Local student, team in sync for skating national title

By Jennifer Eisenbart

Editor

It’s no joke when Dagne Olson says she’s spent more time traveling – and skating – in the past month than she has in a classroom at Burlington High School.

Monday was her first day back “in a month, and it was only a half day.”

Added Olson, “I’m still really behind.”

The missed time came with some definite perks, though, as Olson and the Chicago Jazz junior synchronized ice skating team won a pair of international titles, finished third at the United States qualifier for the junior world championships – and oh, by the way, won a national title.

Beating both the squads that finished ahead of them at the qualifying meet, the Chicago Jazz finished second in both the short program and the long program last week in Kalamazoo, Mich., walking away with the U.S. junior championship.

Synchronized skating is figure skating’s equivalent of performance dance teams. Squads of 16 young women take the ice for both a short program and a long program, the same as individual skaters.

But instead of tackling difficult triple jumps, the teams perform different elements of all three competitive areas of skating – pairs, dance and singles. The 16 skaters must work together to perform block and wheel elements as well.

Some skaters rotate in and out of the lineup, or perform only one of the two programs. For Olson, she was a competitive skater for the short program, but didn’t participate in the long program.

It was a surreal experience for Olson this past weekend. She and her teammates knew they wouldn’t be going to junior world competition after finishing third at the qualifier. However, Olson said she and her teammates made the trip to nationals with their eyes on two clean programs and a potential upset.

After the short program Feb. 25, the Jazz were in second, behind the Skyliners – a team Olson and her mother, Barbara, acknowledge as the best in the country, and one of the two teams that beat them out at the qualifier.

However, the Lexettes – the other team the Jazz finished behind – fell in their opening formation and ended up in fourth.

The situation got even crazier the next night. The Jazz were slated to skate last of the three teams, and as Olson explained, things normally run smoothly with teams getting a notification their slot is approaching, and then getting a call to the ice.

On Friday night, however, things got what Olson called “kind of fishy.”

“We had gotten the five-minute warning, and then two minutes later, we got another five-minute warning,” Olson said.

The reason for the delay? The nation’s top team, the Skyliners, fell five times during their long program, and there was blood on the ice after the team’s skate. After officials assessed the situation, the ice was resurfaced.

“We had no idea about that,” said Olson.

The Jazz then had to wait through the performance of the Hockettes before finally taking the ice. Olson watched from the sidelines as her team skated flawlessly to the music of “Carousel,” then joined the team on the ice for bows.

As the squad waited in what figure skating calls the “kiss and cry” area for its scores, Olson didn’t know what to expect. A video she shared on Twitter shows 18 teenagers – ranging from eighth grade to college freshmen – collapsing in a pile of screaming, delighted youngsters as the scores came up.

Then, the PA announcer listed the team in first place.

“When they said we were in first place, nobody believed it,” said Olson. “Everyone was screaming. Everyone was crying.

“I don’t cry ever,” she added. “It was a very emotional moment.”

It was the Jazz’s third title in a month. The team won the Neuchatel Trophy in Switzerland and the Spring Cup in Milan, Italy.

While the national title ended Olson’s competitive season, there is virtually no offseason for the teenager. She will audition to compete with the Chicago Jazz this next week, and start the whole process over again.

As a skater for 12 years, Olson is taking her coach’s advice to heart – comments made to the entire team after the junior qualifier.

“It would be a lot of fun going to practices, and seeing everyone and working super hard,” said Olson, who will also continue her individual training. “But like our coach told us, if it was meant to be, it was meant to be.”