SKATE-A-THON TODAY WILL HELP RAISE FUNDS FOR COMPETITORS

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- A fund-raising skate-a-thon is scheduled today to help raise money for two local ice skaters headed for national competition later this month.

Matt Buttrey and Sarah Booth will compete at the United States Figure Skating Association national competition in New York on April 18.

To help raise money for the pair, skaters from The Ice in the Plaza Galleria will be skating today from 6-9 p.m. They are collecting pledges for each 15 minutes of skating. Pledges can still be made for any skater and contributions also will be accepted.

Throughout the evening, The Ice will feature various skating exhibitions with a finale at 8:45 featuring Matt Buttrey and Sarah Booth.

At the national competition, Buttrey and Booth will compete at the intermediate level against the top 11 pairs of skaters in the United States.

The national competition is one step closer to the Olympics.

In order to qualify for the national competition, Buttrey and Booth took first place at the Madison Open Figure Skating Competition at Madison, Wisc.

In December they competed at the Upper Great Lakes regional competition at St. Louis and qualified to go on to the Midwestern sectionals at Omaha, Neb. in January.

At the Midwestern sectionals, Buttrey and Booth placed fourth, which put them in the top 12 pair skaters at their level in the United States.