Two figure skaters from the Amherst Skating Club – Adalyn Nowakowski and Caroline Tierney – have qualified to compete in the State Games of America in Lynchburg, Virginia thanks to their outstanding scores at the Empire State Winter Games in Lake Placid last month. The State Games of America is an Olympic-style event featuring competition between State Games medal winners (gold, silver, bronze) from across the nation.
Nowakowski, a seven-year-old Tonawanda resident and first grader at Glendale Elementary School, took first place and the gold medal in the Beginner Girls category at the Winter Games. She began skating through the Amherst Skating Club’s Learn To Skate Program when she was three years old.
Tierney, a 16-year-old Clarence resident and junior at Nardin Academy, received a silver medal for her second place finish in the Intermediate Ladies Short Program. She also began skating through the Club’s Learn To Skate Program as an eight-year-old third grader.
“We’re extremely proud of Adalyn and Caroline,” says Mary Sue Hardt, Amherst Skating Club director. “We’re thrilled they learned to skate through our Learn To Skate program and have progressed so far in competition. We look forward to cheering them on at the State Games of America in 2019.”
In all, six skaters from Amherst Skating Club participated in this year’s Empire State Winter Games.
The Amherst Skating Club, Inc., was formed in 1964 as a not-for-profit corporation to develop the sport of figure skating. The goal of the Club is to encourage the instruction, practice and advancement of figure skating, pair skating, dance and all other types of skating as it encourages and cultivates a spirit of fraternal feeling among skaters of all ages. Located at the Northtown Center in Amherst, the Amherst Skating Club is sanctioned by the United States Figure Skating Association. For more information, please visit www.amherstskatingclub.org.
