01-24-2008

Rookie of the Year

This is an exciting week for Carnegie Mellon junior Peter Rodgers-Fischl, who is in St. Paul, Minnesota to compete in the U.S. Figure Skating National Championships in Senior Ice Dancing.  Fischl and partner Marsha Snyder qualified to compete in the event by placing second at the U.S. Figure Skating eastern sectionals competition in November in Raleigh, N.C.

What makes the duo’s achievement so extraordinary is that they are basically rookies in the ice dancing world, having skated together for about a year. Most pairs who skate at the national level have been working together for at least four to five years.

Rodgers-Fischl, a biomedical and chemical engineering major, is a member of Carnegie Mellon’s Army ROTC program and teaches figure skating at area ice rinks. “This is the event of my lifetime. I’ve been training for 15 years. We get to go on the ice with Olympic teams,” he said.

On this football-less weekend, the championships will be televised both online and by NBC. For more information about the championships, including a broadcast schedule, click here.

Ken Walters