Tucson native Chelsi Guillen hits the ice for practice at 6 a.m. five days a week at the Alltel Ice Den in Scottsdale. Guillen and her partner, 19-year-old Danny Curzon, will compete at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Spokane, Wash., beginning this weekend.

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Chelsi Guillen jumps out of bed at 4:30 a.m. She dresses, walks downstairs and starts a pot of coffee before waking her family to start another day. Soon, Guillen grabs a piece of fruit and heads for the door.

There's no time for chitchat. It's 5:30, and Guillen — one of the nation's top junior pairs skaters — needs to be on the ice by 6. Chelsi is training for the biggest event of her life. That means she repeats her routine five days a week.

"Mornings are hard for me sometimes, especially when I've been training so much," Chelsi said. "But when I'm out on the ice, I feel at peace. I can express who I am."

But today, like most days, Chelsi's role is that of a driven athlete. Her morning workout is followed by school, homework, another practice, dinner, more homework and — finally — some well-deserved sleep.

It's enough to make anyone dread waking up, but Guillen can see a light at the end of the early-morning darkness.

She and partner Danny Curzon will leave this morning to compete in the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Spokane, Wash. A solid performance at nationals would allow the newly formed pair to take part in international competition and, eventually, earn a possible shot at the Olympics.

For Chelsi, the future is coming fast. The Tucson native is just 13 years old.

To Scottsdale and back

Chelsi fell in love with ice skating at age 5, when a trip to the East Side Gateway Ice Center for a birthday party led to lessons and, eventually, a personal coach.

Chelsi's sports options were limited from birth. Her parents were admittedly tired of trucking across the state, sitting in dusty chairs and enduring the summer heat to watch their older daughter, Alexia, play softball.

"It seemed like every weekend, we were trucking up to Flagstaff, or over to Yuma, for these three-day softball weekends. We were always coming home sunburned," Chelsi's mom, Kristi, said. "With Chelsi, I told my husband … she's going to be a cheerleader, gymnast or something where we won't all have to be in the sun all the time."

Chelsi's career began at Tucson's only ice rink, but blossomed only when former Olympian Doug Ladret agreed to take her on. Ladret had one condition: Chelsi would have to commute to his rink in Scottsdale to train.

No problem. Kristi Guillen rearranged her work schedule so Chelsi could practice three days a week. Chelsi was picked up at Lyons Elementary School at 2:15 p.m. and ferried up Interstate 10 for a 4:45 practice.

At 5:30, after just 45 minutes of training, mother and daughter would climb back into their brown Chevy Blazer and drive back to Tucson.

The truck became Chelsi's living room on wheels — she ate dinner while sitting in the passenger's seat and did her homework by the glow of the Blazer's dome light.

It wasn't all work. Each trip home, Chelsi would belt out the chorus of Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl."

"It was fun," Chelsi said. "At a young age, traveling for training and stuff was what I had to do."

The trips provided countless memories but were a strain on the family's time and odometer. The Guillens moved to Scottsdale in 2002 to be closer to Chelsi's home rink, the Alltel Ice Den in Scottsdale. Guillen's two older siblings resisted the move at first, choosing to stay in the family's East Side home.

"That didn't last," Chelsi said. "My brother and sister stayed in Tucson for about a month. After a while, we got all the family up here. It was really nice to have them come all the way to Scottsdale for me."

Chelsi's singles career took off once she moved closer to the rink. But she had to take a break when Alexia — the former softball star — was diagnosed with lymphoma last year. Alexia's cancer went into remission in October 2005. Chelsi soon returned to the ice — and found that, in a sport dominated by singular success, she was a wonderful teammate.

Strength in differences

Chelsi and her partner could not be more different: She's in eighth grade at Desert Canyon Middle School and Curzon, 19, is a sophomore majoring in English literature at Arizona State.

Chelsi is chauffeured to practice by her 17-year-old brother, Chris, who sleeps in the parking lot while she skates. Curzon drives his own car.

Chelsi is a first-timer in pairs; Curzon is on his fourth partner.

Both skaters agree that their strength lies in their differences. Curzon is a powerful, technical skater; Chelsi is his spunky, flashy foil.

"You can be the best singles skater in the world, but if you don't compete together and skate together, it's not going to work," Curzon said. "Chelsi is very eager to learn and has a real interest in learning how to do pairs."

The two were paired by Ladret last April. A month later, they embarked on the first of five tests just to be able to compete.

Chelsi learned along the way and the duo aced their exams — each one more challenging than the next — by August. By November, they finished second in the Pacific Coast Sectional and earned the trip to nationals.

Guillen is excited, but deserving. She has been skating — and rising with the sun — for years.