
Figure skaters land in second place in Southeastern Section, qualify for USFS intercollegiate nationals in New York
3/6/2024 4:00:00 PM | Figure Skating
Liberty accumulated a season-high 245 team points to finished second at the Carolina Capital Classic, its last sectional event of the season after finishing third at the previous weekend's Blue Hen Classic at Delaware.
Through all three events, Lady Flames finished ranked second to Delaware in the combined sectional standings, qualifying for the United States Figure Skating Intercollegiate National Championships in Lake Placid, N.Y., from April 12-14, along with third-place University of South Florida (USF) and fourth-place University of Pennsylvania.
At the Blue Hen Classic, the Lady Flames racked up 232 total points to place behind only the championship host Blue Hens and runner-up USF. Pennsylvania State University finished fourth.
"This was a tough competition for the girls as we were battling sickness and (junior) Greta Snukis was unable to compete due to an injury," Liberty first-year Head Coach Courtney Kirschke said.
"Seniors Kristine Neumeyer and Rebekah McBrayer both competed in another event so we could maximize the total amount of points earned for the competition."Â
Highlights for Liberty included its Low Team Maneuvers quartet placing second out of 15 teams and its Intermediate Team Maneuvers skaters landing in third place out of 11 teams.
Individually, sophomore Emma Zajonc placed first out of 12 skaters in Preliminary Solo Pattern Dance Group A. Emma Richards placed first out of seven competitors in her Pre-Bronze Solo Pattern Dance grouping and also placed first in Intermediate Short Program while fellow junior Rachel Berger came in second out of 10 competitors in the Juvenile Solo Free Dance event and senior Kamden Carrera placed second out of 11 in Preliminary Solo Pattern Dance Group B. "Most of our ice dance events are new for our team this season and there was a lot of improvement from our first conference competition in Florida back in November to where they are now," Kirschke said.Â
In free skate events, freshman Amber Banghart placed first out of eight Excel Preliminary skaters while freshman Rachel Duncan won the eight-skater Excel Pre-Preliminary competition.
A number of former Lady Flames figure skaters turned out to support the team in North Carolina, with Jill Holste, Marissa Harter, Sarah Hicks, Hannah Pulley, and Haley Gram cheering Liberty to its second-place finish with a season-high 245 points to place behind Delaware and ahead of USF.Â
Lady Flames highlights from the Carolina Capital Classic included winning their first two events, with the Low Team Maneuvers team of Banghart, Carrera, Neumeyer, and senior Emma Rietveld placing first out of 10 four-skater teams and the Intermediate Team Maneuvers team of McBrayer, Berger, Richards, and sophomore Taylor Nordquist finishing first out of eight teams.
"That helped light a fire for the rest of the weekend," Kirschke said.
Individually, Banghart placed first out of 8 in her individual event of Excel Preliminary.
"She has great skating skills as well as the performance aspect which is the whole package judges are looking for," Kirschke said.Â
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Duncan placed first out of seven skaters in the Excel Pre-Preliminary event and Zajonc finished first out of seven in her event Excel High Beginner Group A. Zajonc also competed in the Preliminary Solo Pattern Dance and placed second out of nine while sophomore Anna Hollaway came in second out of six in Excel High Beginner Group B.
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Richards competed in Intermediate Short Program event with a strong program that placed first out of skaters while the Lady Flames also had strong showings at the Senior level.
In the Excel Pre-Juvenile events, Neumeyer and Carrera placed first and third, respectively, out of 9 skaters. McBrayer and Rietveld placed first and second, respectively, out of eight skaters in Excel Juvenile.Â
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"Coming off back-to-back competitions, the team will have some time to rest, get back on top of schoolwork and then, after Spring Break, we will have everyone start Nationals prep and get into skating their programs," Kirschke said, noting that she will review competition videos with the student-athletes to help each skater bring their program to the next level for nationals.