Searching for gold in cold of Utah

For some 13-year-old girls, being "driven" means getting a ride to the mall.

For Andover eighth-grader Bianca Capone, "driven" takes on an entirely different meaning. A competitive figure skater, she spends six days a week training on the ice and was recently named New England juvenile figure skating champion.

Bianca won the juvenile girls gold medal at the New England Regional Figure Skating Championships, earning herself a spot next week at the Junior National Figure Skating Championships in Salt Lake City, Utah. She'll be competing against the top skaters from all across the country in her age category | 13 and younger.

She has skated since she was 4 and has taken private lessons from Andover resident Leslie Sharrio for six years. Bianca said her drive and determination stem from her love of the sport | "the whole picture" of both the athletic and artistic aspects of figure skating.

"I'm a very independent person, and skating is not a team sport," she said with a smile. "It takes perseverance, determination and you have to have a positive attitude. ... I've learned how to win and how to lose."

Bianca said she's excited to compete in Salt Lake, and she doesn't really get nervous when she competes, just a few jitters. This will be her first time visiting Utah.

"A lot of the sport is being mentally prepared and handling pressure, and I think I'm very good at that," she said. "It's an emotional investment."

In the two-and-a-half-minute routine required for Bianca's level, skaters must include 10 elements, including six jumps, three spins and a footwork sequence. The panel of judges watching -- as many as 14 -- look at skaters' execution (that they don't fall), choreography, transitions between elements and overall performance.

The strongest aspect of her skating, Bianca believes, is her presentation: how graceful she looks on the ice as she interprets the music.

Having stamina, flexibility and strong core strength are important to the jumps and other technical aspects of the routine, Bianca pointed. She stretches and does weight training at home every day.

"You can't be advanced at this sport without it (core strength)," she said. "I wish people knew how hard (skating) is. I wish they knew what it was like to do a double run-though (skating a routine twice, back-to-back). It's tiring."

Bianca earned her gold at regionals this fall with a routine set to the music of "Miss Saigon." She wears a bright red dress for the routine and said she concentrates on channeling the emotion of the musical's story.

"For me, the hardest part is facial expression, and movement. (The routine) really helped me to learn to express myself (on the ice)," Bianca said. "I had to learn not to be afraid of it and be comfortable."

At regionals, she skated the routine twice -- once in the qualifying round and again in the finals -- to take first. Both times, she skated clean.

After earning a gold medal in the qualifying round at regionals, she hung the medal on the wall in her room that night. Before leaving the house the next morning to skate in the finals, Bianca promised the medal that she'd "bring it home a twin."

"She had a look in her eye (at regionals) that she wanted it," said Bianca's mother, Linda Capone. "She pushes herself, and it was good to see all her hard work pay off. She skated the best she's skated all season."

Bianca is the only child of Anthony and Linda Capone. Linda Capone said all of Bianca's motivation in skating comes from within; the Capone's don't push their daughter to compete. Bianca asked to learn how to skate at age 4 after watching ice skating on television, so they enrolled her in group lessons. At 7, she asked to study privately, and they started her in lessons with Sharrio.

Twice a week, Bianca leaves school during her lunch and recess break to skate with Sharrio at the ice rink at Phillips Academy. The majority of her training, when she and Sharrio design and choreograph her routines, is accomplished during the summer, when Bianca is off from school.

Bianca attributes her success to the support from her parents and family; her grandmother picks her up from school twice a week to take her to the rink for practice.

"I couldn't have done it (made it this far) without them," she said.

Bianca is an eighth-grader at the Andover School of Montessori. Besides skating, she likes to read and is interested in fashion design. Her favorite subject in school is English. She also volunteers at an assisted living home and at the library, and teaches group lessons to beginning skaters at the Wilmington Skating Club, where she first took lessons.

Next year, Bianca will move up to the intermediate level, which is for skaters older than 13. For now, she'll enjoy the trip to Salt Lake City, she said, and is busy taking her SSAT and applying to private high schools.

The first criteria she looked for when visiting high schools | her list includes the Governor's Academy, Brooks School, Pingree and Phillips | is that the campus has an ice skating rink.

Bianca Capone, Andover's champion skater

r Favorite competitive figure skater: Michelle Kwan | the most decorated U.S. figure skater ever. Kwan has claimed nine world medals, nine U.S. titles and two Olympic medals (1 silver, 1 bronze).

"She's the best skater and has so much charisma. She'll always be remembered for that," Bianca said.

r Name game: Bianca's cat is named Axel, after the figure skating jump.

r Wisdom she would tell her younger self, starting out:

"Don't give up and you have to have a positive attitude," she said.

r Game, set, match: One thing she's always sure to bring to skating competitions is a sweat suit. Her sweat shirt, pants, skating bag, skate guards and other accessories must match, she said. She has a lucky warm-up suit that coordinates with the dress she wears for the "Miss Saigon" routine.

"I like things to match," she said with a smile.

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