Olympic rings under ice at arena

Skaters who train at UD include Olympic hopefuls (from left) Rusty Fein and Tiffany Scott, Eastern pair gold medalists; Megan Oster, Midwestern pewter medalist; Kimmie Meissner, American bronze medalist; Megan Williams-Stewart, Eastern bronze medalist; Christine Zukowski, a Junior Grand Prix finalist; and Shaun Rogers, silver medalist at the Eastern sectional championships.

2:37 p.m., Dec. 15, 2005--Cutting away ice in the middle of the night, five UD employees installed the official Olympic logo in the ice at Fred Rust Ice Arena recently because several individual skaters who practice there are vying for spots on the 2006 Olympic team.

Working from midnight until 8 a.m., Nov. 29, while the regularly scheduled skaters took their ice time at the adjacent Gold Ice Arena, the crew used a 13-foot-wide stencil from Jet Ice, provider of logos to the Olympic program.

They cut down the ice, installed a stencil with small holes in it, poured crushed chalk over the stencil, spread the chalk with a broom, then followed the chalk outline to paint the logo with special ice paint.

Manager Jim Kaden, building supervisor Jeff Doucette, service coordinator Jeff Cousin and student workers Stas Kulkula and Bren Donahue completed the artwork and rebuilt the ice in time for morning practices.

Kaden said several of the senior skaters who practice at the Rust Arena will compete in national competitions next month. If they are successful, they could move on to the U.S. Olympic team.

Photo by Duane Perry

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