Winning the competition was an amazing feat considering that the Philippines is a tropical country wherein ice-skating is a relatively young sport.

Add to that the skill and competence of the other competing 103 teams from the USA, the United Arab Emirates, Thailand and Mexico. 

The SM team consisting of home-grown skaters from SM Megamall and SM Southmall rinks gave their all, showed their fire on ice and went on to win the championship with a total of 776.5 points.
Other winners included the White Bear Lake Sports team with 686.3 points, first runner up; and the Plymouth Ice Center with 647.8 points.

What inspired a team from the tropics to win top honors in a winter sport, and bring home 90 gold, 62 silver and 26 bronze medals?

Christian Gabriel Cruz, 25, first cut the ice at the SM Megamall rink in 1993, and has since skated on to win a total of 144 gold, 58 silver and 12 bronze medals from local and international competitions.
He’s almost the most bemedalled team member in the Minneapolis competition with a haul of 9 gold and 5 silver medals in 14 events.

“It was tough. The other skaters were really good,” relates Christian.

It was an unforgettable moment for Roxanne Puno when she was invited to perform in the benefit show with Olympic ice skater Jenny Kirk.

“I never imaged that I would be able to skate in the same rink with someone as famous and as good as her,” she enthused.

But Roxanne, 14, of Poveda Learning Center won winning 4 golds, and 1 silver medal.

“We were all nervous from day one.  We were only 43 in the team, while others had up to 100 skaters, many of whom were brilliant.  But we were encouraged by our coaches and parents to give our best,” she added.

Katrice Regina de los Reyes, 11, considers Sasha Cohen her idol because of “her moves on ice — she’s cool and graceful when skating.”

This Poveda Learning Institute student began ice skating at the SM rinks when she was only 5, and has gone on to win 4 gold and silver medals in the Minnesota competition.

Bien Patrick Bergonia, who brought home 2 gold and 6 silver medals, is only 11 but can be considered a veteran in this recreational sport having participated in 4 world and two Asian competitions.

He won a gold medal in San Jose, California when he was only 14 years old, was awarded the highest pointer in freestyle for four consecutive years in local competitions, and was invited to perform with Sasha Cohen in championship benefit show in the 2002.

Although Dale Marcus Feliciano started skating relatively late at 16,  became one of the SM rink’s top skaters and coaches.

Dale, who says that there’s nothing more exhilarating than jumping and spinning on ice, did his country proud by winning 7 gold and 1 fourth place medals in Minnesota.

Four-year-old Kate Jaclyn Guevarra, on the other hand, was the youngest among the 43 skaters who competed in Minnesota.

This preschooler from the Ellinwood Weekday Kindergarten began skating at one under the guidance of her dad, coach Glen Guevarra and started competing when she was three years old.

Both Carmen Naomi Damian, 9, and Francesca Dominique Rescasata, 11, started skating young —  the former at 4, the latter 6.

While both performed brilliantly at Minnesota, Carmen won 3 gold, 5 silver, and 1 bronze medals, while Dominique brought home 4 gold and 2 bronze medals — they say that the ice skating was more than about winning.

Most Philippine Ice Skating Team members learned ice skating at the SM Megamall and SM Southmall Ice Skating Rinks, which follow the ISI (Ice Skating Institute of America) standards.

Beginning with introductory lessons for beginners, the SM rinks offer a comprehensive Ice Skating Program that teaches basic to advanced (freestyle) skills on a level by level basis.  Other lessons include figure skating, pairs and dance lessons, one to one or group lessons.

The SM Ice Skating Rinks are located at SM Megamall and SM Southmall.