University of Delaware
Office of Public Relations
UpDate - Vol. 16, No. 26, April 10



            Precision ice skaters place third at nationals
     
     Wearing ponytails and poodle skirts and skating to the
music from Grease, members of the Delaware Diamonds Masters
Precision Skating Team placed third in the U.S. Precision
Figure Skating in Nationals, held in Syracuse, N.Y., in
March. The team, with most members aged 35 and above, trains
at UD.
     According to team member Elizabeth Garvin, office
coordinator for the FOCUS distance learning program in
continuing education, "To qualify for Nationals, you must
place in the top four at Regionals, and we placed second."
     Competing at Nationals were 12 teams, which included
the top four teams from three regions around the country.
The Delaware Diamonds represented the Eastern Division.
     The team consists of 18 skaters, one quarter of whom
must be 25 to 35 years old, with the remaining three-
quarters age 35 or over. The team is coached by UD alumnae
Wendy McNally-Deppe, Delaware '89, of Newark, and Linda
Martin-Bacon, Delaware '91, of Bear. The team practices one
night a week with both on- and off-ice sessions.
     "It's a little like the Rockettes on ice," Garvin
explained. "During the programs, we have to cover all the
ice, using music that changes. We skate in lines, in
circles, make eggbeaters (pinwheels) and skate forward and
backward. We're judged on the routine's degree of
difficulty."
     Garvin, who skates everyday at lunch time, said she
became involved when her children skated in the UD ice
hockey program.
     Nancy Asti, program director for Student Life
Television (SLTV), said she also got involved in skating
when her children started taking lessons about 10 years ago.
She also is a master's division free style skater who will
compete at the Adult National Championships in that category
soon.
     "At the precision skating championships, I pulled a
ligament in my knee the day before competition," she said.
"Fortunately, they had a trainer and a doctor on hand. I
rested my knee for 24 hours, and they taped me up so I could
go on. It gave me a chance to do the Kerri Strug thing!" she
said.
     Two other Delaware precision teams also qualified for
Nationals. Both the junior team, composed of high school
students, and the senior team, made up of University
matriculating students and alumni, placed 10th in the
national competition.
                                             -Jennifer Bevan