In The News

By JEAN BIHN
Throughout most of July and August, don't look for Susan Neville Ovens or her, three girls at their Peoria home. They're probably on A road trip, traveling to a roller-skating competition somewhere in the United States.

And they know how to bring home medals, too.

Take, for example, the 2001 National Artistic Championships in Pensacola, Fla., earlier this month.

Erin, 14, won a gold medal in Freshman Solo Dance and placed second in Freshman Team Dance. She also earned a silver medal in Freestyle.

Paige, 11, took a gold medal in Elementary Team Dance with Joe Styma, 12, teammate from Phoenix, and placed fifth in freestyle singles.

Although Taylor, 9, didn't bring home any medals from the national competition, she placed 11th in juvenile Solo and 23rd in figures.

On top of coaching her own daughters, Ovens, a former national roller skating champion, coaches the North Phoenix Artistic Team of about 25 skaters. The team currently meets at the RollerPlex Skating Center, 16083 N. 75th Ave., in Peoria.

Ovens grew up in the Northwest Valley, attend ing Cortez High School and graduating from Glendale Community College. Once she married and started a family, she thought she was finished with roller-skating, but after she and a childhood friend attended a regional meet in Bakersfield, Calif, they both thought their children might enjoy the pastime.

Erin, a freshman at Cactus High School, has been skating since she was 6. Paige decided to tag along at the tender age of 3 when Erin began lessons. Taylor was just a year old then, but started lessons a few years later when she turned 3.

All three said they especially enjoy the traveling that accompanies competition and have made friends everywhere they go. The team travels to regional competitions in Nevada and California, as well as competitions in other parts of the country.

"You get to meet lots of new people in different states," Erin said. "I have friends in Michigan... California ... Ohio ... Florida."

Although Erin has won more than 100 medals and 25 trophies, skating isn't her only extracurricular activity. Last year, she also played basketball an volleyball at Oakwood Elementary School and maintained a 3.85 grade point average. This year, Erin plays softball.

"Dance is my favorite part of skating, but I think softball is my favorite sport," Erin said. Paige, who maintains a 3.6 GPA, said since this was her fourth trip to national competition, she wasn't scared. Besides, she was too busy checking out the competition.

"It's like there's a whole bunch of skaters and it's really fun because you get to watch everybody else skate and you get to see what everybody else can come up with, like their costumes a:nd stuff," Paige said.

Like her older sisters, Taylor enjoys the traveling, but she also likes the fact that her mother is her coach.

"It's cool to have her as a coach," Taylor said. "It's almost like she's not your mom."

The two younger girls attend Oakwood Elementary School, where Paige is a sixth-grader and Taylor a fourth-grader.

Even though her students, including her daughters, sometimes miss school for competitions, Ovens doesn't allow skating to interfere with schoolwork. All must show his or her report cards.

"You do not skate at the expense of education or at the expense of life," Ovens said. "Erin also plays on a city league softball team. I try to make skating something that enhances their life.,,

Those lessons include confidence and enthusiasm for doing something well, not just by someone else's standards, but in your own eyes, too, Ovens said.

"What I want for these kids is for them to grow up, go to college and get married and have children and want their children to do it because it was such a good time for them," Ovens said.

Apparently, Ovens, a National champion in 1976, 1977 and 1979, practices what she preaches.