Padua Figure Skating Team Receives State Runner-Up at the Ohio High School Championship

BY: CHIRSTOPHER PAJK

On Feb. 9, Padua’s Figure Skating Team participated in the Ohio High School Figure Skating Championship where they placed 2nd out of 17 teams. 

Leading the team, Ava Schmidt, Addlyn Schmidt, Isabella Higgins, and Natalie Demarest together scored 71 out of the teams 84 points. Senior Ava Schmidt shares that she was hoping for better placement this year but tells us, “I was upset at first about our placement, I was hoping to win the state championship title for all 4 years of my high school career, but everything happens for a reason and I was very proud of our placement.” 

Junior Isabella Higgins states that the future of the team is looking up: “We have gained many new middle schoolers who are such a positive light,” showing a positive future for the program. Both Higgins and Schmidt believe that the future for the Padua figure skating team is bright and will be successful.

Other factors that led to the runner-up finish was that of multiple strong skaters being injured and the relatively small size of the team compared to past years. “Our team this year may not have been as big this year, but future years, our team will grow from past seasons,” says Schmidt.

Nonetheless, it is a huge feat that the team was able to achieve by placing higher than 15 other teams that participated in the competition on the 9th. Schmidt claims that another reason for the team’s success was that of the camaraderie between skaters and encouragement from the coaches.  As Schmidt remarked, they, “never…have a negative attitude and always look for the best in each skater.” This isn’t just the coaches either but also the skaters as well. “Another huge factor in our placement is how well our team gets along with each other,” said Higgins when asked about the team’s strengths and teamwork.