Kayla Leung EAST BRUNSWICK — Township resident Kayla Leung finished fourth and made it to the podium at the Solo Ice Dance National Championship at the World Arena in Colorado Springs on Sept. 20.
The 14-year-old earned a No. 2 spot, representing the pre-silver level of Eastern Section. Only the top six from Eastern, Mid-West and Pacific sections are eligible to compete in the national championship.
In Colorado, Kayla finished strong in the qualifying round, ranking first in Fourteen Steps and second in European Waltz. She was then qualified to proceed to the championship round and earned the fourth place medal with her Fox Trot.
Kayla qualified to compete in the Solo Ice Dance National Championship in 2012 and 2013, but this year was more challenging because her skating coach Charles Fetter died of cancer on Aug 16, just a month before nationals.
Academically, she got an SAT score of 800 in math in eighth grade, was in the honor roll of American Mathematics Contest 8 and was awarded a scholarship for a three-credit course at Rutgers University recommended by Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth.
She is enrolled as a ninth-grader in the Stanford University Online High School after being homeschooled during elementary and middle school years.