By Christie L. Delaverdac
It is 6:30 a.m. and a mere 18 degrees outside. Inside damp, frosty Matthews Arena, the weather isn’t much better. But even at this early hour, the rink is brightly lit and practically shaking from the Santana guitar riffs pounding out of the speakers. Members of the Northeastern University Figure Skating Team have taken the ice to practice for their upcoming competition.
Feverishly trying to run through her program, Lisa Grasso leaps into the air off her right toe pick, attempting to rotate twice before landing the double lutz on a back outside edge. While Grasso skates to her music, Meaghan Doherty, a senior physical therapy major, and Corissa Abel circle the rink, fine-tuning edges and three-turns. Hannah Mellman perfects the 14-step march dance, hoping to stay on beat with the music. Beth Ritter, a freshman undecided major, and Shannon Dixon launch into axles and step into spins, getting their timing right.
As a team that falls under the “club sports” heading at Northeastern, the figure skaters usually have practice from 6:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. several mornings a week. The team competes at three collegiate competitions each year at schools on the East Coast. Skaters perform individual programs to music at pre-intermediate, intermediate, novice, junior and senior levels, which correspond to the levels at non-collegiate competitions sanctioned by the United States Figure Skating Association. Skaters who finish first through fifth in each level’s event earn points towards a team total.
In April, the three teams with the most points in each region of the country will compete at the U.S. National Intercollegiate Team Championships.
“We have three competitions each year and we try to get everyone to go,” said Grasso, a junior art major who serves as team co-captain.
In November, eight members of Northeastern’s team traveled to Princeton University for the first competition of the season. The team had 12 skaters compete at Boston University on Feb. 21 and should have at least that many competing at MIT on Saturday.
The Northeastern team last made it to nationals in 2001, finishing fourth. Since then, the number of collegiate skaters around the country has skyrocketed as more schools have started collegiate programs under the United States Figure Skating Association.
Doherty, team co-captain, is one of two seniors who joined the skating team her freshman year. She has competed in every collegiate competition except for one in the last five years. As collegiate skating has caught fire around the country, Doherty has seen the Northeastern team reflect that growth, with just eight skaters in 1999 to more than 20 this season.
“It’s interesting how much the team has grown over the past five years, and I think it will continue to grow in the next five years,” said Doherty, an intermediate level skater. “This year and last year, the freshmen have been very motivated. Every year we get higher level skaters, and that just makes us more competitive with other schools.”
“[The skating club] was one of the deciding factors for me in coming to school here,” Ritter, who skates at the pre-intermediate level, said. “It’s fun to meet people with the same interest.”
Grasso, who competes at the junior level, said the skating team at Northeastern was one of the main reasons why she transferred from the Museum of Fine Arts school. Mellman, a political science major and ice dance competitor, said the skating club also played a role in her transfer to Northeastern from Ithaca Coll-ege.
“My last club had two skaters, me and one other person, so it was hardly a club at all,” said Mellman, a sophomore. “There was no motivation to skate because [I wasn’t] around other skaters much.”
Many skating competitions held around the world are enveloped by an intense, pressure-filled atmosphere. Colleg-iate events, however, lack that competitive atmosphere. Most of the Northeastern skaters have been skating and competing since they were very young, and have noticed the difference in competitions.
“You actually socialize with people on your warm-up, something you would never do otherwise,” Grasso said. “One time I fell hard [in a warm-up] and every single person on the ice came over to see if I was okay.”
Aside from their competitions, the figure skating team has also started an annual tradition of performing a group exhibition during the intermission of a Northeastern men’s hockey game. Participation is optional in this three-minute number, where team members wear matching outfits and skate together to one piece of music. The wild cheering and screaming from the fans during previous performances prompted the team to show off their skills at two games this season. The practices for these showcase events can be even more grueling than preparing for a competition.
“We were only given three weeks notice for the second [performance, in early February],” Doherty, who choreographed both shows, said. “We had practices twice a week for three weeks at 6:30 in the morning.”
“That’s the only time everyone can make it, we’re all busy with classes all day,” Grasso said.
All of the skaters who chose to perform had input when it came to selecting music. In December, the team skated to a medley of Bon Jovi and Def Leppard. The February show was a mixture of Christina Aguilera’s “Dirrty” and “Lady Marmalade” from the Moulin Rouge soundtrack.
“The first show was awesome,” Doherty said. “The second one might have been better if we had had more time to prepare, but everyone did really great in both shows, and that’s what it’s about in skating.”
This Saturday, the Northeastern skaters will be competing at their third and final competition of the 2003-04 season. Even if they do not make it to the national championships, the skaters said they still aim to skate well for themselves and cheer on their teammates. Just like at BU two weeks ago, a section of the bleachers at MIT’s Johnson Athletic Center will be decorated in red and black to show the Northeastern team spirit.
For team pictures and more, visit the Northeastern Figure Skating Club’s Web site at www.figureskating.neu.edu.
