Citizen Wausau

In Memory of 14-year-old Lacey J. Meinel

by Kristy Medo on January 14th, 2009

Lacey Meinel, a young figure skater and superior athlete of her age group, will be sadly missed by many. If you have not already laid eyes on the many local headlines, she was a victim of a drunk driving accident on Saturday, January 10, 2009. To the best of my understanding she was on her way home from a figure skating competition when she and her mother we hit by a drunk driver driving in the wrong lane.

As a health and fitness professional I see many kinds of talent within athletes each and every day. Some individuals don’t even realize their own human potential and capabilities in the athletic realm. I find it is usually in the children that I see the most fire and desire to develop their natural born skills and abilities. That was surely the case in what I had experienced while being near Lacey on the ice.

While I had participated as a US Figure Skating Basic Skills Instructor for small children with Wausau’s very own 6.0 FSC International School of Skating, I had the pleasure to share ice time with Lacey at Greenheck Field House in Weston. During that time I would watch her in amazement of her power, grace and art that she applied to her figure skating. As an adult I know there is a certain element within me that wants every child to begin to explore their own individual greatness through physical expression. Lacey did just that everyday she would come onto the ice. With devotion to her sport, as a young girl she would be on the ice around 6 am prior to her normal school day. This is the typical regimen of most figure skaters as ice times are very limited for their practice. Many of these children and teens learn true discipline and sacrifice through their sports while most of us never learn that deep dedication, even as adults.

Lacey will always be remembered by those who surrounded her both on and off the ice. I know as the Badger State Games are right around the corner there will be a lot of tears and emotions that will be expressed through her fellow friends and “ice-mates” as they skate in the very same places that she had once skated. Our thoughts and prayers will be with her family now and always.

Kristy Medo
www.exercisewausau.com