Casey Bauer spent time as a youth watching skating shows with her family at The Ice at Cape Girardeau's Plaza Galleria. When she was 9 she decided there had been enough watching, and it was her time to shine.

"I started when I was 5, but it wasn't serious. My sister, Holly, and I both did it because we wanted to," Bauer, 17, said. "It didn't last long."

The sisters, both from Cape Girardeau, took time off to try their hand at dancing, but something about skating stuck with Casey, a junior at Notre Dame Regional High School.

"I just really became interested in it," she said. "I didn't really like dancing."

Taking it seriously may be an understatement. Since she was 9, Casey has traveled to St. Louis three times a week during the school year to train. Last summer was even busier when she traveled to Huntsville, Ala., then to Indianapolis, then to Los Angeles. In between her travels, she spent the weeks in St. Louis.

"I went all over the place last summer," she said. "And if I wasn't traveling I was in St. Louis."

Bauer says her favorite place to skate was Los Angeles.

"I got to skate with Olympians of the past, present and even future," she said. Bauer got the privilege to skate for internationally known coach Frank Carroll, who coached Michelle Kwan at the 1998 Olympics.

Casey does stick around on Monday nights to skate at the Cape rink with members of the United States Federal Skating Association. The USFSA provides skaters the chance to move up the ranks for a shot at Olympic competition, which Bauer has done.

She already has landed a spot on the gold level -- the highest level -- and is in the midst of passing four tests that are judged by professional judges to qualify for the 2006 Olympics.

"I hope to pass them all by the end of summer," she said. "It would be an awesome accomplishment to make the Olympics, just because I've put so much work into my skating."

Although the Olympics are a dream, her ultimate goal is to become a show skater.

"If I could make the Olympics, that would be great," she said. "But after that, I would love to get into show dancing. I love to show much more than compete."

Gators take a jump in division standings

The Cape Girardeau Gators Swim Team had a solid weekend at the Ozark Division 1 Championships by finishing sixth overall in the combined team standings, improving last year's performance by four spots and nearly quadrupling last year's point total.

On Saturday the Gators swept the 1,650 freestyle events in the 15-and-over age group. Steffan Troxell (16:31) and Emily Younghouse (18:21) each won, and Jameson Kuper completed a 1-2 sweep for the men when he notched a sectional cut in 17:19.

David Welker finished fourth in the men's division, while his sister, Angela, placed in the top eight for the women.

On Sunday, the Gators got more big performances from Troxell and Ashley Tellor. Troxell struck first by winning the 15-and-over 400 IM (4:18), and Kuper added his second sectional cut of the meet in 4:27. Kuper also added a sectional cut in the 100 breaststroke (1:03).

Tellor won the 100 breaststrokein 1:09.6.

Scorpions rugby team scores a pair of victories

The Kohlfeld Scorpions rugby team gained consecutive wins the past two weekends.

On March 15 the Scorpions upset nationally ranked Truman State 12-10 on Mark Limeberry and T.J. Ebner scores.

On March 22 the Scorpions defeated Missouri Union rival St. Louis Hornets 36-22. Tim "Doc" Joplin scored twice to lead five additional Scorpion scorers to give Kohlfeld the win.

The Scorpions will face the Fort Collins (Colo.) Rugby Club on April 12 at Arena Park in a Western U.S. Rugby Championship semifinal.