Collegiate Champ Sets Example

[moonvine]

Collegiate Champ Sets Example For What’s Possible | U.S. Figure Skating

www.usfigureskating.org

 

[ladyjane]

170 points for a Collegiate champion. Well done!

 

[Mathman]

I wonder if there are enough colleges in the U.S. with big enough figure skating programs that there could be team medals, like in collegiate gymnastics.

 

[midori green]

I wonder if there are enough colleges in the U.S. with big enough figure skating programs that there could be team medals, like in collegiate gymnastics.

They do have intercollegiate team competitions (as well as a collegiate division for synchro).

Edit to add link...

Collegiate Skating | U.S. Figure Skating

www.usfigureskating.org

 

[Magill]

I wonder how it works though. There was a moment in time when all of Nathan Chen, Vincent Zhou and Alysa Liu were college students. Would they be competing in the collegiate FS, too? Actually Alysa is a college student now but they seem to have a different champion... Wouldn't she compete in the collegiate sport then when competing on the national / international scene? This would be different from gymnastics... Or does it depend on her wish and her arrangements with her college? Can you explain it please?

 

[jersey1302]

So it seems like the collegiate scene is just a different competition route for collegiate athletes however she is still seemingly able to do her own events to qualify for nationals and earn a spot eventually on national team if her scores do put her there.

 

[Mathman]

I wonder how it works though. There was a moment in time when all of Nathan Chen, Vincent Zhou and Alysa Liu were college students.

That's something that needs to be clarified. Alissa Czisny won the 2008 collegiate championship and la few months later won the 2008-09 USFS championship. (She was the second most famous skater ever to come out of Bowling Green University, Bowling Green, Ohio. Most famous? Scott Hamilton. It was Alissa's second collegiate championship. Her first was 2004, with her sister Amber winning bronze.)

Mirai Nagasu won in 2014 (silver at Four Continents that year.)

Maybe it's not a widespread problem, though. Most elite skaters at that level are not tempted to compete even if they are attending college while pursuing national and international titles.

By the way, collegiate competitions in the U.S. used to include Figures as a separate discipline, up to 1990 for men and 2000 for women.

 

[Elyse]

My brother's sister in law skated at University of Miami of Ohio about 20 years ago and she loved it. I don't think they had a singles team though. I think she did synchro. She was pretty good, made Sectionals a couple of times but never made it to Nationals. She found it to be a huge stress reliever there. I never asked her how she competed with other schools, since I figured how many other schools have a skating program?

I like the idea of a collegiate championship, though it seems like the competitors are more elite or national level so it's just another senior competition for them. Anyway, congratulations to Kendall Erne, whom I haven't heard about before! Impressive score.

 

[midori green]

The Collegiate national championship (referenced in this article) is also different from the Intercollegiate national championship. The latter has teams scoring points for skaters in different events (singles, solo dance, "team compulsory" events) at multiple test levels.

 

[twirlingblades]

My brother's sister in law skated at University of Miami of Ohio about 20 years ago and she loved it. I don't think they had a singles team though. I think she did synchro. She was pretty good, made Sectionals a couple of times but never made it to Nationals. She found it to be a huge stress reliever there. I never asked her how she competed with other schools, since I figured how many other schools have a skating program?

I like the idea of a collegiate championship, though it seems like the competitors are more elite or national level so it's just another senior competition for them. Anyway, congratulations to Kendall Erne, whom I haven't heard about before! Impressive score.

I skated at Miami University (that’s the Ohio one… university of Miami is in Florida) and intercollegiate figure skating is HUGE! Fun fact, Miami won the first intercollegiate national championship in 2000.

Yes it is a team/school points system. There is singles, pattern dance, and solo dance

Here is the schedule and results (from last year): https://usfigureskatingfanzone.com/sports/collegiate-skating/schedule/2024-25

And the there is synchro: open collegiate and collegiate. Some schools have senior and junior as well.

 

[Elyse]

Thank you @twirlingblades! I knew I probably messed up the name.... . I still have a MIAMI sweatshirt that my brother gave me that I sleep in during the winter. lol. I think that's great that Miami has had such a successful program. Were they the first? It was the first time I heard about a college skating program.

 

[twirlingblades]

Thank you @twirlingblades! I knew I probably messed up the name.... . I still have a MIAMI sweatshirt that my brother gave me that I sleep in during the winter. lol. I think that's great that Miami has had such a successful program. Were they the first? It was the first time I heard about a college skating program.

I’m honestly not sure who was the “first”… 2000 was the first time intercollegiate nationals was held, so I’m sure intercollegiate team skating was a thing for a while before that.

University of Michigan is the home of synchronized skating (formerly precision skating) so I consider Michigan the home of skating in college in general

Miami hosted intercollegiate nationals my last year in 2017… definitely one of my favorite memories.