With a second place finish at Boston University last Saturday, the Dartmouth Figure Skating Team qualified for the Nationals Collegiate Team Championships for the fourth consecutive year. The Boston University competition was the third qualifier in the Eastern Collegiate Skating Conference. Dartmouth's skaters finished in second behind the University of Delaware and ahead of Cornell University. In collegiate figure skating, the top three eastern teams advance to Nationals, so Dartmouth, the University of Delaware, and Cornell University will all head to the University of Denver at the end of March for the championship.
Dartmouth's strong showing at BU included 1st place wins in seven events followed by seven 2nd place finishes. Co-captain Ariel Stern-Markovitz '05 and Jeanne Franzone '05 each won 14 points out of their possible 15. Stern-Markovitz, landing a huge double axel in her Junior Short program, captured first place. She also won the Junior Long program and placed 2nd in Pre-Intermediate B Dance. Franzone placed 1st in Pre-Intermediate C Long program and Pre-Intermediate B Dance, and 2nd in Pre-Intermediate C Compulsory Moves.
Co-captain Paola Peacock-Villada '03 won 11 points placing 2nd in Intermediate Short and Long programs and 3rd in Intermediate Dance. Taylor Grant '06 earned 1st place in the Senior Short by skating a clean program, which included a double axel. Lydia Gokey '06 made a remarkable comeback after being knocked down in the warm-up for her long program. She was forced to withdraw from that event due to a minor head injury, but she skated that evening to take 1st place in Pre-Intermediate B Compulsory Moves. Victoria Lee '05 rounded out the gold medal finishes with first in Pre-Intermediate C Compulsory Moves.
As always, the Dartmouth spirit was strong throughout the competition. As Margaret Thering '05 said, "I'm really glad that the team was able to pull together for a strong finish. Despite a rough start to the competition, the team came through with some remarkable performances and good spirits. The BU meet was the most fun of the season. I'm looking forward to a great showing in Denver!"
The team is coached by J. Michael McGean '49, a former World Ice Dancing champion, and the retired Secretary of Dartmouth College, and his daughter Loren McGean '92. Mr. McGean, reflecting on the past three meets, was especially impressed with the team, said, "We have such a small team that we have no entries and cannot score points, in various meet events. So it has taken a great team effort to achieve second place finishes in our three qualifying competitions, all of which have been held away from home."
Other notable performances included Katie Collins '06, 4th in Gold Dance, Tricia Shalka '05, 3rd in Senior Dance, Rebecca Bruccoleri '05, 4th in Novice Dance, Kelly Morr '05, 3rd in Pre-Intermediate A Dance, and Thering, 2nd in Pre-Intermediate B Compulsory Moves.
Dartmouth has competed in Nationals every year since 2000, finishing 2nd in 2000, 6th in 2001, and 3rd last year. The team is looking forward to a strong showing this year in Denver from March 29-30.
Rebecca Bruccoleri is a sophomore member of the Dartmouth Figure Skating Team.
