Members of the Albert Lea Figure Skating Club placed third as a team out of 15 clubs at the Omaha Winter Festival from Feb. 27 to March 2, according to a press release.

Clubs from Omaha and Ames came in first and second, respectively. This placement was a high honor as it shows that the Albert Lea club is competitive against much bigger clubs in metro areas: Omaha has a population of 421,000, and Ames has a population of 60,600.

Competitors and judges came from Nebraska, Colorado, Iowa, Missouri, Oklahoma, Illinois, Texas, Ohio and Minnesota.

Placing in the top three of their events were Carine Rofshus, Charley Fleek, Emma Tewes, Cammy Tewes, Dani Helland, Tierney Murtaugh and Christy Crom.

Rofshus took first place in artistic at the pre-preliminary level and third in pre-preliminary well-balanced free skate. Fleek finished first in spins, third in free skate and third in artistic at the beginner freestyle level. Emma took second in free skate at the preliminary test track level, second in artistic and third in jumps at the preliminary level. Cammy took second in spins, third in artistic, and third in free skate at the pre-preliminary test track level. Helland finished second in free skate, second in jumps, third in compulsory moves and third in spins at the beginner freestyle level. Murtaugh took second in free skate, third in jumps and second in compulsory moves at the beginner freestyle level. Crom finished third in spins at the pre-preliminary level.

Also competing and helping raise the Albert Lea club to third place were Katie Bradley, Ella Zelenak and Kailey Christensen.

At Hiawathaland in Rochester from Feb. 7 to 9, Rofshus and Helland placed in the top three of their events. Rofshus finished third in free skate at the pre-preliminary well-balanced level. Helland took first in compulsory moves at the beginner level.

Also competing in Rochester were Cammy, Emma and Maddie VanBeek.

At a St. Cloud competition, Christensen finished second in both free skate and interpretive events at the preliminary level.

At the Bend in the River competition in Mankato on Jan. 11 and 12, top finishers in freestyle for Albert Lea were: Emma, first in both artistic showcase and free skate at the preliminary test track level; Cammy, first in artistic showcase and third in free skate at the pre-preliminary test track level; Helland, first in both free skate program and compulsory at the Free Skate 2 level; Sadie Mortenson, first in free skate and third in compulsory at the high beginner test track level; Fleek, third place in artistic showcase at the high beginner test track level; Bradley, second in spins and second in artistic showcase (tied with Zelenak) at the preliminary test track level; Zelenak, second in artistic showcase at the preliminary test track level (tied with Bradley); Christensen, third in both free skate and artistic showcase at the preliminary test track level; Mortenson, second in free skate at the preliminary test track level; and Murtaugh, second in both free skate program and compulsory at the Free Skate 2 level.

At the Basic Skills levels, top finishers included Delaney VanderSyde, first place in both the Basic 5 program event and elements; Makenzie VanderSyde, second in the Basic 6 program event and third in elements; Angelina Minear, first in both the Basic 7 program event and elements; and Laura Flaherty, second in both the Basic 7 program event and elements.

Courtney Field also competed in Mankato.

All these skaters will perform in the Albert Lea club’s annual show, “Home on the Rink,” at 7 p.m. March 22 and at 2 p.m. March 23 at the Albert Lea City Arena. Tickets at the door are $8 per adult, $6 per student, and no charge for children age 5 and under. For more information, visit the club website at www.alfsc.org or look for the Albert Lea Figure Skating Club on Facebook.