Editor’s update: On April 16, the BU Figure Skating Club won its fifth consecutive, and seventh overall, national championship.

The BU Figure Skating Club is in shape for another run at a national title—their seventh, if they win—this weekend, as they head to Anaheim, Calif., for the National Intercollegiate Final, taking place April 14 to 16. 

The team of 23 BU skaters will face off against 16 other teams from across the country. Led by coach Andrea Mohns-Brillaud (COM’87), the group is one of BU’s most decorated, winning its first national title in 2009 and never finishing outside the top three since. Last year, they placed first in the finals, for the fourth consecutive year, in Adrian, Mich. 

Established in 1974, the club has 60 members, their levels ranging from recreational to competitive. Currently, 34 elite skaters on the team compete, training for roughly 5 to 10 hours each week. 

Mohns-Brillaud herself skated on the team during her time at BU, and says she enjoyed it so much she told the previous coach that she wanted her job when she retired. Mohns-Brillaud has now coached the team for 15 years. 

“I wasn’t kidding,” she says. “This was the best time of my life when I was here as a student.”

In addition to coaching the team, Mohns-Brillaud teaches the skating PDP class run out of FitRec. Danielle Hsieh (Questrom’24), who has figure skated since she was five, says she enrolled in the class after an eight-year hiatus “just for fun.” At the end of the semester, Mohns-Brillaud invited Hsieh to join the team.

“I never thought I would be skating again,” Hsieh says. 

Mohns-Brillaud says many of the team’s skaters only competed individually before entering college, so joining the BU Figure Skating Club is the “first time they get to experience a team.”

“It’s so much more fun than just competing alone, because you can feel everyone’s support behind you,” Hsieh says. 

Ryan Siracuse (Questrom’25), a member since his freshman year, says he had never competed on a team before entering college and the sense of community he has found with the group is felt on and off the rink.

“Running into skaters throughout campus throughout the day is very comforting,” he says. “I can’t imagine looking back at college without having this community with me.” 

Mohns-Brillaud acknowledges it can be difficult juggling school work with athletic commitments. 

To help students find a balance, the team has a mentor program where underclassmen are matched with upperclassmen in the same major. “If you’re happy with your academics and you’re happy with your athletics, you’re going to be happy in school,” she says. “I think that’s a big part of our success.”

The team practices five days a week, for at least two hours a day, and competes in three qualifying sectional competitions before they go to nationals. 

Practice starts with a 15-minute warm-up, followed by freestyle skating. At a recent practice, the team paused to line up along the rink’s walls as Maria Lagutina (CAS’25) performed her solo routine that she will compete with this weekend. Her teammates’ claps and cheers echoed throughout the arena as she performed.

“My attitude always is to focus on the preparation, not the outcome,” Mohns-Brillaud says. “I treat every competition the same.”