Locals In Key Roles at US Figure Skating Championships in Hyannis

By Laura M. Reckford

HYANNIS – The US Figure Skating Adult Championships are underway this week at the Hyannis Youth and Community Center.

Among the 110 competitors on the ice is Dawn Feest, 44, of Harwich, who is competing in three Ladies Masters competitions: Intermediate, Dramatic and Light Entertainment.

Feest, a 1987 graduate of Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School, said she learned how to skate at the old Cape Cod Coliseum which was located off White’s Path in Yarmouth.

“It was a home away from home,” she said.

She competed professionally after high school and performed in ice shows for 10 years before leaving the sport. But when she turned 40, Feest said, she decided she regretted her decision to leave the sport. She returned as a masters competitor.

Performing locally at the US Figure Skating Championships at the Hyannis Youth & Community Center, bringing her career full circle, Feest said, fulfills a personal goal.

Besides qualifying championship competitors from the Eastern, Midwest and Pacific Coast sections, nonqualifying competitors will also participate, bringing the number of participants, who are between the ages of 21 and 85, to approximately 600.

Another local who has a big role during this week’s competition is Carolyn Pierce, a US Figure Skating Judge and National Vice Chair of Theatre on Ice. Pierce, who learned to skate at the old Kennedy Rink in Hyannis, said she was never a perfect skater, but she always had an interest in the sport.

When attending competitions with relatives, she would often ask the judges why they did certain things. Finally—perhaps as a way to avoid the questions, she said with a laugh—they asked her to be a judge. That was more than 30 years ago and she has been immersed in the sport ever since.

Pierce said the US Figure Skating Adult Championships are the most prestigious skating event that has ever been held on Cape.

Donna Wunder of the Yarmouth Ice Club, which is hosting the event said the club is very experienced in hosting competitions and was approached by US Figure Skating about hosting the adult nationals.

“I love watching adults skate,” Wunder said. “They are very happy group of skaters. They support each other. It’s a wonderful experience.”

Daily passes for the competition cost $15 and are available at the door. The Hyannis Youth & Community Center is located at 141 Bassett Lane in Hyannis.



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