Wichita, Kan. – Trine University's Collegiate level synchro team recently traveled to Wichita, Kansas to compete at the 2020 Midwestern Sectional Championships where they placed sixth and qualified for Nationals.
The US Synchronized Skating National Championships are being held in Providence, R.I. on February 26-29. The Thunder will compete on Saturday in the Collegiate division, skating fifth out of 12 teams at approximately 5:31 p.m. EST. A livestream of the event will be broadcasted through NBC Sports Gold and information can be found at US Figure Skating's Fan Zone.
This is the first time the University will send a synchronized skating team to a National Championship in school history.
"What an exceptionally exciting time to be a part of Trine Skating!" grinned Coach Rachel Franchock, "How often do skaters get to say they were part of the first National team for their school? And next, they'll be saying they were the first to bring home medals for Trine. I can't wait to see the skaters who continue to join our family in the coming seasons and watch them take pride in our program's beginning."
While there is much to celebrate, the team knows they have their work cut out for them heading into their first Nationals. This is the team's first season in the Collegiate division (a more competitive division than last year's synchro team competed in) and it has been a year of learning and growth.
"Each competition we set goals on what elements we are trying to boost levels on and where we think our score should be," explained Franchock, "And each competition, we have continued to improved our overall score or the levels we get called on specific elements so we are definitely moving in the right direction but it can be difficult to balance performance with the technical aspect of skating so we have been working on training for consistency in our program and setting our elements up for success. I'm looking forward to watching their hard work pay off next weekend."
The Team's program is made up of eight elements including intersections, circles, spins, blocks and a step sequence. Each element should be performed in unison and can earn a specific number of points depending on how difficult the element is to execute. The team is also judged on their overall performance including interpretation of the music, skating quality and presentation.
Want to cheer on the team on as they head to Nationals? The team will perform this coming Saturday, February 22 during the first intermission of the Women's' Hockey Game starting at 2:00 p.m.
