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From the print edition of the "Sunday Detroit Free Press," Michigan's Largest Circulation Newspaper. http://www.freep.com/
by Jo-Ann Barnas

When Jilleanne Rookard strapped on her first pair of long-track speed skates and stepped onto the ice, the result was not pretty.

"I couldn't even stand up on them -- I was hanging onto the wall," Rookard of Woodhaven said with a laugh. "I was horrible."

That was three years ago.

Today, Rookard is in Berlin, Germany, preparing for the first International Skating Union World Cup event of the season. The competition --
which begins later this week -- is the first of four and will assist in confirming the U.S. Olympic Team for February's Vancouver Winter
Games.

Ryan Bedford of Midland -- featured in this Olympic Spotlight space for short track a few weeks ago -- is the other Michigan native who
was successful in qualifying for the U.S. World Cup team at the long-track trials last week in Milwaukee.

But it is Rookard who has been the sport's biggest surprise as she tries to secure her spot for the Olympics.

I caught up with Rookard, 26, by phone before a recent practice in Milwaukee, where she's coached by Kalamazoo native and 2002 Olympic
bronze medalist Kip Carpenter and his Swift Speedskating Team.

Here are five things to know about Rookard:

1. Rookard, who grew up in Carleton, is a former national champion in Inline. Her love for roller skating began at an early age; her family
owns two roller-rinks, including Skateland Funzone in Woodhaven.

2. She's the seventh of seven children born to Claire and Bill Rookard, who died of a heart attack when Jilleanne was 18, just before she made
her first world team in inline. "They're all my godparents," Rookard said of her siblings. "We're all close, and we all watch over each other."

3. Rookard quit inline in 2005, shortly after her mother was diagnosed with cancer. She briefly returned a year later -- and won a major
competition -- before her sponsor, GLENN KOSHI, convinced her to try long-track speed skating. "He said, 'Fly out there, and try some
ice,' " Rookard said. "So I went out there, and I was like, 'If God wants me to be there, then I'll pursue it.' Within one day, I got a coach,
a place to live, a roommate and a job." Claire Rookard continues to receive treatment for multiple myeloma.

4. At last week's trials, Rookard won the 3,000 and 5,000 meters, and also earned spots on the World Cup team in the 1,000 and 1,500.
"My goal was to skate my best, and to know that my best would be enough to qualifty," she said.

5. Rookard -- you can call her Jill -- dates world champion speed skater Trevor Marsicano. "He's teaching me about ice skating," Rookard
said, "and I'm teaching him about roller groovin'."


Contact Jo-Ann Barnas at: JBARNAS@freepress.com.
Check out her olympics blog at: http://www.freep.com/section/blog34