Margaret Purdy and Michael Marinaro are gearing up for junior Grand Prix #5 to be held in Dresden, Germany between September 28th and October 3rd. This will be their second Grand Prix event; their first took them to Torun, Poland two weeks ago where they finished 7th.

They are working hard on the changes they've made since returning from Poland and are continuing to push themselves on more difficult elements.

One of the challenges that juniors face on this circuit, is that their international competitive season starts in August, while their domestic events won't begin until November. This means they have to be ready to compete strong and complex programs early in the year and still have energy and drive to add difficulty to them after their Grand Prix season ends.

The advantage that Margaret and Mike have is that they are both young and extremely determined athletes. They push themselves daily and it is this work ethic that will make them a team to contend with in the future.

Looking ahead to Dresden, this team will be striving to perform two strong programs which will give them a solid stepping stone to the rest of their season.