ANN ARBOR, Mich. – This past weekend, Trine University's collegiate and open collegiate varsity synchronized skating teams had record breaking performances at the 27th Dr. Porter Classic, with collegiate taking 3rd place and a new program high score and open collegiate winning the competition for the first time. 

The Trine teams arrived in Ann Arbor on Saturday, December 2 feeling ready to get back out on competitive ice and take on one of the biggest and most beloved competitions of the season. The Thunder had a difficult competition at the Kalamazoo Kick-Off Classic two weeks earlier, where open collegiate and open adult both earned silver medals in their events, but collegiate had to withdraw. Luckily, the teams were in great form after a small break over Thanksgiving. Once the teams arrived, they were able to have short practices on their competition ice to get their feet underneath them in the new location. Practices went well and both teams felt prepared to perform their best on Sunday. 

Collegiate skated sixth out of ten teams in their flight in the morning. They commanded the ice and moved the audience with their tragic Romeo and Juliet love story themed program. The routine highlighted many difficult elements including a level four twizzle and synchronized spin. The team showed improvement in every part of their program and, with a total score of 97.22 points, they earned a new personal best for the division. The previous high scored of 90.58 points was came last year at the National Championships in Peoria, Illinois. In addition to their score, collegiate was very excited to take home third place and the bronze medal, their highest finish at this event in program history.

Open Collegiate was bubbly and energetic on Sunday, skating seventh out of ten teams. There was a brief delay due to ice maintenance, but the Thunder didn't let that rattle them. When the team was able to take the ice, they performed a sharp, clean performance that made everyone in the arena want to cheer along to their Brazilian Carnival themed program. A highlight of open collegiate's performance was their whip intersection which was executed with speed and precision. In the end, the judges awarded open collegiate with the gold medal, placing them ahead of last year's Midwestern Sectional Champions, Miami University. This is a historic moment for Trine Varsity Skating as it is the first time that any team has won an event at the Porter Classic. 

"This was a great competition experience for both collegiate and open collegiate" glowed head coach Rachel Franchock, "We take a lot of pride in preparing for competitions so that the skaters can focus on enjoying the performance and doing their job in the line. I'm incredibly proud of how our skaters held themselves this weekend. Not only did they have a ton of fun, but their hard work paid off with two clean, strong and impressive performances."

All three of The Thunder synchro teams look forward to competing against the best in the Midwest at the 2024 Midwestern Sectional Synchronized Skating Championships from beginning on Wednesday, January 24 in Wichita, Kansas.