The University of Minnesota’s Wren Warne-Jacobsen topped the podium for the second straight year at the U.S. Figure Skating Collegiate Championships in Richfield on Saturday.
Warne-Jacobsen’s preparation to compete against 26 other skaters from 22 universities took place 20 miles southwest of the competition rink in the Shakopee Ice Arena.
Warne-Jacobsen competed for the University of Minnesota in her home state where she scored a 54.00 on her short program and attained the top overall tally in her free skate (120.52). Watching her from off the ice were her coaches Lorie Charbonneau, Chris Conte and Kate Charbonneau Shurts from the Go4Gold Skating Academy.
Warne-Jacobsen’s first coach, her mother Debbie Warne-Jacobsen, used to skate competitively until she was 19 years old. Wren Warne-Jacobsen credits her mother for helping her find her passion on the ice.
Wren Warne-Jacobsen brought her mother back to the sport where she is now a full-time figure skating coach.
It did not take long for Debbie Warne-Jacobsen to discover her daughter’s passion. When an ice storm scrapped any hope Wren Warne-Jacobsen had of skating in her first competition, her mother said Wren “burst into tears.”
“She was devastated that she couldn’t do the competition,” Debbie Warne-Jacobsen said. “So, me being the resourceful figure skating parent, I got online and found another competition for her right away.”
Debbie Warne-Jacobsen said her daughter won both of her events at her first competition in Fergus Falls.
Wren Warne-Jacobsen’s love for the sport grew on her own time and skating became just plain fun for her.
“I started to skate to music I liked,” Wren Warne-Jacobsen said. “One of my favorite things to do was put on a song and make up choreography and dance around on the ice.”
The fun turned to passion as Wren Warne-Jacobsen skated her way to nine Minnesota State titles.
Now a college athlete, Wren Warne-Jacobsen continued to do what she did her entire career on the ice — win.
Wren Warne-Jacobsen won her first U.S. Figure Skating Collegiate Championship last year after completing her freshman year at the University. She returned to the Collegiate Championships on Friday to defend her title.
Coach Lorie Charbonneau said Wren Warne-Jacobsen does not need to raise the intensity level at collegiate championships because it will already be there competing in Minnesota.
“Wren loves performing in Minnesota,” Lorie Charbonneau said. “She’s been one of the top skaters in Minnesota for a long time.”
The Collegiate Championship started with the skaters short program, meaning Wren Warne-Jacobsen would skate to Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?”
Choreographer Kate Charbonneau Shurts said the song was symbolic for Wren Warne-Jacobsen, who feels as though she was made for figure skating.
“Wren really feels the lyrics of the song relating to her,” Charbonneau Shurts said. “I think you can see that when she skates, the way that she relates to the music.”
Charbonneau Shurts said the process of perfecting a short program is finding a song followed by hours of executing the program and finding areas to improve.
The Richfield Ice Arena truly was home ice advantage for Wren Warne-Jacobsen, who received cheers of support when her name was introduced at the beginning of the short program.
“The crowd was so supportive, so that was fun to get out there and feel the excitement from my team and friends,” Wren Warne-Jacobsen said. “I’ll keep working to clean up any mistakes for the free skate tomorrow, but overall I felt really good about it.”
The win marks the end of one competition and the beginning of another for Wren Warne-Jacobsen, who will travel to Anaheim, California, for the Glacier Open beginning July 24. The competition will give Wren Warne-Jacobsen the chance to qualify for the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas.
Corrections: A previous version of this article stated that Wren Warne-Jacobsen learned to skate at the Shakopee Ice Arena. She did not. A previous version of this article named Katie Charbonneau Shurts as just Katie Charbonneau, this has been updated.
