Helena Rose Bonavita, a 13-year-old who attends the eighth grade at Cazenovia High School, achieved the highest level in U.S Figure Skating (USFS) by passing her gold medal test on the campus of Clarkson University in Potsdam on Dec. 16, 2016.

This senior level test is only attempted after successfully completing 22 previous dances, each with increasing difficulty, under the intense scrutiny of three USFS judges. Becoming a U.S. Figure Skating gold medalist is the culmination of many years of hard work and dedication to the sport. In a typical year, approximately 40,000 U.S. Figure Skating test levels are completed by athletes; of those, only 90, are at the gold level in dance.

Bonavita has been working on these dances for the past six years. She earned her first USFS gold medal last year in Moves in the Field.

Bonavita will also be testing her Canadian gold level dances in March this year after successfully completing the U.S. gold. She also recently passed her juvenile freestyle test and is working towards her gold medal in this event as well. She has also recently competed at the North Atlantic Regional Championships and the State Games of America, medaling in both. She will be representing CNY at the Empire State Games being held in Lake Placid this February.

Bonavita trains five days a week and averages 10 hours of ice time per week. She is coached by Stacy and Jeff Petri as well as Sherry Robbins.