This year’s guest skater is no stranger to members of the Albert Lea Figure Skating Club. She shares the ice with them every Wednesday evening.

Alana Enabnit, 15, of Clear Lake, Iowa, skates six days a week, not only in Albert Lea, but also in Mason City and Waterloo, Iowa.

“We spend many hours in the car,” she said.

Enabnit said it all began when her uncle took her skating when she was 4 years old.

“I didn’t fall. This was surprising because I was a major klutz,” she said. “So my mom thought, ‘Wow, she may have potential,’ and she signed me up.”

Enabnit has been skating for 10 years and is a member of the North Iowa Figure Skating Club, as well as an associate member of the Cedar Valley Figure Skating Club. She is a regional competitor and a three-time Iowa Games champion.

She currently competes at the novice level. Her biggest accomplishment so far this season was winning the novice ladies’ title at the Northland competition in Duluth. She competes about six times a year, she said.

Enabnit is coached by Abby Loeffelholz and Carlos Vic Walker. Her weekly training schedule includes approximately 15 hours of on-ice training, in addition to running and conditioning exercises. She trains throughout the summer at various facilities in the U.S.

“I enjoy skating because it is a difficult sport and it constantly challenges me to do new things. My favorite move is the double Lutz jump and the Biellmann spin,” she said.

The Biellmann spin is a figure skating spin in which the skater executes a one-foot spin while holding the other foot extended over her head and behind her, with both hands, forming a teardrop shape with the body.

Enabnit said she is inspired by every professional figure skater because skating is not only a physically challenging sport, but it is also mentally challenging. “Any skater who works hard to excel at it is an inspiration,” she said.

Her goal as a skater is to make it to the senior level. “I would like to make it to a sectional or national championship, but only the Lord can decide how far I go,” she said.

As an avid long-distance runner, Enabnit qualified last spring as a freshman for Iowa’s state track meet. She maintains a grade-point average of 4.0 and has been honored with the Academic Excellence Award. She is a member of the Clear Lake Christian Church.