UpDate - Vol. 14, No. 17, Page 10
January 19, 1995
Upcoming ice shows to spotlight world-class skaters

     It's a very exciting time of the year at the University's Ice
Skating Science Development Center as 35 skaters who are members of
the U.S. National Figure Skating team and 17 more who have made it to
the 1995 Junior Olympic skating team are polishing their programs for
what may be among the most important competitions of their lives.
     Add to that five other teams who train at the University-three
from the Ukraine and Russia, one from Switzerland and one from Taipei-
who will be competing in world championship competition in February,
and the excitement in the air is almost hot enough to melt the ice.
     "It's a very exciting time. Every young skater dreams of going to
the national competitions. It's what they all work toward," said Cyndi
Haley, assistant to the director in recreation and intramural
programs. "They're all working hard now; there's a lot of excitement,
a lot of nerves. Many of them do end up competing against each other,
but they have a real team spirit and are very protective of one
another.
     "We'll be sending skaters ranging from age 8 to 29. We surpass
any other facility in the country in the numbers of skaters we send to
the nationals. If we break records, we break our own," Haley added.
     "We have very large numbers in the competitions," Ron Ludington,
award-winning coach and director of center, said. "We have a lot of
good skaters here, and the more skaters you get into the national
championships, the more successful your program is.
     "What's really grown for us is our singles program. It's grown by
leaps and bounds. And, of course, we're exceptionally strong in
dancing now that the Russians are here," he said, in reference to the
Russian coaches Nataliza Linitchuk and Grennadiy Karpanosov. One of
the dance teams they train at Delaware-Oleg Ovsyannikov and Angelika
Krylova- recently won the Russian championships. They will go on to
the European championships at the end of this month and then on to the
Worlds.
     Members of the public can share in the excitement at two National
Send-Off performances, scheduled at 6 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 21, and at
4 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 22, in the University's Blue Ice Arena. Tickets,
on sale at blue arena, are $10 for adults and $7 for children ages 12
and under. In addition to team members, the show will feature
appearances by other international and Olympic champions who train at
the UD. For information, call 831-2868, 831-4595 or 831-6475 or 1-800-
944-3996.
     The U.S. National Figure Skating Championships will be held Feb.
4-12 in Providence, R.I. The Junior Olympics will be held April 12-15
in Indianapolis.
     The world class skaters at the University also are preparing for
their own World Team Send-Off performance, scheduled for 7:30 p.m.,
Saturday, Feb. 18, at the Blue Ice Arena. Tickets for that show also
are on sale now at the ice arena.
                                                          -Beth Thomas