Strong showings for James River

The James River Figure Skating Club had two more strong performances recently.

James River skaters combined for 15 first-place medals between competitions in East Grand Forks Jan. 21-22 and Duluth Jan. 27-30.

At the Northern Star International Competition in East Grand Forks — where 188 skaters from 12 clubs in North Dakota and Minnesota competed — Kaitlin Mullowney placed first in free skate and second in both compulsory and artistic in the PrePreliminary division.

Annika Tweten was second in artistic, third in free skate and fifth in compulsory, also at PrePreliminary.

Emma Bennett, Teah Mielke, Allie Struble, Jayden Struble and Gabby Tweten competed in No Test level.

Jayden Struble was first in both compulsory and free skate. Bennett (compulsory) and Tweten (artistic) claimed one top-place medal each.

At the massive Northland Competition in Duluth, Sami Buhl, skating in Open PreJuvenile, earned top marks in both artistic and spins to go along with a third in compulsory and fourth in well-balanced free skate.

Morgan Huber earned two firsts in Open Juvenile, winning well-balanced free skate and artistic. She added a runner-up performance in jumps.

Jocelyn Blaire collected a first-place medal in spins at the Intermediate level and was second in artistic.

Libbie Allen, Beth Jensen and Emily Suckow skated in the Preliminary classification.

Allen finished no longer than third in any of her four events, including firsts in artistic and well-balanced free skate.

Suckow also had two top-place performances, coming at compulsory and artistic.

Jensen had two seconds (well-balanced free skate, artistic).

Madison Ruzicka earned a runner-up medal in artistic at PrePreliminary division.

Beginner Hannah Jorgenson had four placing skates, topped by her win in test track free skate.

The competition featured 534 skaters from 46 clubs in Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin and Canada.

The James River skaters, who earned 49 medals in all, are coached by Mark Vasarhelyi.

James River Figure Skating Club

19th Annual Northern Star International Figure Skating Competition

Jan. 21-22

Paige Geller (PrePreliminary): Compulsory, 2nd; Artistic, 2nd; Spins, 3rd.

Kaitlin Mullowney (PrePreliminary): Compulsory, 2nd; Free skate, 1st; Artistic, 2nd.

Annika Tweten (PrePreliminary): Compulsory, 5th; Free skate, 3rd; Artistic, 2nd.

Emma Tweten (No Test): Compulsory, 1st; Free skate, 2nd.

Teah Mielke (No Test): Compulsory, 2nd; Free skate, 3rd.

Allie Struble (No Test): Compulsory, 3rd; Free skate, 4th.

Jayden Struble (No Test): Compulsory, 1st; Free skate, 1st.

Gabby Tweten (No Test): Compulsory, 5th; Free skate, 2nd; Artistic, 1st.

2001 Northland Competition

Jan. 27-30

Jocelyn Blaire (Intermediate): Short program, 6th; Well-Balanced Free Skate, 7th; Artistic, 2nd.

Morgan Huber (Open Juvenile): Compulsory, 5th; Well-Balanced Free Skate, 1st; Artistic, 1st.

Sami Buhl (Open PreJuvenile): Compulsory, 3rd; Well-Balanced Free Skate, 4th; Artistic, 1st; Spins, 1st.

Libbie Allen (Preliminary): Compulsory, 2nd; Test Track Free Skate, 1st; Artistic, 1st; Spins, 3rd.

Beth Jensen (Preliminary): Compulsory, 4th; Well-Balanced Free Skate, 2nd; Artistic, 2nd.

Emily Suckow (Preliminary): Compulsory, 1st; Well-Balanced Free Skate, 3rd; Artistic, 1st.

Madison Ruzicka (PrePreliminary): Compulsory, 6th; Well-Balanced Free Skate, 7th; Artistic, 2nd.

Hannah Jorgenson (Beginner): Compulsory, 4th; Test Track Free Skate, 1st; Artistic, 6th; Spins, 4th.

Tags: james river, figure skating, sports, jamestown