How in the world did Hagerstown become a hotbed for inline speed skating?
The answer starts with Patty Leazier, the 55-year-old head coach of Fast Forward Racing, a team she founded in 2000. The club is based out of Turner’s Skate Palace — the Hagerstown rink owned by Leazier.
At national-championship meets this summer, her Fast Forward skaters combined to win 22 gold medals, 15 silvers and 11 bronzes in their age divisions, in distances ranging from 200 meters to 15 kilometers and relays.
Two of them will compete internationally as members of Team USA this fall — Kelsey (Helman) Rodgers, 25, of Waynesboro, Pa., at the world championships Nov. 6-13 in Ibague, Colombia; and Erica Orndorff, 21, of Hagerstown, at the Junior Pan American Games Nov. 25-Dec. 4 in Cali, Colombia.
“It’s the program,” Leazier said of Fast Forward’s success, during a recent practice at Turner’s. “I’ve been very blessed with having mentors — nationwide, worldwide — who have allowed me to learn.
“I skated here when I was 9, 10, 11 years old and grew up in this skating rink, and I always loved and had a passion for speed skating. It went from quads — traditional skates — to inlines, and then I started doing derby as well.
“We have all these roller sports going on right here in Hagerstown, and we’ve been very successful. It’s the program, it’s a passion, it’s being dedicated to something you love, and you keep trying to learn. You have to keep being a student of the game and always be trying to perfect your craft. I’m a teacher first, so I’m always wanting to learn more.”
Leazier works as a science teacher in Washington County Public Schools’ new Academy of Blended Learning Education (ABLE) online program. Previously, she taught at North Hagerstown High School.
Leazier is a former national-champion speed skater and a two-time world champ in roller derby.
Recently, she became a certified Level 1 World Skate coach.
“That’s a big deal to be recognized by the international federation, and you had to be selected by your own federation (USA) to even be put into the program,” she said. “That was my accolade this year.”
Medal winners
Leazier’s Fast Forward skaters have been busy racking up accolades as well, competing at the American Roller Speed Skating Championships June 16-20 in Colorado Springs, Colo., the USA Roller Sports (USARS) Indoor National Championships July 12-19 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and the USARS Outdoor National Championships Sept. 2-6 in Gainesville, Ga.
Medal winners included:
• Daisy Black, 9, of Greencastle, Pa. — two golds, one silver and two bronzes.
• William Brown, 13, of Hagerstown — one bronze.
• Kayden Castle, 11, of Hagerstown — one silver and one bronze.
• Leticia Detrow, 13, of Hagerstown — one gold.
• Hannah Hoffman, 13, of Williamsport — four silvers.
• Piper Leazier, 13, of Greencastle — two golds and four silvers.
• McKenna Luther, 9, of Sharpsburg — five golds, one silver and one bronze.
• Gage Peterson, 8, of Hagerstown — one gold.
• Kenna Pfeiffer-Scheffenacker, 16, of Upperco, Md. — one gold.
• Rodgers — seven golds, two silvers and five bronzes.
• Jett Shaffer, 15, of Hagerstown — one gold and two silvers.
• Colby Smith, 8, of Hagerstown — one gold.
• Abby Wolfe, 9, of Hagerstown — one gold and one bronze.
Although Patty Leazier said it’s not unusual for a team to have that much success at the national level, Fast Forward Racing is unique.
“Most teams don’t go as one rink,” she said. “Most teams go as multiple rinks, so they’re based out of four, five or six rinks.”
‘Room for you’
The Fast Forward skaters practice several days a week and compete a few times a month year-round, and their numbers are thriving.
“Most of the time, we’re averaging 30 kids a practice, and we have as many as 45, of all ages,” Leazier said.
“We’ve been lucky,” she added. “Most clubs and organizations have really plummeted during COVID, but my numbers came up. It’s because we kept the rink open, and we worked really hard to follow regulations so we could stay open. People didn’t have anything to do, kids weren’t able to go out and have fun with sports, so they just kept coming in the door. And we kept saying, ‘Sure, we have room for you.’”
World-class Rodgers
Rodgers — a 2014 North Hagerstown graduate, who’s been coached by Leazier since she was 4 — is the most successful skater in Fast Forward history. She is preparing to compete in her 10th straight world championships.
The highlight of her career was winning a bronze medal in the women’s 10-kilometer elimination race at the 2019 Pan American Games in Peru. In 2015, she earned world bronze in a relay.
Although Rodgers is an accomplished sprinter, she specializes in distance events — races 1,000 meters and longer.
She said she works out two to three times a day, six days a week.
“I’m going to keep training and trying harder each year,” she said. “I’m hoping to achieve my goals before I quit — being a world champion.”
Orndorff goes fast
Orndorff has one goal for the inaugural Junior (ages 17-22) Pan American Games this fall.
“I want to go and get a medal for the U.S.,” she said.
She is the only American who qualified to compete in the field of 10 women in the sprints (distances less than 1,000 meters).
Orndorff competed at the world championships in 2018, placing as high as eighth in a relay.
She’s been with Fast Forward for more than a decade.
“My grandmother started skating, and then my mom and siblings also skated, so I kind of grew up in a rink since I was 2 years old,” Orndorff said. “It was at Starland (in Hagerstown) and then I started skating here when I was 10.
“I went to a birthday party (at Turner’s) when I was 9, and I saw the speed team go out for a speed skate, and I told my grandmother, ‘I want to go fast.’”
Niche sport
If they had this kind of success in almost any other sport, Rodgers and Orndorff probably would be household names in the Hagerstown area — and beyond.
“It’s crazy, because I’ve spent 10-11 years doing this, and when people ask me what sport I do, and I tell them, they’re like, ‘Oh, I’ve never heard of that before,’” Orndorff said. “I do wish it was a little more known because we put in work year-round, just like any other sport. But hopefully in the next couple years, it will be a little more known.”
Track work
Leazier hopes to continue growing the sport in Hagerstown, and she has a grand vision.
“North High has that abandoned track that they don’t use,” she said. “I’m trying to get permission from the school board to get it resurfaced and recoated at no cost to them. There are local paving companies that are willing to pitch in and help.
“As long as we can get permission, we can get that 400-meter track resurfaced with macadam. And if we can get that done, then we can have a great, safe place for the kids to practice. And we can bring in regional, national and international events to this area. I already have the connections with World Skate.”
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