The DU Club Figure Skating team hosted its annual Pioneer Open competition Feb. 7-8. The competition was the final of three Pacific Coast conference competitions sanctioned by the US Figure Skating Association. 18 skaters from DU participated in the competition, which included ice dance, free skate and team maneuvers events.

DU’s finish has unofficially qualified the team for a slot at US Figure Skating’s National Intercollegiate Championships.

DU’s 76.2 points earned them a second-place finish at the competition, behind UC-Berkeley, which earned 103.1 points. Colorado State University (CSU) finished third with 68.3 points.

DU captured a first-place win at CSU’s Tiger Challenge in November and a third-place finish at UC San Diego’s Ride the Tide competition in January. Combined with the results from the Pioneer Open competition, DU and UC Berkeley are unofficially tied for first place in the conference. US Figure Skating will decide the results of the tie based on overall performance to announce the conference champion.

As the top 3 point-earners in the conference qualify for nationals, DU will continue to the national competition, which will be held April 10-12 at UC Berkeley. The competition will include the top 3 point-earners from the Pacific Coast, Eastern and Midwestern conferences.
For notification of official results on national qualifications, follow DU Club Figure Skating on Facebook. Results of individual figure skaters can be found at usfigureskating.org. The club will also host a spring show May 16 at home in Magness Arena.