Dartmouth Figure Skating Places Second at Liberty University

Sporting fluffy green stick-on mustaches off the ice, the club figure skating team placed second at the 2014 Liberty University Intercollegiate Competition in Lynchburg, Va. this weekend, behind only the University of Delaware. The team finished with 105 points, three points ahead of Boston University, but 36 short of the Blue Hens’ 141.

Dartmouth sent 18 skaters to the competition, earning a total of 18 medals in 16 events.

“Nearly all of our competitors scored points for Dartmouth, which was amazing,” team member Clara Guo ’17 said.

Early on Saturday, Dartmouth led in team points, which are awarded to skaters who place in the top five. Maddy Thornton ’17, Jojo Miller ’14, Caroline Knoop ’15, Alyssa Mahatme ’17 earned silver medals in their respective programs.

Katie Bates ’16 also finished third in the senior ladies long program.

Armin Mahbanoozadeh ’17 dominated the senior men’s short program, sweeping ordinals, while Thornton won the novice ladies long program, landing a double lutz-double toe combination to the music of Santana.

In the dance events, Kelsey Anspach ’15 placed third in the junior solo dance and first in the novice solo dance. Pinar Gurel, a Ph.D. candidate at the Geisel School of Medicine, placed second in the intermediate solo dance, and Victoria Rackohn ’14 and Iris Yu ’14 placed second and third, respectively, in the juvenile solo dance.

Despite leading for most of Saturday, Dartmouth fell behind at the end of the day, trailing Delaware 76-93 after the high team maneuver event, in which Dartmouth’s team of Mahatme, Mahbanoozadeh, Knoop, Kirsten Seagers ’15 and Gurel placed second.

On Sunday, Thornton, Guo and Miller competed in the intermediate team maneuvers, earning gold. Seagers and Knoop placed second and third, respectively, in the junior ladies’ championship long program.

“This competition showed us the depth of talent on our team, and it was inspiring for us to watch each other skate,” Miller, a co-captain, said.

The team has placed in the top three for the past two competitions and has a good chance to qualify for the national championships, Knoop, the other co-captain said.

“We are a team that improves throughout the season, and this weekend set us up nicely for the rest of the season,” she said.

Each season, the three colleges with the most points in each conference are invited to compete at the U.S. Intercollegiate Team Figure Skating Championships. This year, the national competition will be hosted by Adrian College in Adrian, Mich., from April 11-13.

In November, the team placed third at the Cornell University Intercollegiate Competition, 10 points behind Boston University and 35 points behind Delaware.

The team has improved since the fall competition, Miller said.

“We’re starting to find our footing on the ice,” Miller said. “There were a lot of breakthrough performances from our younger skaters who are becoming more and more confident on the ice.”

Later this month, the team will compete again, this time at the University of Delaware.

Dartmouth is developing a small rivalry with Delaware. Last season, Dartmouth defeated Delaware in fall 2012 by 14 points. Delaware would go on to avenge its loss with wins over Dartmouth in March 2013, 125-117, and in the national championships, 98-93. Prior to that, Dartmouth won nationals in 2012 and was the runner-up in 2010, behind BU and came in second place behind Delaware in 2011.

To qualify for the national championships, Dartmouth must remain in the top three schools in the Eastern conference. If Dartmouth places third or better at the Delaware competition, the team will qualify and return to nationals.

“I don’t want to jinx anything,” Yu said. “But I think we are pretty hopeful.”

This weekend’s competition provided Yu with plenty of fun, but also some bittersweet, memories, she said. She will cherish the moments of massage trains, eating dinner as a team and winning “Who want to be a millionaire?” while traveling. 

For Miller, his Dartmouth career has come full circle. 

“Oh my gosh, I’m feeling all of the feels right now,” Miller said. “Liberty was my first competition ever with the team my freshman fall.” 

Since his first competition, he has won gold and silver at nationals, competed in every competition over the last 3.5 years and helped organize nationals last year when it was held at Dartmouth with people he considers his family. 

“This weekend was a blast, full of nostalgia of past experiences with the team and getting to watch the team continue to grow,” Miller said. “The skaters are a riot, and it's always great to hang out and befriend skaters from other colleges. Layer the experience with lots of traveling and no sleep, and it provides for unforgettable times.”

Written by the same author, this story was originally published by The Dartmouth on March 4, 2014.