When did you start skating, and how long have you been ice dancing?
Allie started skating when she was eight years old, and began competing at ten years of age.
Michael started skating when he was seven, and began competing at eight. Both of us began ice-dancing at twelve years of age.

In your own words, tell us how you started skating together?
We started skating together April 3rd 2003, after a tryout. Both of us had broken up with previous partners, and we both trained at the same rink. The first day of try outs we noticed an effortless speed which inspired us to see how far the partnership could go.

Who are your coaches? How did they prepare you for nationals?
We moved from Kitchener, Ontario, to Barrie to train with our new coaching team, Kelly Johnson, Pavol Porac, and David Islam, in September. They focused on improving our basic skating skills and increased the intensity of our practice sessions. Dylan Harries, our trainer, made us physically and mentally ready for the new challenges we had ahead of ourselves. We had three competitions to get the feel of our new coaches, and we really enjoyed working with the whole team, so by the time nationals came around we felt more than ready despite the change of environment.

What were your goals heading in to Nationals?
As it was our first year, we wished to make an impact on the rest of the field, as well as performing our best in all three events.

How did you feel about your performances?
We were very pleased with the way we handled ourselves at our first nationals together. The whole competition got better as it went on, with decent compulsories and a personal best skate in both the OD and the freedance.

Which compulsory dance is your favourite?
Allie likes the blues, and Michael likes the quickstep, as a team we enjoy the starlight, the cha cha and the argentine.

Which skaters or dancers do you look up to?
Dance teams we look up to are Margarita Drobiazko and Povilas Vanagas, and as for single skaters Michael’s favourite is Kurt Browning, and Allie likes Ilia Kulik and Oksana Baiul.

When you are not skating, how do you like to spend your time?
Allie spends her free time reading, going to the gym, and practicing her very very amateur photography. Mike loves anything to do with cars, and other sports, especially golf.