It's an exciting, fast-paced life for Great Neck's young ice skating champion Emily Hughes. The Great Neck Record caught up with Emily last week, thanks to some extra time in her schedule due to the snowstorm. Emily is hard at work, both at school and in her efforts to capture more skating titles and, hopefully, look toward the next winter Olympics.

There is big excitement, too, as Emily is set to perform in the Smucker's Stars on Ice at the March 3 performance at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The tour touts that it has compiled "some of the best figure skaters of today's generation." This show, which starts at 7:30 p.m., will benefit the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.

Emily is thrilled to be included among the famed skating stars and especially delighted that the show benefits other youngsters. "I'm really looking forward to this," she said, "I hope for a hometown crowd."

The all new theme of this year's tour is entitled "Double Exposure: The Many Lives of Figure Skaters." The new concept will take fans on a once in a lifetime journey into the hearts and minds of the featured skaters.

Tickets for this performance start at $25 and may be purchased at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum Box Office, Ticketmaster locations, by logging onto www.ticketmaster.com, or by calling 631-888-9000. Group (15+) information is available by calling 794-9303 x272.

And then? "I hope to look to the Olympics," Emily said, when asked about her skating future. She surely has her sights on the next winter Olympics.

Recently, Emily proudly came home with the silver medal (second place) at the Four Continents. For her long program she skated to the music of the ballet Sylvia, noting: "This is the first time I'm going out there and doing all the triples. Even though I didn't do some combinations, I'm really happy about getting my personal best, which is always a goal of mine. I'm hoping to build on that for the Worlds."

Emily will be heading to the World Championships at the end of March, and, of course, she is currently training for that competition. "I've never been to Japan," she added, although she has already done much traveling for her skating career.

Emily's chance for a spot in Ohio on the Columbus Blue Jackets' Sports Talk Series was "snowed out." She had been set to be featured with college basketball analyst Clark Kellogg as the first two featured guests.

As for the personal/social life of this already famous teenager, Emily admits that a social life is "kind of tough." There are events she has to miss in order to compete, although she does manage to spend free time with her family.

A senior at Great Neck North High School, Emily Hughes, like seniors across the country, is waiting to hear news about her college applications. She said that she has applied to a few Northeastern colleges. Emily was quick to point out that her teachers and the administrators at North High have been wonderfully accommodating in helping her with her schedule. I do miss a lot ... there's a lot of balancing," she admitted.

Do be sure to catch Great Neck's own world-renowned figure skater, Emily Hughes, on March 3 in Stars on Ice at the Nassau Coliseum. And join the Great Neck Record and the entire community in cheering for Emily Hughes as she competes around the globe!