UD skaters carry Olympic torch

Laura Handy lights her torch for the run in Wilmington.
On Saturday, Dec. 22, a trio of skaters from the University of Delaware’s Ice Skating Science Development Center slipped out of their skates and into their running shoes to help carry the Olympic torch through the streets of Wilmington.

The athletes were participating in events marking the 19th day of a 65-day trek that began in Atlanta on Dec. 4 and will end Feb. 7 in Salt Lake City at the opening ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games.

Representing UD while carrying the 33-inch torch of glass, copper and aluminum, which symbolizes the spirit of competition and victory associated the Olympics, were Laura Handy, Phillip Dulebohn and his partner Tiffany Scott, with each runner completing a 0.2-mile stretch.

Torchbearers, from left, Laura Handy, Phillip Dulebohn and Tiffany Scott.
Dulebohn, a native of Germantown, Md., carried the torch along Pennsylvania Avenue, from North Clayton to North Franklin streets, while Scott, who is from Hanson, Mass., was the bearer from West Fifth to West Eighth on Lincoln Street.

A native of Atlantic City, Handy carried the torch along Ninth Street from Union Street onto North Bancroft Parkway to Fairfield Place.

The three were selected as part of 11,500 runners nationwide who will pass through 46 states, because they are past U.S. World Figure Skating team members. Handy, who has trained at UD since 1988, was a member of the 1999 team. Dulebohn, who has trained at UD for the past 12 years, and Scott, who has trained for 5 1/2 years, were members of the 2000 and 2001 teams.

Skaters at UD who have qualified for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games thus far include ice dancers Ilia Averbukh and Irina Lobacheva, Ruslan Goncharov and Elena Grushina and Daniel and Eliane Hugentobler.

Tiffany Scott runs through Wilmington.
The Ice Skating Science Development Center, under director Ron Ludington, offers year-round training designed to meet the needs of first-time competitors as well as Olympic champions.