Sliding on ice may not usually be considered a good thing, but for three Fulton students, it's their favorite hobby.
Haley Hawkins and Katie and Rileigh Huffman are all on the same youth synchronized ice skating team based in Jefferson City - Capital Classics. The girls not only compete against other synchronized skating teams around Missouri but also compete individually in their respective age and skill levels.
Haley, 10, of Fulton, has been skating for about six years, but this is her first year on Capital Classics. She has been competing solo for about three years and says she likes both skating on a team and individually. Each come with their own challenges.
"(In synchronized) we have to be exact in everything we do and try to be the same," Haley explains. "It can also be fun to feel each other moving as a group, as one. It's a nice feeling."
Haley practices at the Washington Park Ice Arena in Jefferson City four times a week. The Capital Classics coach, Brent Echols, is also her individual coach. Haley said she's learned a lot since first putting on a pair of skates. She can now do several jumps, a backwards spiral and a sit spin. She skates at a free-style 5 level and said her goal is to learn an axel jump. Some skaters can never master the axel in their lifetime, Haley said.