Oxford, Ohio – Trine University's figure skating team made history at their season opener by earning a program high score and placement at Red Brick Classic hosted by Miami University.
The Thunder started the competition strong with, Julianna Foy debuting her collegiate career with a silver medal finish in the Juvenile Plus free skate and Sadie Woodruff earning the bronze in the Juvenile free skate. The early points propelled the team to even more victories in the afternoon with Katilyn Lee, Sadie Woodruff and Lainie Kuckkahn earning Trine's first gold medals of the season in Preliminary, Intermediate and International Pattern Dance.
Day one wrapped up with the Team Maneuver events where the Thunder's low team hustled in a crowded flight of 14 teams. Kenzie Brouk, Deanna Maki, Zakareya Youself, Claire Kearns, Lily Walker and Julianna Foy each executed strong elements to earn a spot on the podium and earn 5 more points for Trine. In total, the team ended day one with 68 points, tying for 3rd place with Miami University.
"Even after the first day of competition, we had already shattered our record from last season" explained Coach Rachel Franchock, "Last year we ended our first competition with a total of 46 points and sat in 13th place. I knew that if we could keep the momentum from day one going, we would have a great shot at being in the top 4 teams which would really help us qualify for nationals this year".
Using the energy from the day before, day two brought the Thunder more success as Haley Williams and Nathan Luong each earned a gold medal in Junior Free Dance and Novice free skate events respectively. Freshman, Jessica Westphal and Clare Feldman also make a strong showing at their collegiate debuts by placing 4th and 3rd in the difficult Intermediate Free Skate event.
At the end of the day, the Thunder earned a total of 111 points, which more than doubled their earnings from the first competition last season. Overall, the Thunder placed 4th behind Adrian College, Miami University and Washington University of St. Louis.
"This puts us in a very good spot to qualifying for nationals as just a second-year program" beamed Franchock, "We still have quite a bit of room for improvement in individual events but as a team, our strategy is working. We are all excited to use this energy to keep working towards stronger, more confident performances".
The Intercollegiate Figure Skating team has two more competitions left to qualify for Nationals where the top four teams in the Midwest section will head to Minneapolis, MN to compete against the best 16 schools in the country. In the meantime, they will continue to train and head to Chelsea, MI to compete at the Maize & Blue Cup hosted by the University of Michigan on January 11-12th, 2020.