Even though the Cornell Figure Skating Club Team had just returned from a weekend competition at the University of Delaware, several girls showed up for the team’s usual Tuesday practice time at Lynah Rink. Chatting with each other as they laced up their skates, something else was bothering the skaters more than the “massive bruises” they had gotten from either the competition or Monday’s practice.
After ending up in a three-way tie for second place at Delaware on Sunday, the Red was still waiting to hear if it would have a berth at Nationals. Only the top-3 teams in the Eastern Conference will be allowed to compete April 5 in Ann Arbor, Mich.
At Tuesday’s practice, the skaters were optimistic. For them, the journey is more important than the destination.
“We’re more about having fun and enjoying what we’re doing,” said senior Public Relations Chair Stephanie Chan during Tuesday’s practice, as the bubble-gum opening notes of “Candy” by Mandy Moore started playing over the P.A. system at Lynah Rink. “We try to keep it light. … We love our pop music.”
The team practices three times a week to prepare and then piles into four or five cars to get to competitions. These road trips are perfect opportunities for the sing-a-longs that are a team mainstay.
Sixteen girls made the trip this past weekend to compete at Delaware, and there is a wide spectrum of skill level for the skaters on the team, ranging from competition newbies to entrants at Sectionals.
“It’s definitely a range [of experience for club members],” said senior team member Caroline Krassen, “and you get the same amount of points for your team whether or not you’re at the lowest level or the highest level, so everyone contributes.”
At competitions, each skater accumulates points for the team by placing in the top-5 in an event. The schools are then ranked by the amount of points their skaters have won. Each individual contribution paid off for the Red at Delaware.
Both Chan and Krassen joined the club freshman year, and they agree that this year’s team has the most potential of the four years that they’ve been here. Without a shot at Nationals since the team won the National Intercollegiate title in 2003, Cornell has had a surprisingly successful season.
“We came in second at BU [Feb. 9-10], and everyone was shocked,” Krassen said. “We came out of nowhere. The last [two] years we had gotten fourth, so everyone was just shocked. To see the expression on the other teams’ face was priceless. … This is the year to do it.”
After years spent on the ice, dedication is an integral part of figure skating at any level — even when skaters choose college over individual competition.
“It was definitely something that I wanted to continue in college,” Krassen said. “When I applied to colleges, I didn’t apply to any colleges that didn’t have a skating team.”
The Red, however, has a definite disadvantage compared to other college skating programs. While other teams practice every day, Cornell is the only team in the region without a coach. Four-time consecutive National Champion Dartmouth, for example, took first place at the BU competition in Feb. The Green practices twice a day and are fully funded, according to Chan. Similarly, Delaware houses the Ice Skating Science Development Center, a year-round training facility that has worked with 2007 U.S. National Champion Kimmie Meissner, among others.
And so, on the Hill, the figure skaters advise each other.
The team also has an unofficial mentor in former U.S. Bronze Medalist and Olympian Matt Savoie, who practices with and sometimes coaches the girls while he attends Cornell Law School. Savoie performed at the club’s show last semester.
Beyond competitions and preparations for the club’s next show on Saturday, March 29, the skaters were most excited on Tuesday about the task at hand — the figure skating itself.
Programs range 1 1/2 to 4 minutes, and it usually takes about two or three practices to get a rough idea of what a program should be like. Several skaters have already chosen the music for their exhibition performances at the end of the month.
“I miraculously landed a few double axels in practice yesterday,” Krassen said. “I’m going to try some triple toes tonight, but when I was competitive I could do a triple toe [consistently]. … The double axel is the hardest double, because it’s 2 1/2 rotations instead of just two. That’s why it was surprising that I did it [Monday].”
Chan, on the other hand, specializes in a different aspect of figure skating.
“[Jumping is] definitely not my forte,” she said. “My forte’s like the weird-ass, strange, flexible … random stuff like spirals.”
Until Krassen, Chan and the rest of the Figure Skating Team gets a chance to perform for the community in a month, the skaters hope to see what Ann Arbor is like in April.
Senior co-captain Megan Jepson has skated since the age of 3 and was one of the skaters who endured “massive bruises” from practicing on Monday even though she had just competed the day before.
“We’re going to Nationals,” she said. “I have faith.”