Spring is the time for tank tops, flip flops and shorts, and it’s also when club figure skaters compete at the national level.

While many students went sun-tanning in some tropical setting during spring break, DU club figure skating went to Ann Harbor, Mich., hoping to claim a national crown, and they did.

The team finished fifth in the nation despite its small roster.

“The school placed fifth, which is a pretty big deal since the four schools that beat us are all way bigger than us,” said Claire Delahorne, a junior on the team who won the pre-juvenile freeskate. “We even beat some schools bigger than us, and the only one smaller than us is UC-Berkeley, which has five girls.”

The team headed into the school year not knowing what to expect after an off-season where they lost several skaters due to graduation, but a strong freshman class was able to pull through for them.

“Last year we actually lost a lot of skaters on our team, and at the beginning I was really wondering how competitive we were going to be this year,” said Hannah Falvey, the club’s president. “After our first practices and having so many great freshmen join the team I knew we could do very well at nationals.”

Those freshman and the leadership that the club already had proved to be able to handle the pressure of competitions before their spring break trip to nationals.

The team won the Pioneer Challenge, hosted here at DU, and the Tiger Challenge at Colorado College. Both wins were necessary to qualify for nationals.

Falvey, a junior, believes that if skaters knew what DU had to offer then they would be attracted to the school and would like to come here to compete with eastern schools.

“I know that if more skaters knew what the University of Denver had to offer for our sport many more girls would be attracted to this great school,” said Falvey.