The contest is over.
The skating is not.

She will object to this statement. She likes to say, "I used to skate." Fortunately, I have evidence. The last time she had been on the ice was February 2020 - more than five years earlier. I actually have a video from that day. In it, I'm pulling her around by both hands while she is basically standing on skates.

Watch the February 2020 evidence

So yes, technically, she had been on ice. "Skating" may be generous.

Fast-forward five years to our escape from the Texas heat. Mikayla stepped onto the ice and announced, "Oh my God, I forgot how to skate. Maybe I should take lessons."

As chance would have it, a new session of group lessons at Chaparral had just started. Mindy generously offered to let Mikayla try the class before we signed her up.

Mikayla's response? "No. I don't want to." She was shy and suddenly resisted the whole idea.

She just needed a little nudge. She came off the ice and said, "Okay. Sign me up." And that was it. At least, that's what I thought.

She started in Basic 2. Then something happened. She fell in love. With skating.

She made friends at the rink who inspired her - and still do. She watched other skaters fly through jumps, spin, and move across the ice in ways that seemed absolutely irresistible to her. She didn't just admire them. "I can't wait until I'm doing that in a couple of months!" she'd say with complete confidence. Never mind that she was talking about skills that take years of dedicated training to develop.

And my response was always: "That's awesome!" While doing my best to keep my eyes from popping and my eyebrows in place.

I could see how much she loved being on the ice, so I got her a private coach once a week. By December - only a few months after starting Basic 2 - she was performing her own solo program in the Christmas show.

"Let's try one competition this season and see if you like it," her coach suggested. Mikayla had other ideas. She wanted to go to Boston for the Excel National Festival and Final. So we registered for the three U.S. Figure Skating Excel Series competitions required for the Finals in Boston.

She entered the first one. First place. Then the second. First place. Then the third. First place.

Then came Boston. In July, Mikayla stepped onto the ice at the 2026 Excel National Festival and Final, competing at Aspire 3. And she took first place there, too. Not by a fraction of a point. She scored 19.52 and finished 2.89 points ahead of second place.

Four competitions. Four first places.

Watch Mikayla's performance at the 2026 Excel National Final in Boston

Sometimes I look at the timeline and think, how exactly did we get here? There was no carefully designed plan. We were hot. We went skating. She took a group lesson. And then she just... went.

One year later, my little girl, who started with simple Basic 2 strokes, now has an Axel and three consistent doubles - Salchow, toe loop and loop - and is working on double flip, Lutz and Axel. One year.

As her mother, what means the most to me is seeing what happens when she finds something she truly loves and has the freedom to explore. I watched that love and freedom turn into determination. I watched her seek challenges instead of avoiding them. I watched her want to practice, want to improve, want to learn the next thing - and then the next.

Today, Mikayla is also a junior coach in the Learn to Skate program. She happily gives her time and attention to others - and nothing makes her happier than seeing them succeed.

We didn't walk into Chaparral Ice looking for Mikayla's sport. We were just chasing air conditioning. In fact, Mikayla already had a sport - jiu-jitsu. But I think I'll let Dad tell that story.