Stellar skaters
UD figure skaters earn medals at national championships
10:02 a.m., Feb. 11, 2016--Four skaters who train at the University of Delaware turned in medal-winning performances at the Prudential U.S. Figure Skating Championships held Jan. 15-24, in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Ice dancers Anastasia Cannuscio and Colin McManus, members of Team USA, earned a pewter medal in the senior competition.
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Joseph Kang won the intermediate men’s national figure skating championship, while Jordan Evans earned a bronze medal in the same event.
Cannuscio and McManus, who have been training under under coaches Karen Ludington and Christie Moxley-Hutson for the past eight years, began skating together in 2008. The team has competed at four junior and senior grand prix events, medaling in four senior international events.
In addition to this year’s pewter, medal-winning performances include a gold at the 2013 Ice Challenge in Graz, Austria, and bronze at the Nebelhorn Trophy in Oberstdrof, Germany.
“We are very excited to come home from the national championships with the pewter medal,” Cannuscio and McManus said. “Our goal this season was to get onto the podium and being able to accomplish what we trained for all season is truly a remarkable experience. We also want to express a huge thanks to our family, friends, coaches and, of course, the UD Ice Arenas for their support.”
Kang, 12, is a student at Garnet Valley Middle School in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, who loves figure skating and plays piano, having pursued both passions since age 5. He took home a bronze medal at the 2015 juvenile boy’s national figuring skating competition before winning gold this year.
Evans, 14, of Wilmington, is a six-year veteran competitive skater with the UD Figure Skating Club and has earned a spot in U.S. national competition for the past three years.
Evans noted that taking the bronze medal is especially pleasing because he wasn’t sure he would be able to skate competitively after an injury took him off the ice for eight weeks this summer.
“I was determined to make it to the nationals again, and worked hard to come back from my injury. I’m happy that all my hard work paid off and I was able to earn a spot on the national team again,” Evans said. “Now, I’m focused on moving up to the novice level, with the goal of making Team USA in the next one-to-two years.”
UD’s High Performance Figure Skating Center is home to some of the top figure skaters in the world. Olympians who have previously called the UD facility home include Tara Lipinski, Kimmie Meissner, Johnny Weir, Tiffany Scott and Philip Dulebohn, Irina Lobacheva and Ilia Averbukh, Oksana Grischuk and Evgeny Platov, and Angelika Krylova and Oleg Ovsiannikov.
The coaching staff includes many world and Olympic coaches and former Olympians.
During the competitive season, fans of the sport can see top skaters in performance at national send-off shows highlighting UD-based skaters who have qualified for the national championships and international competition.
Article by Jerry Rhodes
Photos by Kathy F. Atkinson and Ambre Alexander