Do, Shum post victories, earn scholarships at 2018 U.S. Collegiate Championships

From the October 2018 issue of SKATING Magazine.

Nhi Do, a freshman biology major at the University of California, Irvine, won both segments of the senior ladies division to claim top honors at the 2018 U.S. Collegiate Championships on the campus of Adrian College in Adrian, Michigan, held July 29–Aug. 1, 2018. 
 

Do landed three triple jumps in her free skate — one in combination — to music from the soundtrack to Mulan II, and received Level 4 marks for her spins and footwork. She enjoyed similar success in her short program, performing to the song "Never Enough" from the soundtrack to The Greatest Showman.

Her overall score of 149.75 bested the field of 22 skaters, who competed Aug. 2–4 at Arrington Ice Arena.

"Every day in practice, I would tell myself that I am skating for myself and no one else, and if I do end up placing, that's a bonus," Do said.

For Do, skating has always been part of her life, even back to the days when her father took her to the rink on the back of his Vespa.

"I always thought of it as being a normal thing, but now that I look back on it, it was really fun getting to go on the Vespa then getting to the rink and putting my skates on to go ice skating every day," she said.

Competing at the U.S. Collegiate Championships, she added, was less stressful than a normal competition and lot of fun.

"Everyone here is your age and knows all about handling school and skating," Do, who turns 18 on Nov. 29, said. "We all respect one another and want each other to do well." 

The victory earned Do an academic scholarship of $5,000.

"Receiving this scholarship is an enormous blessing for me," Do said. "Skating is such an expensive sport and it's hard for my parents to keep up with paying for it. In addition to skating, college is expensive, too, especially since my financial aid doesn't cover all of my tuition. The scholarship will pay for what my parents have to pay for my education." 

Boston University sophomore biology major Heidi Munger captured the silver medal with a score of 137.99. In mid-April, Munger helped her school repeat as intercollegiate team champions. Munger's competition highlights in Adrian included landing a triple flip-double toeloop combination in her performances to Alanis Morissette's "Uninvited" and a compilation of songs from Black Violin, Morissette and Florence and the Machine coordinated by hall of fame choreographer Sarah Kawahara.

"I was pleased with the progress I made with the choreography of my new long program," Munger said.

Munger competed on three consecutive weekends this summer: Glacier Falls Summer Classic in Anaheim, California, the U.S. Collegiate Championships and the Cranberry Open in Kingston, Massachusetts. Munger, who also won the silver medal at the 2017 U.S. Collegiate Championships, received a $2,500 scholarship.

"The scholarship allows me to continue pursuing my passion, while studying full-time at a rigorous university," Munger said.

Kristine Levitina, a freshman biology major at Florida International University in Miami, captured the bronze medal with an overall score of 134.03. She performed to the soundtrack of Pirates of the Caribbean and to the song "Ancient Lands" from Ronan Hardiman's album Anthem. Performing a clean short program and ending her free skate with a smile, she said, were program highlights for her. Levitina earned a $1,000 scholarship.

"Winning scholarship money means that I can put it into my savings for medical school in order to pursue my dreams of becoming a pediatrician," Levitina said.

Cailey Weaver, a junior at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, garnered fourth place with a score of 125.46. She is majoring in behavioral neuroscience.

Senior men

Kevin Shum, a senior computer science major at MIT, repeated as champion with a score of 149.64. He performed his short program to "Luck Be a Lady" and his free skate to the "Chaconne." In his free skate, he landed a triple Salchow-triple toe loop combination. For the victory, Shum received a $5,000 scholarship. He said it was fun to see friends and familiar faces from last year's event at this year's competition.

"I enjoyed having the event on a college campus and coming back to Adrian again," he said.

Shum participated in a 12-week summer software engineering internship at Microsoft in Azure, the cloud computing platform.
 
Junior ladies

Nicole Czuhajewski, a business marketing major at Adrian College, placed second in both segments of the competition and emerged as champion with an overall score of 102.20. She edged Georgetown University's Lauren Russell by 1.12 points. Czuhajewski, the silver medalist last year in the junior ranks, performed her short program to "Everybody Dance Now" and her free skate to the soundtrack of Star Wars.

"I had actually pulled my groin during official practice that Thursday of the competition, so I was pretty nervous to go out and compete," Czuhajewski said. "I had to move a few things around after seeing what I could and couldn't do. After stepping on to the ice, all the adrenaline kicked in and I just skated from the heart." 

A senior, Czuhajewski was able to attend Adrian College through the Kalamazoo (Michigan) Promise scholarship, which helps students in Kalamazoo Public Schools attend college. It covers tuition and fees. Czuhajewski's sister, Amy Czuhajewski, won the intermediate title at the same event. She's a sophomore at Adrian.

"It was a huge pleasure being able to watch my sister win the intermediate division," Czuhajewski said. "I had been watching her train hard all summer, so I was excited to see it pay off. She had a severe ankle sprain in early January and took some months off from training to heal it. It was nice to see her back to her full strength performing."

Russell, who is a freshman majoring in Spanish and neuroscience, placed third in the short program and first in the free skate to selections from the movie soundtrack to Jane Eyre. A change-foot combination spin, a double Lutz and combination jumps propelled her to the free skate triumph.

"Winning the free skate was an incredible feeling," Russell said. "I love performing for the audience and I am proud of the routine I skated."

After college, Russell wants to go to medical school and become a surgeon. Russell has trained in Monument, Colorado, under Olympic coach Kori Ade.

Elizabeth Klemm, a freshman at Northeastern University in Boston majoring in mechanical engineering, secured the bronze medal with a score of 95.03. She won the short program, skating to Audra Day's song "Rise Up."

"Hearing my score announced after the short program was one of the best moments of my skating career, and watching it hold up throughout the rest of the event was extremely exciting," Klemm said. "This program is special to me so it was so awesome to feel like the judges saw that and rewarded it."

Klemm wants to go into sports engineering, with a primary mechanical focus.

"I want to create equipment that can help athletes and their coaches develop training plans that will maximize performance while preventing injuries," she said. 

Shannen Wu, a sophomore computer science major at MIT, placed fourth with a score of 85.51.
 
Junior men

Manol Atanassov, a senior at the University of Chicago-Illinois, pulled away from Thomas Schwappach with his free skate to the songs "Staying Alive" by the Bee Gees and "What Feelin'" from the soundtrack to Flash Dance. Atanassov, who is majoring in kinesiology with a goal of becoming a sports medicine doctor, said he felt a connection with the audience during his fun and energy-filled free skate to the two iconic songs. He finished with an overall score of 119.50.

"Skating to those songs felt like that moment we all have when we're signing our hearts out in the shower," Atanassov said. "I could feel the energy throughout the arena of everyone bouncing along to those disco beats near the end of my performance."

Also a skating coach in Chicago, the 2012 Bulgarian national champion recently spent time performing on a Royal Caribbean Cruise ship.

Schwappach, a junior accounting major at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, recorded a score of 102.60. He won the junior division last year. He is the treasurer of the UCCS club skating team.