize what she was doing,"  "Her coaches were trying to comfort her because they didn't know what was going on and she told them they were tears of joy."

Here's another glimpse into why this 13-year-old has the makings of a star. She is already trying to organize a charity event to invite kids to skate at a rink for the charity organization The Forgotten Harvest.

Wacasey-Shawn, who's big dream is to skate for the Disney on Ice franchise, is currently recovering from foot surgery and plans to compete for a preliminary round to qualify for nationals again in February.