2015 U.S. C OLLE G IA TE C HAM P IONSHI P S IN DEFENSE Math and science whiz Richard Dornbush
arrived at the Robert Morris University Island Sports Center in Pittsburgh in early August with one thing on his mind: repeat as the senior men’s champion at the 2015 U.S. Collegiate Figure Skating Championships. And that he did.
Te computational physics major rallied in
the free skate to top 2015 U.S. pewter medalist Max Aaron for the title. Mirai Nagasu, a 2010 Olympian, claimed the senior ladies title by 12 points. Dornbush, who trailed Aaron by two points after earning 71.92 points for his short program to music from Moulin Rouge!, outscored Aaron by more than 15 points in the free skate en route to an overall score of 225.51. His free skate high- lights included a triple Axel-double toe loop-dou- ble loop combination that generated 13.51 points. His Level 4 step sequence also received high execution marks. He fell on his opening quad toe loop. “It feels really good [to win],” Dornbush
said. “It was fun coming here to defend my title, so I had some good motivation coming to Pitts- burgh.
“I was really happy with my mental game (in
his free skate to a compilation of Coldplay songs). During the five-minute warm-up, I was having a hard time getting my feet under me and a hard time concentrating, but I went out there and put together a good program when it counted.” Dornbush, who is a senior and studies full time at UC San Diego — a short commute from his training rink in Riverside, California — earned a $5,000 scholarship, courtesy of the Pio- neer Fund, for his victory.
“Te scholarship helps so much,” he said.
“It’s really hard to be an elite athlete while being a full-time student, especially when there aren’t too many scholarships out there focused on figure skating. “Skating doesn’t have a huge collegiate foun-
dation, and that’s something that I really want to see in the future. One of the biggest reasons I try to attend the collegiate championships every year is to support collegiate figure skating. It’s cool to come to this competition and get to be around other skaters who are also in school.”
“IT WAS FUN COMING HERE TO DEFEND MY TITLE, SO I HAD SOME GOOD MOTIVATION COMING TO PITTS- BURGH.”
— RICHARD DORNBUSH
Dornbush repeats, Nagasu impresses at Collegiate Championships by MICHAEL TERRY
Aaron, a finance major at University of Colorado Colorado Springs, led after his short program set to “Nessun Dorma,” but faltered on the second day of competition. In his free skate to music from the Black Swan soundtrack, Aar- on experienced a mixed bag of results. On the positive side, he received high scores for his tri- ple Axel-double toe loop combination and triple loop. However, he had a shaky opening quad Sal- chow and received no credit for executing a dou- ble toe loop instead of a planned double Axel. He finished with a total score of 212.18. “Obviously, this wasn’t a great competition
for me,” Aaron said, “but I need to learn from it and move on. It’s still early and I’m hoping to be better my next time out.” Aaron is thankful for the opportunity to fur- ther his education while competing at a high level. “It’s tough to [compete and get an educa-
tion], but I know there’s more to pursue in life outside of figure skating,” Aaron said. “I enjoy the challenge and it’s fun trying to be successful in two things.” Alex Johnson, also a finance major at Uni-
versity of Colorado Colorado Springs, finished third with 189.08 points, while Patrick Rupp, an engineering and physics student at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida, secured the pewter medal, scoring a total 177.43 points.
SENIOR LADIES Nagasu, a freshman at University of Colo-
rado Colorado Springs, overtook Angela Wang (University of Colorado Colorado Springs) and Maria Yang (Stanford University) with a sterling free skate. Nagasu, who is studying international busi-
ness, wasn’t pleased with her 58.46-point, third- place short program performance, but rebound- ed in her free skate, set to music from Te Great Gatsby, with a 117.92-point effort highlighted by three opening combinations — a triple flip-tri- ple toe, a double Axel-triple toe-double toe and a triple loop-double toe loop. Her total of 176.38 points gave her first place by 12 points. “I’m happy I turned the [short program] into a learning experience,” Nagasu said. “I’m glad I was able to focus in on the free skate today. I used to be known as a short program skater, so to prove that wrong feels really good.” With the gold medal also comes a $5,000
scholarship. “Education is expensive, but it’s also really
important,” she said. “Tis will cover a semester of classes and that goes a long way for me. Te fact that I earned this really means a lot to me.” Wang, a freshman health science major, landed 10 jumps in her free skate, including two in combination, to capture the silver medal. She earned a $2,500 scholarship. “I’ve really been building on my early com-
petitions — Broadmoor, Vail and Sun Valley — and I feel like I started off strong today,” Wang said. “Points-wise, I was much higher, and think I’m really building these programs well so far this season.” Yang, a freshman majoring in electrical en- gineering and community science, led after her short program to a meditation theme and received a $1,000 scholarship for finishing third, with a combined score of 163.64. “I always have fun at this event,” Yang said.
“People are really supportive of one another. Ev- eryone here is super excited to be here and be out on the ice.”
Scottsdale Community College’s Alexis
Gagnon, a freshman who wants to be a physical therapist, took home the pewter medal with a score of 125.19.
JUNIOR LADIES University of Delaware’s Taylor Aruanno grabbed the title with a score of 99.33. True to the theme of the weekend, the freshman athlet- ic training major came from behind after finding herself in second place at the conclusion of the short program. Aruanno, who skated to music from “Night
on Bald Mountain” and “Bolero,” finished with 99.33 points. Her first-place free skate was high- lighted by three jump combinations. “It was really great to meet everyone that I’ll be competing with for years to come,” Aruanno said.
Brittany Lee, a sophomore physical therapy and athletic training major from Boston Universi- ty, won the silver medal, scoring 90.04 points. She placed third in the short program and second in the free skate. University of Delaware senior Kathleen
Criss, the 2014 U.S. Collegiate champion in junior ladies, claimed bronze with 87.64 points, while Gillian Gonzalez, a recent graduate who majored in kinesiology at Houston Baptist Uni- versity, won the pewter medal with 86.03 points.
JUNIOR MEN
B.J. Conrad emerged as the champion with 119.23 points. Conrad, a sophomore interior de- sign major from Texas Christian University, who performed to music from Te Mission and Sweeney Todd, won the event by more than 19 points. “It feels good to win,” Conrad said. “It’s fun to see all of the hard work I put in this summer pay off. Before this, I hadn’t competed in two years, so getting back in shape was a little rough.” Andrew Civiello, a freshman at Scottsdale Community College studying industrial engi- neering, secured the silver medal with 100.18 points.
“Tis event is fun because everyone is the
same age,” Civiello said. “Tere are so few of us in the men’s competition that we have a lot of fun. You almost don’t really care how you end up at the end of it because you make good friends and it’s pretty low stress.” Kevin Wu, a senior mechanical engineering
major at Texas A&M, and Scott Brody, a senior biochemistry major at the University of Michi- gan, finished third and fourth, respectively.
SKATING 19
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