Locontes Excel on the Ice

SEELEY LAKE – Siblings Damon and Dacia Loconte each started skating last year. This year, Damon played as a goalie for the Missoula Bruins Squirts for nine and 10-year-olds. He is the second rated goalie in the state across all divisions including high school. Dacia skated to five medals in figure skating competitions across the northwest.

Damon was the only goalie for his team this year with the exception of state. He played on the traveling team playing tournaments in Washington, Idaho and all over Montana. His team took third at state.

"[Being on the traveling team] we have extra practices and the coaches make you work because they want you to be the best," said Damon. "It is [for] the more skilled players."

Damon recalled the tournament in Salmon, Idaho in January where his B Division team played an AAA Division team from a hockey academy in Salt Lake City, Utah.

"They didn't even dominate us," said Damon. "We only lost 0-9 when all the other teams were losing 0-20. The coaches came over to compliment our team and mostly me."

Damon's mother Beth added the coaches said Damon played a "very solid, very aggressive game. And you made their players actually work."

Damon's goalie statistics were the second highest in the state at all levels, second to Missoula high school junior Justin Lane. His goals on average were 1.6 goals allowed per game. His save average (SA) was 90 percent and went up to 92 percent at state. Of the 217 shots he took this season, Damon only allowed 24 goals.

"This means I have a higher percentage than Jimmy Craig. He was the American goalie that finally beat the Soviets in the 1980 Olympics," said Damon who added Craig's SA was 83 percent.

At state Damon had a 32 shot shut out, setting a new record for Squirt B. In the semi-finals, Damon's team went into double overtime against Glasgow, the number one seed.

Damon attributes his improvement and success to Intelligym, an online training program customized to a player's strengths and weaknesses, home training including wall balls and up-downs, his coaches Ryan Steen and Greg Steen and team encouragement.

"Encouragement helps a lot because it ups your confidence," said Damon. He agreed with his mother that the team played really well together and was invested in learning and getting better.

"For a kid who couldn't skate last year he did really well," said Beth. "It was really fun to watch him play and work as hard as he did."

Damon will be back on the ice starting Aug. 27 as Missoula Bruin PeeWee.

Dacia started figure skating two years ago with the Missoula Figure Skating Club. She practices three to five times per week with at least three of those practices on the ice. This year she focused on her technical skating. She passed all her requirements for the pre-preliminary test level in Dance and Moves in the Field. She is now a high beginner for competition. She looks forward to starting her pre-preliminary test level of free skate next year.

Dacia is excited about learning how to jump. When she started learning the Waltz Jump, a half jump, her coach Ryan Yearous encouraged her to jump and keep trying and she would get it, which she did. Now she is doing off-ice exercises to get to a full rotation jump on ice. She also mastered the salchow and a salchow into a flip.

"I've gotten a lot stronger," said Dacia. "This year has been different because I've gotten higher in my levels and I've been working and learning new stuff. My coach Ryan [Yearous] showed me some new stretches and me and my mom are going to start pilates again. I had a great time skating."

Dacia's last competition was in Everett, Wash. the weekend of July 16. She competed against skaters who were 13-16-years-old and she is only nine. She took first place in the more technical free skate; she finished last in the light entertainment category.

"I had a fun time. I took last place in my light entertainment which was fine because it was a teachable moment and helped me learn to get better," said Dacia.

Dacia earned eight metals at four competitions in Montana, Idaho and Washington.

Dacia attributes her success to her primary coach Ryan and dance coach Lacy Marsh.

"[Ryan] is a great coach," said Dacia. "He's helped me by teaching me new stuff and teaching me the steps to do it and asking me to practice them so I'll get better. Lacy helped me with my dances and helped me learn choreography and to listen to the beat of the music to be on time."

"I'm pretty proud of myself for moving on and learning more stuff," said Dacia. "I'm excited about learning new dances for next year."

"It was fun to watch her successfully complete her levels. She has worked for two years on one of them," said her mother Beth. "It was a pretty big accomplishment, she was super excited about it and she worked really hard."