The Israeli Olympic Figure Skating team will now call the Montclair State University Ice Arena its training home. Skaters Alexey Bychenko, two time Olympic Singles competitor, European Championship Medalist . Mishel Moshaev & Artem Tsoglin, International Pairs Skaters, and Junior World Participants; and Anna Vernikov & Evgeni Krasnopolsky, two-time Olympic Pairs and European, National and World Championship participants and coaches Galit Chait Moracci and Daniel Raad are joining an established group of international skaters who have been training at the facility for 12 years.
Montclair State Arena’s figure skating program is under the direction of Kristen Fraser. Fraser and her partner Igor Lukanin competed in the 2002 and 2006 Winter Olympic games, World & European Figure Skating Championships and nine-time National Champions of Azerbaijan. Both coach full-time at the Arena.
Joining Fraser and Lukanin on the Montclair State University Ice Arena professional staff are:
- Galit Chait Moracci, Israeli National, World and three-time Olympic Figure Skater. Moracci has also coached on the Japanese, Ukrainian and Canadian Olympic Teams.
- Daniel Raad singles and pairs coach and former national and international competitor for Team USA.
- Felicia Zhang singles and pairs coach, member of 2014 U.S. World and Olympic teams.
While these coaches are nationally sought after, they also instruct programs from beginners and recreational skaters, to the elite National and International competitors, both on and off the ice. Some of the skaters training at Montclair State Arena include: Isodora Williams, 2-time Olympian, Alexandria Loughlin & Danil Yudin, representing AZE. Alexey Bychenko, Mishel Moshaev & Artem Tsoglin; and Anna Vernikov & Evgeni Krasnopolsky. Finally, the youngest national competitors, Sylvia Li and Rowan Le Coq are the 2019 US National Juvenile Ice Dance Champions in their first season together. Both Sylvia and Rowan are elementary age students!