KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Trine University figure skating team has once again made history, earning a fourth consecutive conference competition victory in an extremely competitive field of 24 schools at the 2023 Bronco Challenge Cup this past weekend. The Thunder finished the event with 290 points, just two points shy of the program record of 292 points recorded at last season's Thunder Country Classic.

Trine started the competition on Friday with entries in Juvenile, Intermediate, and Novice Short Programs and the Pre-Preliminary Free Skate. Allison Korpi opened the event for The Thunder and took the first gold medal of the competition in the Juvenile Short Program with her confident skate, earning 12 team point. Next, Brinna Russell had a strong showing in the Intermediate Short Program, earning second place and 10 points for Trine. In her intercollegiate debut, Maris Kakasenko earned seventh place and 6 team points after a fall in a very competitive Novice Short Program. In the last individual event of the day for Trine, Sage Scherzer took second place in the Pre-Preliminary Free Skate and earned ten additional points for The Thunder.

To close out Friday evening, Trine's Intermediate and Low teams competed in the Team Maneuver events. The Intermediate Team (Kaitlin Gunter, Kelsey DeLaney, Kakasenko, and Russell) showed strong skating skills and great control over their elements and earned second place. The Low Team (Alexandra Davidson, Celine Sanchez, Hannah Guerra, Kellan Chwojko-Frank, and Reilly Johnson) displayed near perfection in their elements and earned first place in a group of 20 schools. Together, the Intermediate and Low Teams earned 22 points for Trine, and The Thunder ended Friday's competition with 60 team points.

On Saturday, Trine started the day with three entries in the Preliminary Free Skate. Davidson (in her intercollegiate debut) and Sanchez, who both competed in Group A took first and second place respectively, earning 22 team points. Arya Barnes-Kelley earned a silver medal for Trine in Group B of the Preliminary Free Skate, taking ten more points for the team. Constance Clark was awarded the silver medal in the Preliminary Plus Free Skate, also earning 10 team points.

Next, Harlow Shepherd performed a commanding Canasta Tango, winning the gold medal in the Preliminary Solo Pattern Dance and 12 team points for Trine. A little later, Payton Scott and Emma Lutz made good showings in Group A of the Juvenile Free Dance earning a combined 9 team points for their sixth and seventh place finishes. Johnson earned third place in Group B of the Juvenile Free Dance and won eight points for the team.

Trine dominated in the Intermediate Free Dance, with Guerra taking first place in her intercollegiate debut and earning 12 team points for Trine in Group A while in Group B, Gunter and Chwojko-Frank took first and second place respectively, earning The Thunder 22 additional points. In the Novice Free Dance, DeLaney took the silver medal and earned eight team points.

Later, Johnson took the ice once again for her Pre-Juvenile Free Skate. Johnson skated a strong and assured program to earn the gold medal and 12 team points. In the Intermediate Free Skate, Trine took the top two spots with Korpi and Kakasenko taking first and second place respectively in their group and earning a combined 22 points for The Thunder. Allaina Werstler finished out Saturday's competition for Trine by earning fourth place and six team points in the very competitive Senior Free Dance event. Trine ended the day with 213 team points.

Trine Skating closed out the competition on Sunday with Pattern Dances and the Juvenile Free Skate events. First up on Sunday morning was Scott who earned the gold medal in the Pre-Bronze Pattern Dance event, skating the Swing Dance with speed and excellent timing. Next, Katelyn Feicht skated a stellar Willow Waltz in the Bronze Pattern Dance and ended up taking second place. In the Pre-Silver Pattern Dance, Gunter took the silver medal with her precise Foxtrot. Those dancers helped Trine earn an additional 32 team points.

DeLaney and Chwojko-Frank each won their respective flights of the Juvenile Free Skate with their moving performances and successful axel jumps, earning a huge 24 points for The Thunder.

In the last events of the day for Trine, Kuckkahn and Julianna Stanley skated the Viennese Waltz for the Gold Pattern Dance. Kuckkahn earned the gold medal in the event and Stanley took seventh place. Together, Stanley and Kuckkahn gained 14 team points. In the last event of the competition for Trine, Kuckkahn competed in the intricate Yankee Polka in the International Pattern Dance event. With a small mistake, Kuckkahn was given fifth place and earned five team points for her placement and an additional two points for the difficulty of her dance.

Trine finished the event with 290 team points earned from their 30 starts. 24 of Trine's 30 entries earned medals at the Bronco Challenge Cup including 12 gold medals, ten silver, and two bronze. The next conference competition for Trine University's varsity figure skating team will be Skate On Wisconsin, held by the University of Wisconsin-Madison from February 16-18.