On a campus best known for rocket scientists, palm trees, and bongo-playing physicists, one wouldn't normally expect to find a championship ice-skating team. But four young students from the California Institute of Technology claimed the first-place honors at the Pacific Regional Collegiate Figure Skating Competition in March, 2003.

Emily Schaller (GPS graduate student), Kelly Martin (GPS undergraduate student), Lara Pruitt, and Olga Kowalewsky Schneider edged out the Stanford University team by a single point at the contest -- a feat in itself, considering the premium California's other premier private college places on athletics -- and also outscrambled teams from UC Santa Cruz, the University of Denver, and host San Jose State University for top berth. The three highest-scoring teams advanced to the national competition in Denver. [Full Story]

Photo courtesy of Bob Paz