Shy 14-Year-Old Lets Figure Skating Title Do Her Talking : Cerritos: Caroline Song won the national junior championship last month. Her profiency at jumps already has some experts predicting an Olympic medal in her future.

Caroline Song began her short program at the National Junior Figure Skating Championships last month unsure what to expect.

The 14-year-old student at Cerritos High had less than a year’s experience on the junior level. At best, she thought a top-four finish might be possible in the competition that requires performances in short and long programs.

To her surprise, she became the national champion. And the quiet member of the Los Angeles Figure Skating Club did it with flair. She emerged from the short program as the front-runner, then hit three double axels) and a triple loop and triple toe loop in combination in her long program, scoring nine points each from all nine judges.

It may be too early to be thinking about the 1994 Winter Olympics in Norway, but Song is being called a young Midori Ito, the Japanese skater favored to win the gold medal in figure skating at the current Olympics in Albertville, France.

Said Coach Dorian Shields-Valles: “Realistically, we’re looking at 1998 (in the Olympics), but 1994 . . . is not impossible at all.”

Getting Song to talk about her future is difficult. She would rather let her skating, described as powerful and aggressive by experts, do the talking.

“She has been known for some time for some very good jumps,” said Ken Taylor, a figure skating referee and member of the board of directors of the L.A. Figure Skating Club. “But lately her all-around program has been coming along. She is very promising and has a bright future.”

Asked to describe her style, Song said only that she was just “going for it.”

Friends and acquaintances, however, are more talkative.

“She’ll be (in the Olympics), man; she’s that good,”’ said Shantelle Westbrook, a friend and fellow skater who placed fourth in the novice figure skating division in 1991.

“She has a chance (in 1994), but it’s going to be tough,” said choreographer Karen Cahill. “We will have a lot of work to do, but if she continues to progress like the way she has in the last two years, than she definitely has a chance.”

Very few skaters advance so far so quickly, according to Shields-Valles. Next year, Song moves up again, this time to the senior ladies level--the final step toward the Olympics. At that level, Shields-Valles is concerned with how well Song will handle the pressure competing against older skaters, some in their early-20s.

“The higher up you go, the more pressure there is,” she said. “She has moved right on up the ladder each year. She’s never had a chance to settle in and get real experience at any level, but in seniors she’s looking at at least six years.”

Song, who also studies classical piano, began skating at 8 after seeing Olympic gold medalist Katerina Witt perform on television. She took a summer course in skating and enjoyed it so much that she joined the Arctic Blades, a skating club based at the Iceland Arena in Paramount. She quickly moved to the head of her class and in 1990 finished third and second in the first two major regional competitions of her career. A year later, she finished fourth in the nation in the novice division.

Last fall she became affiliated with the L.A. Figure Skating Club and finished second in the Southwest Pacific and Pacific Coast competitions. Now, with the U.S. junior title in hand, she is hoping to be invited to the Junior World Championships in Korea in December. Only two Americans will be chosen to participate. If Song is selected, Shields-Valles said a top 10 finish is not out of the question.

“It’s really nice when a skater can peak at the right time,” she said. “You work all year for one 3 1/2-minute performance, and it is really nice that it all came together at the right time.”

Ice skating is an intensively competitive and time-consuming sport, according to Cahill and others. It often requires performers to alter lifestyles. In Song’s case, she lives in Fullerton and is supposed to attend Sunny Hills school. But her demanding skating schedule, which requires at least 2 1/2 hours of practice each afternoon, didn’t fit with the school schedule at Sunny Hills. Using an uncle’s address, Song’s parents, Ann and John, enrolled their daughter in Cerritos, even though a son, Rich, attends Sunny Hills and plays water polo there.

It was easier to work out scheduling at Cerritos, according to Ann Song, whose daughter begins her day with 6 a.m. workouts at Iceland. However, because she skips afternoon classes, Caroline Song has to attend summer school to make up credits. Nonetheless, according to Cahill, Song has made school a priority.

“A large percentage of serious skaters just don’t go to school; they skate all day,” Cahill said. “We want our skaters to be more well-rounded because what’s left after skating for them to do?”

Skaters who aspire to higher levels tax family incomes, as well. Ann Song estimates that she has spent from $12,000 and $40,000 a year on her daughter’s career. That includes travel, ice fees, lessons, coaching salaries and costumes.

Song excels at jumps in her routines, but to reach her Olympic dream, she has to polish her work. Cahill was excited when Song received higher marks for artistic performance than for skill at the junior nationals. That is a sign she is progressing, she said.

Said Shields-Valles: “She needs to bring the audience into the performance. She has the technical ability, but needs to relate to her audience more.”

Getting Song to speak about herself is equally in need of more work. At a morning workout last Monday, Cahill encouraged Song to be more outspoken, saying that talking to a reporter would be good practice for the future, particularly if she has Olympic aspirations.

But with a smile, Song politely indicated that for the time being she felt more comfortable allowing her skating to speak for itself.