Taylor Dean, a Crestwood grad, carried the torch in the opening ceremony for the Keystone State Games in Saturday at Revolution Ice Centre.
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Zachary Yaninek, a member of the U.S. Figure Skating Scholastic Honors Team, performed in Saturday’s opening ceremony.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Skaters from the Sikumi Figure Skating Club line up on the ice at Revolution Ice Centre before performing Saturday.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Skaters from the Sikumi Figure Skating Club performed a medley from the Broadway play ‘Hamilton’ as part of Saturday’s ceremony.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Taylor Dean serves as a communications coordinator for U.S. Figure Skating in Colorado and returned home to Luzerne County to participate on Saturday.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
PITTSTON TWP. — A blazing torch carried by one of the area’s premier figure skaters marked the beginning of the 2021 Keystone State Games on Saturday afternoon.
Taylor Dean, a Crestwood graduate and communications coordinator for U.S. Figure Skating, led a parade of figure skaters representing dozens of clubs from around Pennsylvania and beyond during the Keystone Games opening ceremony, held at the Revolution Ice Centre.
Dean frequently travels back from U.S. Figure Skating headquarters in Colorado to skate at the Revolution Ice Centre, where she began training in 2002. A multi-time national champion at the collegiate level with Boston University, Dean has competed in the Keystone Games multiple times, including this year.
While the Keystone Games technically got underway with the gymnastics competition in March, Saturday’s opening ceremony rang in (literally; there was an actual bell rung) the start of the 2021 Games, returning to Luzerne County after successful events in 2018 and 2019.
“It’s so great to be here today,” said James Costello, the executive director of the Keystone State Games, during Saturday’s ceremony. “It’s been one of those years where we all had to pull together to make this happen, and we did it.”
Saturday also marked the start of the figure skating competition, with skaters taking the ice before and after the ceremony in front of a panel of judges.
The rest of the Games, which includes 22 sports, will be held at the end of July in venues all across the county.
“There really haven’t been a lot of chances to compete over the past year,” Costello said. “This is a huge opportunity for our athletes to get out and showcase their abilities.”
The master of ceremonies was Newswatch 16’s Chelsea Strub, who introduced Costello as well as a number of performers.
First to take the ice was a group from the Sikumi Figure Skating Club located near Palmyra, which performed a set from its upcoming “Broadway on Blades” show. The performance was a medley of routines set to songs from the musical “Hamilton.”
Other performers included Zachary Yaninek, who skated to a pair of timeless classics from the Bee Gees (“Stayin’ Alive” and “You Should Be Dancing”) and Dean herself, who took the ice for a quick routine before returning with the ceremonial torch.
After the parade of skaters, the national anthem was sung by Shavertown native Charles Unice.
The figure skating competition will conclude on Sunday. Over 311 skaters from 51 clubs across the area signed up to take a shot at qualifying for the 2022 State Games of America.