KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Last weekend, the Trine University synchronized skating teams competed at US Figure Skating's 2025 Midwestern Synchronized Skating Sectional Championships, earning multiple personal best scores and bringing home Trine University's first conference championship trophy in the senior division. For the third consecutive season, all three of Trine's synchronized skating teams earned podium finishes and brought home Midwest sectional titles.
 
The Open Collegiate team was the first to take competition ice for the Thunder this weekend, starting the teams off with a strong and personality-filled performance of their freeskate to Burlesque. The clean routine was highlighted by a fast and organized no-hold, neat pivot-block, and smooth whip intersection. The team ended their routine with the line element, providing a high-energy close to a great performance. Open Collegiate earned the silver medal, tying last year's result as the highest placement by the Open Collegiate team in program history. 
 
"Open Collegiate worked so hard leading up to Mids and it was exciting for all of our improvements to shine through our most consistent skate of the season," praised Trine University Junior and Co-Captain of Open Collegiate, Alexa Hapstak.
 
The team will take the ice for the last time this season at the Tri-State Synchronized Skating Competition on Saturday, February 15th in Mentor, Ohio.
 
Up next for the Thunder was the Collegiate team who were able to make a breakthrough, earning a new season's best score by over 12 points and qualifying for US Figure Skating's National Championship to be held in Colorado Springs, Colorado later this month. Collegiate's performance of their "Miami Heat" routine was not only energizing, but also extremely technically strong.
 
The team had the third highest base technical value of the division, earning full credit for 7 out of 8 elements, including maximum calls on their two intersections, their synch spin, and their travelling element.  Their score of 96.72 is a season's best for the team and is the 4th highest score for a collegiate team across all three of this year's US Figure Skating sectional championships.
 
"For being such a young team, this group of skaters have worked incredibly hard to build consistency and confidence over the last month of training", explained Head Coach Rachel Franchock, "I am so proud of how this group stayed focused on perfecting the technical pieces of their program and brought the energy with such a confident performance at competition. It will be fun to keep working towards their goals leading up to Nationals."
 
Collegiate will compete next at the Tri-State Synchronized Skating Competition on Saturday, February 15th in Mentor, Ohio before their season concludes at the National Championships.
 
Trine's Senior team closed out the competition on Saturday night with the second performance of their two-part event. On Friday night, the team received a program record high score in their short program which included maximum level calls on all their elements and an improved components score.
 
Sitting in first place with a score of 56.51 going into the freeskate, and the team was ready to focus and work together to give another strong performance in their longer and more high-stakes program. Their performance was highlighted by a maximum level pairs element, triangle intersection, creative lift, moves element, and artistic circle. Small mistakes in the twizzle element and pivot block allow room for the team's score to improve both technically and in the performance and skill aspect, but this personal best score of 105.69 set a new school record for highest ever score earned by a Trine University synchro team.
 
"Jumping up to the senior level has come with a steep learning curve but this group of skaters is so dedicated to growing together this season," beamed Franchock, "I am insanely proud of their commitment to go the extra mile to improve, and I feel blessed to share such a special season with them. I'm looking forward to continuing to train with them leading up to Nationals and see them build even more confidence as they prepare to compete alongside the best teams in the US."
 
The detailed results for the competition can be found here on US Figure Skating's website.
 

Open Collegiate Results			Collegiate Results				Senior Combined Results
No.	Team Name		No.	Team Name	Score		No.	Team Name	Score
1	Miami (Ohio) University		1	Miami (Ohio) University	111.23		1	Trine University	162.20
2	Trine University		2	University of Michigan	103.81		2	Adrian College	130.90
3	Western Michigan University		3	Northernettes	103.06
4	Northwestern Universiyt		4	Trine University	96.72
5	University of Michigan		5	Michigan State University	89.11
6	University of Missouri		6	Western Michigan University	84.21
7	Michigan State University		7	University of Illinois	81.17
8	University of Notre Dame		8	Adrian College	75.41