Figure Skating Club president Stephanie Hiltunen, a junior health science major, said the club now offers ice dancing and freestyle skating in addition to synchronized skating.

“(Figure skating) is a fantastic sport,” Hiltunen said. “To me, there’s nothing else like it. I’ve been skating for about 16 years now, and I just can’t imagine a greater feeling than when I step out onto the ice. The team is very welcoming, and it’s just a great way to meet new people and get involved.”

Sarah Feldt, the club’s coach, said reshaping the focus of the team was a challenge at the beginning of the club’s season.

“We began the year hoping to field a synchronized skating team, as we have had for the past four years,” Feldt said. “By early October, we did not have enough skaters to field a competitive synchronized team, so we decided to go in a different direction. We opted to compete as an intercollegiate freestyle team.”

Competing at the intercollegiate level allowed the club’s skaters to compete in solo ice dancing and freestyle, as opposed to the open collegiate level of synchronized

skating.

“This past season we did intercollegiate competitions and it was great,” Hiltunen said. “We could each compete in a different event, and then the points we would earn would get pooled together for the school as a team.”

Hiltunen said the team aspect of figure skating is important.

“This is a very team-oriented sport,” Hiltunen said. “While we might each be competing in different events, we are there to help and support one another at all times.”

The skating club competes about once per month both in and out of the state.

“Different schools and rinks hold competitions every season,” Hiltunen said.

The club competes against schools such as the University of Michigan, Western Michigan University, Central Michigan University, Indiana University, Miami University and Grand Valley State University.

Feldt said this season has been a good one despite all the changes the club has gone through.

“Overall it has been a positive experience, and the skaters have all really enjoyed working together as a team and improving their team performance as well as their individual skills,” Feldt said. “It has been great to see new friendships form and hear the encouragement and support that each skater has for their teammates. It’s exciting to represent Oakland at competitions, and to be a part of collegiate athletics. There’s something really unique about skating at the college level.”

In the future, the club hopes to expand its program to consist of more than one skating team.

“This season there are seven girls on the team, but we are always looking for more,” Hiltunen said. “To compete in open collegiate synchronized skating we need a minimum of eight girls, and we would love for the program to grow enough so we could have two definite intercollegiate and open collegiate teams.”

To learn more about the OU skating club and find out when they perform, visit the club’s website at www.oufsc.com or visit the Figure Skating Club of Oakland University Facebook page. To get involved with the team, e-mail Hiltunen, at

[email protected]