The Boston University Figure Skating Club (BUFSC) defended its national title Sunday, placing first at the U.S. Intercollegiate Figure Skating Championship for the second year in a row.
The team earned a combined 111 points, 13 points more than second-place University of Delaware and 20 points more than third-place Adrian College.
One of the keys to the team’s success, said BUFSC Ice Dance Coach Andrew Korda, was ensuring that the skaters were prepared physically, mentally, emotionally and from a strategic perspective.
“We approached it the same way, I think, that we did last year when we won,” Korda said. “It’s all about preparation and going into this knowing that our skaters are ready to compete and trying not to focus so much on the outcome and focus more on each individual skate.”
While the skaters are required to skate four days a week, most of them skate five, said head coach Andrea Mohns-Brillaud. She said she felt that if the skaters were prepared, they would be successful.
“Because we had won last year, some of the kids were feeling pressure that we had to defend the title,” Mohns-Brillaud said, adding later, “I felt like everybody rose to the occasion and really trained hard to the best that they could and that was why we were successful.”
Mohns-Brillaud, who skated for BU in the ‘80s, said strategizing for next year’s season began as early as during the plane ride back to Boston Monday morning. Factoring into the strategic decisions are who will be returning to the team next season and who would be committing to coming to BU.
Alyssa Uzumcu, a College of Arts and Sciences senior and team president, placed first in Novice Dance and Junior Dance and sixth in Senior Ladies Free Skate. She said that at a competition like nationals, it is important that everyone is having fun and enjoying themselves because that is where the best performances come from.
Uzumcu said she was not surprised by the team’s performance because of how much support and preparation went into making sure the team was ready.
“It’s a testament to how hard our coaches worked to get us prepared and how much support we had for each of our teammates,” she said. “In the end, it worked out for us, and I’m just happy that it all came together.”
Although she is graduating from BU, Uzumcu said she plans on skating for the rest of her life, even if it’s not competitively.
“Once you’re a skater, you’re always a skater,” Uzumcu said. “I can speak to being on this team for four years, and they’ve really been my support system throughout college and really pushing me in academics and in skating.”
Elise Borkan, a junior in the School of Hospitality Administration, placed first in the Juvenile Ladies Free Skate. With the team going in expecting a good result, she said, successfully defending the national title was an amazing experience.
“I knew that this team had the potential to win nationals again,” Borkan wrote, “but it was still a surprise when I heard our name announced as the champions. This year’s team has less than half of the same skaters who were on the championship team last year, so it was incredible that we were able to repeat our success with so many new additions to the team.”
Borkan said that as a junior, her goals for her last year on the team are to continue to acquire new skills, to continue having competitive success and to help the team perform well.
Taylor Dean, a senior in the College of Communication, placed first in Novice Free Skate and second in Novice Short. Dean wrote in an email that because it was her last competition with the BUFSC, she wanted to enjoy her skates.
“I decided to go out and skate my heart out and let my training take over,” Dean wrote. “I landed everything, and I proved to myself that I can do it and that all of my hard work this year truly paid off.”
Dean’s only expectation for nationals was that it was “going to be a blast,” she wrote.
“One of our main focuses is on having fun and enjoying ourselves,” Dean wrote, “because that’s what we’re on this team to do. We just purely love skating, and it’s an incredible opportunity to continue skating in college.”
