Deja Vu All Over Again

Stop me if you've heard this one before.
Wide-eyed 15-year-old girl shows up at the Canadian figure skating championships for the first time, just hoping to perform well and maybe make a bit of a name for herself in the junior women's field.
But by the end of it all, she's not only made that mark, she's saying 'oh my God, I just won' (or words to that effect).
Dana Zhalko-Tytarenko of Ottawa authored that rather fairytale ending a year ago in Halifax, skyrocketing to the top of the podium after finishing 14th as a novice at the Skate Canada Junior Nationals the year before.
Now wouldn't you know it, the Maritimes played a hand in lightning striking twice, so to speak. This time it was a sweet teen from Salisbury, N.B., absolutely beside herself after claiming the 2008 national junior women's crown at Pacific Coliseum on Friday.
You'll forgive Kelsey McNeil, of course, if she's still smiling for a few days yet.
"It feels so amazing, because it's my first year in junior and coming to this competition with famous people," said McNeil, who's a big fan of three-time Canadian senior champ Joannie Rochette (growing up, she admired U.S. star Michelle Kwan).
Now McNeil isn't arriving quite as out of the blue as Zhalko-Tytarenko. She was seventh as a novice a year ago, and won the Canadian pre-novice women's title in 2006. So she had a bit of pedigree.
But even then, McNeil arrived in Vancouver thinking of nothing more than every skater's favourite mantra.
"I felt like I could do clean programs before I came here," she said. "I just wanted to skate my best, but (winning) was in the back of my head."
It moved very much to the front when McNeil found herself second after the short program (the top four were less than a point apart at that point). Though she did her best to push those thoughts to the background.
"I just had to stay relaxed," she said. "I had a bit of trouble sleeping last night."
The toughest part, though, might have been the wait for the final result. McNeil skated first in the last flight, posted a 120.85-point total and then had to watch five other skaters — almost every one of them with a chance to win — hit the ice after her.
"It was very nerve-wracking, especially when the last skater was on the ice and I was thinking I could win," said McNeil.
But none of them could top the little girl from New Brunswick, though a pair of Quebecers — Vanessa Grenier (119.80) and Amanda Velenosi (117.33) — came close.
Then the shock really began to set in.
"I was like 'oh my God. Wow. It was amazing," said McNeil.
And hasn't it been quite the week for the small-town kids already. Thursday, it was Paige Lawrence and Rudi Swiegers letting us all know about Wawota, Saskatchewan, population 620, after winning the junior pairs silver medal.
Now it's a day for the 2,036 residents of Salisbury, New Brunswick, to smile. A Maritime village — it's 25 kilometres from Moncton — that has much more than silver fox farming as its claim to fame today.
They're also pretty proud at the nearby Petitcodiac & District Figure Skating Club, where McNeil says "there's maybe three seniors and a couple of juniors."
She figures she'll be one of those seniors next year. And we're betting McNeil just became pretty famous herself in the eyes of her skating club and her home town.
That wow feeling here, though, isn't going away just yet.
McNeil grinned the widest of grins as four-time world champion Kurt Browning — about as famous a Canadian skater as you'll find out there — posed for a photo with her.
Maybe Kelsey McNeil never imagined a day quite like this.
But she's living proof that you really can accomplish anything, if only you think and believe that you really can.
"I always believed in myself growing up," she said. "I thought I could do this."