Figure skaters finish fourth at Southeast Sectionals competition in Florida

Friday, November 8

Tampa, FL

1:00 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

University of South Florida

Lady Flames figure skaters don their medals from Saturday's Southeast Sectional debuts.

Figure skaters finish fourth at Southeast Sectionals competition in Florida

11/10/2024 10:16:00 PM | Figure Skating

Liberty landed just 2.5 points behind third-place Pennsylvania, leaving room for improvement at its next sectional competition, Feb. 21-23 in Philadelphia.

Liberty University's figure skating team made its 2024-25 Southeast Sectional debut on Saturday with a fourth-place finish (out of 18 teams) at a competition hosted by the University of South Florida.

Lady Flames second-year Head Coach Courtney Kirschke said her skaters gave their teammates a near home-ice advantage in Ellenton, Fla. arena, making it seem as if they were skating in the LaHaye Ice Center.

"The energy we brought to this competition was incredible," Kirschke said. "Everyone played their role as a teammate extremely well in cheering and being loud for each other's events. It was really encouraging to see the rookies be all in to the team atmosphere that is unique to collegiate skating."

The Lady Flames accumulated 234.5 points to finish behind only the team champion University of Delaware (273 points), runner-up Penn State University (244), and the University of Pennsylvania (237), which placed third, earning 2.5 points more than Liberty.

"Overall, we put out a lot of great skates, but there were a few events that we didn't place like we hoped, and that's where we lost some points," Kirschke said. "For a lot of the girls, the hard work they put into practice paid off with clean programs. Everyone got back into the competition mode and experienced how to skate with the nerves, adrenaline, and under pressure again. Each competition is a learning experience. Going forward, we have a clearer picture of how to clean up the programs to make them better for our next competition at University of Pennsylvania in February."

Highlights from Saturday's competition included outstanding performances from five of the team's rookies. That included junior Daniela Martinez, who landed in first place out of six skaters in the Aspire 3 division, and senior Katie Williams, who placed first out of seven in Group A of Preliminary Pattern Dance. Freshmen Macy Clemons and Ava Basler finished first and second, respectively, out of seven competitors in the Preliminary Plus Free Skate while sophomore Vanessa Bradfield took second out of nine skaters in the Juvenile Free Skate event.

Returning senior Shae Stewart placed second out of seven skaters in the Preliminary Pattern Dance Group B ahead of Basler, who finished fourth.

Figure skaters Vanessa and Emma Richards — Freshman Vanessa Bradfield placed second and senior Emma Richards first in their events.

Rachel Berger skated in the Pre-Bronze Pattern Dance for the first time and placed third out of seven competitors. She also won the Juvenile Free Dance event out of eight skaters, as did fellow senior Emma Richards out of 12 competitors in the Intermediate Free Skate.

Meanwhile, Amber Banghart placed first out of seven skaters in the Preliminary Free Skate, and fellow sophomore Rachel Duncan finished first out of eight competitors in the Pre-Preliminary Free Skate. Junior Taylor Nordquist placed third out of 11 skaters in the Novice Short Program.

Banghart was the only Lady Flames returning skater competing in Low Team Maneuvers. Joined by Basler, Clemons, and freshman Maggie Duhaime, the quartet finished third out of 10 teams.

Liberty's Intermediate Team Maneuvers squad, featuring the same skaters as last year — Berger, Richards, Nordquist, and junior Greta Snukis — finished third out of six teams.

Video edited by Kylee Wright/Club Sports Video & Media Coordinator