ANGOLA, Ind. - Trine University's varsity figure skating team began their conference season by earning a strong second place finish out of 22 teams at the 2024 Thunder Country Classic. The Thunder finished their home competition with a total of 244 team points and a multitude of individual medalists.
 
The first day of competition for the team proved successful, with great showings by the skaters entered in the Juvenile, Intermediate, Novice, and Junior Short Programs as well as the Pre-Preliminary Free Skate. Trine's first competitor of the day senior Brigid Guerin gave a commanding performance in the Juvenile Short Program and won the division handily, giving the program their first gold medal of the competition and 12 team points. Next up were Maris Kakasenko and Brinna Russell, who took second and fifth place respectively in the Intermediate Short Program with their confident routines, earning the Thunder a combined 14 additional team points.
 
In the Novice Short program, Kinsey Jo Mann made her intercollegiate debut, earning six team points and finishing her first event just off the podium in fourth place. Although the Thunder was one skater down due to injury, freshman AnnaLee Barton did her best to make up for the missing points by giving an entertaining performance in the Junior Short Program. Although there were small mistakes in her intercollegiate debut, Barton's charming expression and difficult jump combinations helped her earn seven team points and a fourth place finish.
 
Our last skater of the day, Sage Scherzer helped the Thunder finish the day strong with a near perfect performance of her Pre-Preliminary Free Skate, earning 12 team points and the second gold medal of the weekend for Trine Skating. Trine closed out the first day of competition with 51 points and were excited to continue the fight.
 
Saturday began with performances by skaters entered in the Preliminary Free Skate. First up was Arya Barnes-Kelley who earned eight team points and a fourth place finish for her dependable and entertaining performance. Next, Alexandra Davidson competed an emotion-filled Free Skate that earned her 12 team points and the third gold medal for Trine. Despite a fall, Mayte Velarde shone in her intercollegiate debut, taking fifth place, and earning the team seven points with her passionate performance.
 
Next, in a new discipline to her, Enya Lunburg took fourth place in the Preliminary Pattern dance and earned six points for the team. In the Senior Free Dance event Barton dazzled once again, earning eight team points for her 5th place finish in an extremely competitive group. Next, Lunburg re-took the ice along with her teammate, Rhiley Paskoff, to perform their Intermediate Free Skates. Lunburg's fabulous performance took second place while Paskoff's consistent and powerful routine gave her a fourth place finish, earning The Thunder a combined 17 team points for the event. In the Novice Free Dance, Hannah Guerra gave a moving performance and earned Trine's fourth gold medal of the competition and 12 additional team points. In Trine's last solo event of the day, Kellan Chwojko-Frank gave a masterful performance in the Juvenile Free Dance and earned ten team points and a silver medal.
 
The High, Intermediate, and Low Team Maneuvers Events closed out Saturday's competition. In the High Team Event, Barton and Mann once again took the ice along with fellow freshman Caroline Orr to show a strong and error-free display of their best skills. They ended the event with a fifth place finish out of ten teams in the highest category of competition, earning six team points. In the Intermediate Team event, Trine Skaters were flawless in each of their elements, with all seven judges awarding the team first out of eight teams. Together, Lunburg, Kakasenko, Russell, Guerin, and Kaitlin Gunter earned Trine an additional 12 team points, a trophy, and another gold medal. Lastly, in a huge group of 18 schools, Trine's Low Team once again dominated in their division, taking first place, and making it the fourth consecutive conference competition win for the group. Trine's Low Team of Davidson, Guerra, and Chwojko-Frank took home Trine's sixth gold medal of the competition and another trophy to add to their collection. Trine ended the day with 161 points.
 
The last day of competition began with Pattern Dance events. Guerra started Trine off strong with a silver medal finish in the Bronze Pattern Dance, performing a confident Willow Waltz. Next, Gunter was precise and expressive while performing her Pre-Silver Pattern Dance, the Foxtrot, earning an additional gold medal for the team. In Gunter's second dance, the Silver Pattern Dance, she earned second place for her commanding Tango. Together, Guerra and Gunter earned 26 team points for their effort in the Pattern Dances.
 
Next for the Thunder, was three entries in the Juvenile Free Skate. Chwojko-Frank was up first and gave an energetic performance with all clean jumps and spins, which earned her a first place finish. In her intercollegiate debut, Jillian George skated next with an error-free and graceful routine, finishing fourth out of nine skaters. Last in the Juvenile category, freshman Savannah Press gave a moving performance in her debut and took home the bronze medal for Trine. Press, George, and Chwojko-Frank together, earned another 26 points for the Thunder.
 
In the Gold Pattern Dance, Orr took fourth place and earned six team points while Ruby Rauser, with a few small errors, placed sixth and earned two team points.
 
To close the day, the team had three skaters remaining in the Novice Free Skate and the Junior Free Skate. In the Novice Free Skate, Kakasenko gave an animated performance and took home the silver medal. Mann also delighted in her performance in the Novice Free Skate and earned second place. Kakasenko and Mann earned Trine 18 team points with their performances. Last to skate, once again, was Barton in the Junior Free Skate. With a few mistakes, Barton finished the event in sixth place and earned five more team points.
 
Trine ended the competition with 244 points. Despite being one skater down due to injury, the Thunder was still able to finish the competition strong and place second overall among a strong group of 22 Universities. Trine earned seven gold medals, and 16 medals overall at the event. Their next Midwest Conference Competition will be held February 21st-23rd in Texas, hosted by Texas A&M University.
 

2024 Thunder Country Class Team Standings
Place	Team Name	Points
1.	Adrian College	270
2.	Trine University	244
3.	University of Michigan	243
4.	Western Michigan University	200
5.	Michigan State University	197
6.	University of Illionis	176
7.	Wayne State University	142
8.	Texas A&M University	116
9.	University of Wisconsin	113
10.	University of Minnesota	109
11.	Oakland University	108
12.	University of Notre Dame	66
13.	University of Minnesota - Duluth	58
14.	University of Nebraska	46
t-15.	Northern Michigan University	32
t-15.	Lake Forest College	32
17.	Washington University	27
18.	Indiana University	25
19.	Augustana University	22
20.	Ferris State University	21
21.	Wichita State University	4
22.	University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point	2