At age 14, 4-foot-8-inches tall and weighing 80 pounds, Bortz won the Junior Ladies gold medal at the 1986 U.S. National Figure Skating Championships, beating silver medalist Susanne Becher of West Germany.

[6] During the competition she became the first junior woman to successfully perform the difficult Triple Lutz.

[5][7] Bortz won the 1987 World Junior Figure Skating Championships in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, at 15 years of age, and the 1987 Prize of Moscow.

[2] Bortz was inducted into the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.

[9] Bortz-Gould appeared on TLC's show Ice Diaries in 2006, where one of her students, Danielle Kahle, was featured.