Published March 28, 2019
WESTBOROUGH — North Reading’s Claire Grant, representing the North Shore Skating Club (NSSC), competed in the North Star Open held in Westborough March 22–23.
Skating to “That’s Life” from the SMASH soundtrack, Grant garnered a score of 29.73 points, earning her the silver medal in the Ladies Novice Short Program. Her longtime coach, Amy Hanson-Kuleszka, said that it was her best performance to date.
TOP HONORS. Claire Grant (center) won a gold medal in the Ladies Novice Excel Long Program at the North Star Open in Westborough. She also won silver in the Ladies Novice Short Program. (Mark Grant Photo)
Claire returned to the rink on Saturday, skating to “If I Had My Way” by Linda Eder, scoring 49.90 points, which was enough to land the gold medal in the Ladies Novice Excel Long Program. Fellow NSSC skater, Jessica Scearbo, took home the silver medal with a score of 41.97.
Grant developed a passion for figure skating when she first took to the ice at age 6, constantly working to hone her skills and improve in her chosen sport. She trains at Burbank Ice Arena in Reading three days per week, as well as the HockeyTown rink in Saugus every Tuesday, and Nashoba Valley Olympia in Boxborough on Thursdays.
In addition to all of her on-ice work, she continues her training with off-ice strength and conditioning sessions two days each week, takes ballet at the Marblehead School of Ballet on Saturdays, and works with choreographer Mary Wanamaker to fine tune her programs.
Next on Claire’s figure skating agenda will be performing a solo at the NSSC’s “Journey Thru Space” Ice Spectacular show taking place at Burbank from April 5-7. She will then compete in the Southern Connecticut Open in Darien, Conn. on April 13.
