Sperreng Middle School students Isabella Moreno and Carter Hausman have a need for speed, and speed skating is the perfect outlet.
Training nearly daily, the tweens – both members of the Gateway Speedskating Club – have put a lot of work over the years into their craft. This has paid off as they both qualified for and competed in the 2025 US Age Group National Championships Short Track event in New Jersey this past March.
“I took one year to get that (qualifying) time because it was very difficult. I trained very hard on ice and also on wheels because I feel like it’s very similar. I train Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays – (every day) except for Sundays,” Isabella said. “When you like something, you just want to do it.”
“We practiced about three to five times a week, at his request – nobody’s forcing him to do this. He put in a ton of hard work, working out not only on the ice, but off the ice. (He’s) learning how to put the form into action and actually really go,” Brian Hausman, Carter’s dad, said. “He’s really, really getting good at this. It was just a pleasure to watch as he progressed, and (I’m) looking forward to seeing what happens next year.”
Both Isabella and Carter qualified in the Junior Division, for 11 and 12-year-olds, during the 2024-2024 season. Only 38 elite individuals nationwide qualified this year for the Junior Division.
“It was very nervous, very scary, but I feel like it was very good to see how nationals are,” Isabella said.
“I met a lot of new people. It was a lot of people from all over the country,” Carter added.
Each day of the three-day championship held a different event: the 500-meter, the 777-meter and the 1,000-meter race. While they competed in each event, both Carter and Isabella gravitated towards the quick 500-meter race.
“I really like the 500 because you can just full-out sprint it,” Carter said. “The entire season, I was working hard for that.”
Though on the same club team, the Sperreng students found their way to the unique sport quite differently. Isabella began when she was seven with roller skating before transitioning to ice just two years ago, while Carter started at a very young age in “Learn to Skate.”
“I was going to the park when I was five with my mom and dad,” Isabella said. “It was a circle, so I told my mom and my dad, ‘Can you time me?’ Every time I did a lap in the circle, I wanted to get the time lower and lower.”
“I started with learning to skate and then went on to hockey, but I didn’t really like all the equipment. I just wanted to go fast, so I told my parents, and we got into speed skating,” Carter said.
Despite their introductions to the sport differing, Isabella and Carter both have lofty goals for themselves in regard to skating. Isabella hopes to make it to the Olympics one day, while Carter – who plays nearly every sport offered at a middle school level – wants to continue qualifying for speed skating nationals through high school. They also both want speed skating to be more widely recognized and for more of the community to join.
“It’s available for all age groups. You can start at five, and we have people (at Gateway Speedskating Club) over 70 who still skate. It’s a great sport,” Brian said.
For those interested, the speed skating season runs from September to March each year.