2011 U.S. Collegiate Figure Skating Championships Taking Place this Week in Sun Valley, Idaho

Colorado Springs, Colo. (July 20, 2011) – The 2011 U.S. Collegiate Figure Skating Championships, hosted by the Sun Valley Figure Skating Club, will be held July 21–24 in Sun Valley, Idaho, with 52 figure skaters vying for titles in senior ladies, senior men’s, junior ladies and junior men’s.

In the senior ladies division, Karen Zhou (University of California, Irvine), the 2010 U.S. Collegiate champion, will be challenged by Morgan Bell (Front Range Community College), who finished 17th at the 2011 AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships, and Kendall Wyckoff (Middlebury College), who placed 11th in junior ladies at the 2010 AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

The reigning U.S. Collegiate senior men’s titlist, Grant Hochstein, will also be on hand to defend his title. Hochstein, representing Wayne State University, finished 12th at the 2011 U.S. Championships and 10th at 2010 Skate Canada. Adam Civiello (Scottsdale Community College), who last season finished fifth in junior pairs at the U.S. Championships with partner Morgan Agster, will skate in the junior men’s division. He is competing in singles for the first time since finishing ninth at the 2008 Southwest Pacific Regional Figure Skating Championships.

The U.S. Collegiate Championships are held every summer and is the only figure skating event in the country open solely to high-level, full-time college students. To qualify, a skater must be a current U.S. Figure Skating member and 1.) a high school graduate who is enrolled full time in a college or university degree program, 2.) a recent graduate of an accredited institution or 3.) entering a college or university as a first-year student for the upcoming semester.

Past winners of the event include reigning U.S. champions Alissa Czisny and Ryan Bradley.

Renee Felton

U.S. Figure Skating Media Relations

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– U.S. Figure Skating –

U.S. Figure Skating is the national governing body for the sport of figure skating in the United States as recognized by the United States
Olympic Committee and the International Skating Union. U.S. Figure Skating is comprised of more than 680 member clubs, collegiate clubs, and school-affiliated clubs and more than 1,000 registered Basic Skills skating schools representing approximately 180,000 members. U.S. Figure Skating is charged with the development of the sport on all levels within the United States  including athletes, officials, sanctioning of events and exhibitions, and establishing
the rules and guidelines by which the sport is governed.