In the past year, fifteen year-old Cali Roloson has participated in five qualifying figure skating competitions in four states, winning a total of five medals – three gold, one silver and one bronze. In addition, Roloson has rounded out this year’s Novice Ladies Excel division with two skating events for a combined total of 114.06 points, putting her ranking at 2nd in the nation and 1st in the eastern division.

Lisa Roloson, Cali’s mother, is the President of the Dutchess Figure Skating Club, based at the Civic Center in Poughkeepsie and her father is Lt. Phil Roloson with the Lloyd Police Department. Lisa described how skaters move up.

“The way it works to qualify is you have to do a series of events and they take your top two scores for your qualifying score. After you finish the series and you’re in the top six in your region, then you get to move on to the National Competition,” she said.

Lisa said her daughter’s region is the entire eastern third of the United States. She said the country is divided into three sections; eastern, mid-west and the west.

As a result of her standing, Roloson will be competing in the 2022 Excel National Festival that is being hosted by the Skating Club of Boston. It will be held in Norwood, Massachusetts from July 15 to July 17, 2022. The top 6 from each of the three sections of the country and two ‘wild cards’, 20 in all, will participate in this event for the National title.

Lisa said her daughter became interested in figure skating at the age of 4 after seeing an event on television.

“She just told us I’m going to be a figure skater, so we signed her up and she started with lessons on how to skate and has moved up in levels and coaching,” she said. “She does single skating routines and in Boston will be competing only in the women’s division.”

Lisa said this upcoming event is a culmination of, “a lot of years of hard work. It is exciting for her.”

Cali confirmed how her interest in skating began when she was just four.

“I just wanted to do what they do on TV. I loved the jumps and I loved the spins and love how effortlessly they made it look; those moments of weightlessness after all the work they put in.”

Cali said at the beginning she took a skating lesson once a week but presently she trains five days a week. She works with her coaches when choosing the music to build a routine around. In the past Cali said the music, “sometimes it’s lyrical, sometimes it’s violin and this time we chose a compilation piece from (the film) Snow White and the Huntsman with a very war-like vibe.” She noted that the competition has certain requirements that skaters must include within the presentation.

Cali said she is looking forward to the event in Boston, “I’m very excited.”