Patty Sheehan, a national speedskating champion, used to be nicknamed "Utica's sweetheart of the ice. "
 
She began competing nationally when she was 10. By her late teens she skated for the U.S. National Speed Skating Team and was an Olympic hopeful.

Patty and her sister, Joanne, were charter members of the Utica Speed Skating Club in 1964. Their father, Richard, was club president.

The Sheehans assaulted the best times in the U.S. Open Indoor Championships, the national outdoor championships, the Easterns, regional, district and state meets year after year.

In February 1969, she celebrated her 15th birthday in St. Louis, sweeping all four events in the national outdoor championships: the 440-yard dash, the 660, 880 and one-sixth mile in the junior division, including national records in the 440 and 660.

One of the highlights of the sisters' careers was in March 1969. More than 2,000 hometown fans at the Utica Memorial Auditorium hailed the duo at the National Indoor Speed Skating Championships.

Joanne, 17, won the intermediate girls' crown with victories in the 440, 880 and three-quarter mile races. She beat out a future Olympian, Leah Poulos of Northbrook, Ill., with a record 440 performance of 42.3 seconds.

Patty had captured the indoor and outdoor championships back-to-back, in 1969 and 1970.

At 16, Sheehan was living and training full time in Wisconsin for the 1971 Olympic trials. She was aided by $2,000 in contributions from countless Uticans, including her classmates at Utica Catholic Academy. When she returned home for a visit, she was honored with proclamations from Utica Mayor Dominick Assaro, New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller and the New York State Senate.