Notre Dame Academy senior Grace Goh recently participated in the 2025 National Showcase at the Suburban Ice Arena in Rochester, Michigan. She participated despite having to figure skate on an ankle injury.

Advanced skaters from across the U.S. came to skate in the competition. Some were even affiliated with Team USA or professional shows like Disney on Ice. 

Goh trained without a coach and had to recover from a sprain just weeks before competing, all of  which tested her resilience and mental and physical strength.

Her first event was the Character Showcase, which featured a Regina George routine set to “World Burn” from the musical Mean Girls. Halfway through the program, Goh injured her ankle and struggled with prop issues that kept her from finishing strong, but Goh pushed through to place 30th. 

“I was just focused on breathing through the pain and finishing the routine because I was starting to fatigue and had a hard time getting oxygen,” she recalled.

During her Lyrical/Pop event, she bounced back and skated to “New Cool” from Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies. She prepared by taping her injured ankle and ended up delivering a clean performance and finishing 15th. 

“My goal was to fill up the arena with my presence and make it so that no one could look away from my skating,” said the senior.

Her final routine was for the Motown Showcase, and it was her proudest. She skated to Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” and dressed in gold bell bottoms and glitter. She delivered a performance that she choreographed herself, including signature tricks and authentic dance moves. 

“I performed my program and not only had a clean skate but also achieved what I and several others agree was my best performance of my Motown program ever!” she exclaimed.

“Being able to compete among all the other incredible skaters was a huge accomplishment in and of itself,” Goh explained. “However, I would say my biggest accomplishment is that my Motown program was so incredibly close to a podium win and did the best by far out of all of my programs. That was the program I choreographed by myself, and I had to learn all the technical rules for skating plus how to format a strong program that truly represents Motown and can score well in all the criteria.”

Even though she narrowly missed the podium by just 0.16 points, Goh was very happy with the experience, especially because she completed the competition with a sprained ankle.

Photography credit:  Melanie Heaney