MIT Figure Skating Club finishes seventh with six medals at home rink
The MIT Figure Skating Club hosted the first Eastern Intercollegiate Figure Skating Team Competition of this season on February 4-5, 2017. Skaters representing 30 different colleges from across the East Coast came to the Johnson Athletics Center to compete. Boston University won the competition with 84 points, followed closely by the University of Delaware with 80 points. Dartmouth College came in 3rd with 66 points, while MIT earned 23 points to place 7th overall.
Kevin Shum ’19 took home gold medals in both the Senior Men Short Program and the Senior Men Championship Free Skate events to earn nine points for MIT. Also a skater for Team USA, Kevin skated to “Eleanor Rigby” for his short program and “The Sound of Silence” for his free skate. He showcased an abundance of triple jumps, including an impressive triple lutz - triple toe loop combination.
Flora Su G contributed six points from competing in two Senior Ladies events. She won 2nd place out of nine skaters in Senior Ladies Free Skate Group 1 with an elegant tango to “Adios Nonino.” A graceful performance featuring a beautiful layback - Biellmann spin placed Flora in 4th out of eight skaters in the Senior Ladies Short Program event.
Club President Diane Zhou ’19 earned four points for MIT with her 2nd place finish out of nine competitors in Senior Ladies Free Skate Group 2. She floated through her routine to “Reflections of Passion” and landed seven double jumps, including a double salchow - double toe loop combination and a double flip - double toe loop combination.
Tetsuya Kaji G contributed two points with a silver medal in the Pre-Juvenile Men Free Skate event. His program to the main theme from Westworld highlighted stunning glides, including hydroblading and an ina bauer.
Jon Lu ’17 made his competitive figure skating debut with an inspiring skate to “You Raise Me Up,” which featured a spread eagle glide and a waltz jump. His silver medal earned MIT two more points.
Team Captain Ananya Nandy ’19 landed a double salchow and a double toe loop in her routine set to “Hotel California,” placing 9th in the Junior Ladies Free Skate event. Brooke Tam G performed the Willow Waltz for the Intermediate Dance event and skated to “The Trolls” from Disney's Frozen for the Preliminary Ladies Free Skate event, finishing 6th and 7th respectively. Skating to the main theme from Love Story, Maya Sankar ’20 placed 6th in the Preliminary Ladies Free Skate event. A Canasta Tango performance put Priyanka Chatterjee G in 7th place in the Preliminary Dance event.
The MIT team will compete again at the next Eastern Intercollegiate Team Figure Skating Competition, to be held at Liberty University the first weekend of March. The MIT Figure Skating Club's next event will be their annual Spring Exhibition on Sunday, March 12, 2017.