Independence Events Center to hold regional figure skating championship in fall 2015

The Independence Events Center will be one of nine regional qualifying sites for the 2016 U.S. Figure Skating championships.

Men’s and women’s qualifying will take place Oct. 3-6, 2015, with the top four skaters in each group moving on to one of three sectional championships in November. The top four sectional men’s and women’s skaters, plus pairs and ice dance teams, who begin qualifying at sectionals, will compete for the national title Jan. 16-24, 2016, at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.

“This is a very exciting sporting event for our region,” Cori Day, Independence director of tourism, said in a statement. “The popularity of figure skating has surged in recent years, and we are honored to invite skaters, families and fans from a nine-state region to participate and visit.”

The local host clubs for the regional qualifier are the Heartland Figure Skating Club and the Kansas City Figure Skating Club. Both clubs will hold a launch party featuring Kansas City native and two-time national pairs champion John Coughlin from 4-5:30 p.m. April 5 at the Community Ice Rink at the Independence Events Center.

This story was originally published March 28, 2014 at 2:45 PM with the headline "Independence Events Center to hold regional figure skating championship in fall 2015."