The University of Denver figure skaters competed and won their first ever intercollegiate competition in San Jose on Jan. 19.

The Intercollegiate Team Figure Skating Competition was held by the USFSA (United States Figure Skating Association) Collegiate Program committee.

Intercollegiate team competitions have become one of the fastest growing parts of collegiate figure fkating. These competitions provide a way for Figure Skating Clubs to compete head-to-head in free skating, ice dance and synchronized team skating.

DU currently has between 5 and10 members on its team, but skating director Eddie Shipstad is looking for more skaters at DU who want to continue their skating career.

“It’s a great way for the kids to be recognized by the school. A lot of these kids train as hard as other sports and don’t get the recognition. It’s a way for them to represent the school,” Shipstad said.

There are three collegiate conferences held in the United States: Eastern, Midwestern, and Pacific Coast. Each skater is allowed to compete up to four different routines in each competition. They can compete individually in free skating, solo dance, part of a team in the “team maneuvers,” or in the synchronized skating event.

Each skater that places in the top five earn points for his/her team.

The three colleges with the most points throughout the season, in each conference, are invited to compete at the National Intercollegiate Team Figure Skating Championships.

Five of DU’s skaters participated in the San Jose competition. The skaters included sophomore Braden Overett, senior Kelly Smith, junior Adam van Eeckhout, graduate student Kristen Knotts-Jackson, and sophomore Lei Miranda.

The competition allowed for the skaters, who usually compete individually, to compete as a team.

“The team experience makes it a lot easier for you personally. You are all going to contribute to your placing. It is less stressful, yet it gives you incentive to skate well for the team,” said Smith.

The team competition also gave the skaters a chance to develop relationships with people they have something in common with.

“I’ve never done a team competition before,” said Miranda. “Skating is such an individual sport. It was nice to get to know other teammates that go to school at DU.”

Both Shipstad and the skaters agree that this program will be beneficial to many skaters who don’t realize that they can continue their passion throughout college.

“Skating is a very expensive sport,” Shipstad said. “This program will help recruit kids and open up the doors for funding. One day skating will become a varsity school sport.”

Although only two other schools consider figure skating to be a varsity sports, the hopes remain high among the DU skaters.

“I think that the awareness will be greater for figure skaters with this new format. It will give kids a chance to compete because the team needs all levels of skating. It allows for diversity in the team,” said Smith. “I think more and more schools will start to do it. It’s intense and a lot of work to be at that level. It will give us a chance to compete and skate for the school.”

Although Joy Burns Ice Arena manager and coach Susan Williams, fully supports the students, they are responsible for organizing the competitions themselves.

“I thought that at first it was very disorganized on all ends, but toward the end, everything seemed to pull together nicely.”

Despite a few bumps, the team seemed to agree that it was still a great experience.

“It was a very good bonding experience for all of the skaters. It was neat to be with these people for three days. You learn what they like and don’t like,” said Smith. “It was nice to be able to come back home and talk about things.”

Van Eeckhout agreed, saying,

“We have more of a network now. We’ve all become friends through our skating background.”

The competition was also exciting for the skaters because it gave them a chance to really show off their skills

“I really enjoyed competing again because I didn’t think I would have the opportunity to compete again,” said van Eeckhout.

“It was good to set a smaller, shorter term goal. They are like place markers. It was fun and new,” said Overett.

No matter how the competition may have turned out, they all seemed to agree that it was a new experience that really gave them some new insight into the skating world.

“It was great being a part of a team, the people were good,” said Overett. “We put up a strong competition. It was a fun weekend in that the competition was very relaxing and very stressful. The competitions were short and intense.”

Five years ago, there were only a handful of collegiate organizations in the country. Today there are now more than 20 colleges with some form of collegiate skating.

Skaters who skate on collegiate teams get to experience being a part of a team that represents their college just like any other sport.

Not only do the students have to work daily to perfect their routines, they have the task of organizing their club.

These elements allow for the skater to gain experience in leadership, organization, and teaamwork.

Most of these skaters have been skating for the greater part of their life and they finally have the opportunity to show everyone what they are made of.

“I definitely want to keep skating. It’s a part of my life,” said Miranda.

The next competition will be here at the Magness Arena on March 1st and 2nd.

Teams from all across the nation will be representing their school on these days. The top three teams from every region will then attend the last competition, the national championships, on march 18 at the University of Michigan.