The duo's appearance in the national finals marks the second time anyone from West Virginia has even made it to that level of competition.
According to their coach, Ciara Pinckney:
"This doesn’t happen very often, especially from West Virginia."
The skaters, Isabelle McElhinny and Holly Dearnell perform as a shadow dance team, meaning they skate next to each other in a pattern. They are members of the Charleston Figure Skating Club and ended up placing among the top three for the Eastern Section.
Figure skating clubs can create Banners highlighting the achievements of their team members. To earn their high rank, McElhinny and Dearnell participated in multiple competitions throughout the summer. They earned points based on how they placed during each competition and based on the number of teams in the contests. With a total of 19 points, the pair ended up finishing the summer season in second place.
The Eastern Section is one of the more competitive regions for figure skating and ice dancing. In all, more than 400 skaters participated in the series.
The figure skating final will take place at the Broadmoore Ice Arena in Colorado Springs from Wednesday to Saturday this week. Around 170 ice skaters from across the US are scheduled to participate.
Get a Free Quote for Banners