The West Virginia University Figure Skating Club will open its 2013-14 season with a performance during one of the intermissions of the WVU Division II ice hockey team’s Oct. 20 game against St. Vincent College. The game will be played at 10:30 a.m. at the Morgantown Ice Arena.
The first 10 patrons to buy tickets at the gate will receive autographed pictures of the figure skaters and hockey team as well as a hockey puck.
The Figure Skating Club will join forces with WVU’s Division I and Division II hockey teams several times during the academic year. Both teams’ seasons conclude in March.
“We are very excited to share our love for the ice with the WVU hockey teams this year,” said Angela Kreger, the president of the Figure Skating Club and a graduate student in nursing.
“It’s really a great opportunity for us to display our high-level talents. We want to invite the WVU community to come watch us perform while rooting for our hockey teams.”
In addition to Kreger, a native of Somerset, Pa., who is a United States Figure Skating Association gold medalist in Moves in the Field and Freeskating, the Figure Skating Club features Gina Geils, a junior from Bensenville, Ill.; Sophie Tobia, a sophomore from Bel Air, Md.; Courtney Caldwell, a freshman from Evansville, Ind.; Erin Gales, a sophomore from Detroit, Mich.; Claire Schretlen, a medical student from Baltimore, Md.; and Shaun Adams, a junior from Grantsville, Md., who attends Fairmont State University.
“It is the speed, the grace, and the artistry of skaters that electrifies every ice sport audience whether the skating performers are trying to score the winning goal or attempting to land a triple salchow,” said Alan O’Connor, an assistant coach with the Mountaineers’ ice hockey team.
“The magic of these two sports is that they project on the audience a sensation of what it would be like if a human could fly. We are fortunate here in Morgantown that WVU attracts the very best figure skaters and hockey players.”
All members of the club have skated in national competitions sponsored by the U.S. Figure Skating Association.
“This is an extraordinary group of skaters,” said Mark Brazaitis, a WVU English professor who serves as the club’s adviser.
“If you want to see a spellbinding combination of artistic performance and pure athleticism, come see WVU’s figure skaters.”
Kreger’s and Geils’ commitment to bringing dynamic skating to the Morgantown community extends beyond the club’s between-hockey-periods shows. They are set to direct an on-ice performance of “The Wizard of Oz” in the spring. The show will feature members of the WVU Figure Skating Club as well as young skaters from Monongalia and Preston counties who skate as part of the Mason-Dixon Figure Skating Club.
For more information: http://www.wvuhockey.org/
The Morgantown Ice Arena is located at 1001 Mississippi St. near White Park in Morgantown.
-WVU-
Mb/10/18/13
CONTACT: Mark Brazaitis, English professor
304-293-9707, Mark.Brazaitis@mail.wvu.edu
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