MADISON, Wis. – With a total of 219 team points, the Trine University figure skating team finished in second at the 2024 Skate On Wisconsin intercollegiate competition this month. With all teams being limited to 22 starts due to the huge number of Midwest competitors attending, the Thunder knew that Skate On Wisconsin would be an extremely close event, and fought to the end to earn additional points towards qualifying for the National Championships in Lake Placid, N.Y. this April. 

Allison Korpi opened the competition for Trine on Friday, putting out a strong performance in the Juvenile Short Program event and earning second place and ten team points. Next up was the Intermediate Short program where freshman, Maris Kakasenko, earned big points and the first gold medal of the competition for Trine. With her clean skate and first place finish, Kakasenko earned 12 team points. In the Novice Short Program, Allaina Werstler earned the silver medal and ten more team points. 

To complete the first day of competition, the Thunder competed in two Team Maneuver events. Together, Alexandra Davidson, Kellan Chwojko-Frank, Celine Sanchez, Reilly Johnson, and Hannah Guerra performed their elements to perfection and earned first place out of 18 teams in the Low Team Maneuver event. They earned 12 points for Trine and a trophy for their accomplishment. In the Intermediate Team Maneuvers event, the Thunder performed very well, with Brigid Guerin, Kaitlin Gunter, Brinna Russell, Kelsey DeLaney and Kakasenko helping the Thunder earn the silver medal, ten team points, and a trophy.

The team ended the day Friday with 54 points and were excited to continue fighting for strong finishes as the weekend continued.

On Saturday, Trine's first event was the Juvenile Free Dance. Johnson took first place and freshman Grace Huffam earned the bronze medal in her intercollegiate debut. Together, they earned 20 points for the Thunder. Next up for Trine was the Intermediate Free Dance, where all three competitors for the Thunder did extremely well. In Group A, Gunter earned the third gold medal for Trine and won 12 team points. In Group B, Guerra also won the gold, and Chwojko-Frank was just behind in second place. Together, their efforts earned a whopping 34 points for Trine. 

In the Preliminary Free Skate, Davidson won Group A with a wonderful skate, earning unanimous first place ordinals from the panel of judges. In Group B, Sanchez also won first place for the Thunder. They added 24 points and two more gold medals to Trine's tally. In the Senior Solo Free Dance, Julianna Stanley took sixth place after a small mistake in the twizzle element in a very competitive flight of skaters. She earned four points for the Thunder. 

Elaine Kuckkahn performed Trine's last two events of the day on Saturday. In the Gold Pattern Dance, Kuckkahn skated the Argentine Tango to perfection, earning a gold medal and 12 team points. In the International Pattern Dance event, she skated a strong Cha Cha Congelado, and was awarded fourth place by the judges. Due to the difficulty of this dance, Kuckkahn earned an additional two points in this event and brought her earnings up to eight team points, 20 overall.

The Thunder ended the competition on Saturday with 156 points and were hungry to continue performing well on Sunday.

The next day began with Payton Scott skating the Fiesta Tango in the Pre-Bronze Pattern Dance event. With a solid performance, Scott earned fifth place in a competitive flight of 12 skaters and earned the team eight points. Next, Harlow Shepherd took the ice for the Preliminary Pattern Dance and skated an assured Dutch Waltz. Shepherd was awarded fourth place for her efforts and earned seventh team points. 

In the Pre-Juvenile Free Skate, Johnson earned another gold medal and 12 more points for the Thunder, debuting her new program for the first time this season. In the Juvenile Free Skate, DeLaney took first place, while Chwojko-Frank took fourth place after a fall in her step sequence. Together, they earned 18 additional points for Trine. 

In the last events of the day, the Intermediate Free Skate, Kakasenko earned a second gold medal in Group A, and Korpi took fourth place in Group B after a fall on her double salchow. They finished out the day for Trine, earning 18 points for the team. 

With a total of 219 points, Trine University earned second place at the event, just behind Adrian College. The two schools are currently tied for first place in the Midwest conference. Trine ended the competition with half of their starts winning their event- 11 gold medals!

"I'm really proud of how much work the whole team has been putting in and how everyone competed!" beamed Kakasenko, who earned a huge 35 team points at this event, "Intercollegiate has such a great supportive atmosphere and we're excited to keep it going through the rest of the season!"

The figure skating team will fight to earn the title of Midwestern Conference Champions at the last conference competition of the season at The Ohio Skate in Columbus, Ohio from Friday, March 8 to Sunday, March10. They also hope to solidify their berth to the Intercollegiate National Championships in Lake Placid, New York beginning on Friday, April 12.