Speedskater Sydney Terpening, along with women’s ice hockey player Moe Tsukimoto and men’s ice hockey player Alex Ray, are coming back to the area to be a part of the Jan. 12-22 multi-sport festival.

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Sydney Terpening

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Sydney Terpering (Provided photo)

Terpening returns to Lake Placid from her training home of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where she skates for the Dash Speedskating Team, coached by Olympians Dave Cruikshank and his wife, Bonnie Blair Cruikshank. Bonnie Blair is a five-time gold medalist from the 1988, 1992 and 1994 Olympic Winter Games.

The 22-year-old Terpening has lived and trained at Milwaukee’s famed Pettit National Ice Center for the past six years, but Lake Placid played a substantial role in a career that has seen her compete on an elite international level — two Junior World Championships and the 2022 U.S. Olympic Trials, where she missed making the team for the 2022 Games in Beijing.

Lake Placid was where Terpening met Adirondack Speedskating Club coach Tom Miller during the Empire State Winter Games. She began speedskating at age 9, but in short track. At the Empire State Winter Games, Terpening, then age 10 or 11, decided to try the long-track version on the Oval where American Eric Heiden won five gold medals during the 1980 Olympics.

“I was like, ‘Well, I’m here, so I might as well try the long track because Lake Placid has a beautiful facility and rich history,'” she said.

Terpening is looking forward to the FISU Games, where friends and family — mom Traci, dad Ellery and younger sister Samantha — from Oswego and around the state can watch her race. They were unable to do that during the Olympic Trials last January, when spectators were not permitted due to the coronavirus pandemic. This will be her first time in Lake Placid since making the World Junior Team in 2018.

Alex Ray (Provided photo)

“I’m really excited to be back in Lake Placid,” Terpening said. “It’s such a magical place. I’m excited to introduce hidden spots in the town to my teammates who are coming and, you know, have basically the whole world in Lake Placid again.”

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Moe Tsukimoto

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Tsukimoto, 24, is a 2018 graduate of Northwood School in Lake Placid, where she played for four years. A student at Hokkai-Gakuen University in Sapporo, she’s a forward on Japan’s World University Games team.

Tsukimoto started hockey at age 4, when she first played on her brother’s team because there are not many girls teams in Japan. Universities have men’s teams but not teams for women, who play for local clubs, like Tsukimoto’s Sapporo Ice Hockey Club.

Living in Japan, this is a rare chance to return to the area and see friends from Northwood, where she moved as a 15-year-old who hardly knew any English — but knew she loved hockey.

“I could write my name in English,” Tsukimoto recalls. “That was pretty much it. I was asking for help a lot.”

During her time at Northwood, Tsukimoto wasn’t homesick for Japan despite the challenges of living in a different country and taking classes taught in English. The hockey was a much higher level than at home, too, yet she loved it. “It was just so fun. All the new things, making new friends. All my teammates were so nice to me. So it wasn’t hard at all.”

When she found the FISU World University Games would take place in Lake Placid, Tsukimoto — who also later played for SUNY Plattsburgh — had extra incentive to make the team.

“If I made the team, (Northwood friends) can watch me play and I can see them — a win-win situation. I decided to practice and work hard. And when I made it, I almost cried,” she said.

No. 3 seed Japan, which beat the U.S. for the bronze medal in 2019 in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, faces the No. 2 seed United States on Jan. 12, the opener for both teams. Tsukimoto is excited to play against former SUNY Plattsburgh teammates Annie Katonka and Erin McArdle. Other teams in the field are top seed Canada, No. 4 Great Britain, No. 5 Slovakia and No. 6 Czech Republic. The top four advance to the medal rounds, set for the Olympic Center’s 1980 Herb Brooks Arena Jan. 20 and 21, when the gold-medal game will be played.

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Alex Ray

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Ray of Hasselby, Sweden, returns to the North Country region as a forward with Sweden’s men’s ice hockey team. The 2019 Northwood School graduate is a sophomore forward with NCAA Div. III King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He has played in nine games this season and has scored two goals.

“Oh my God, being able to come back to where it all started, my development playing in the U.S. where I’ve spent three years of my high school career, it’s just an amazing thing,” Ray said. “Having all my teachers maybe come and watch and being able to visit my old coaches will be really special.”

Ray said that he originally regretted missing five games with his King’s College team until he looked into what the FISU World University Games were all about. Following discussions with coaches, including his King’s coach, and his dad made it an easy decision.

“My dad was just really happy,” Ray said. “(He said) you gotta go. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing. I talked to my coaches; they’re really happy for me.”

Sweden’s team is made of mostly NCAA Div. III players like Ray and high-level players in Sweden who meet the age qualifications (age 17-25) for the FISU Games.

Sweden is seeded No. 8 in the 12-team field. The team’s first game is against No. 4 Czech Republic on Jan. 12, then No. 1 Canada Jan. 13. In addition, Sweden’s Group A consists of No. 5 Latvia, No. 9 Japan and No. 12 Ukraine.

“I don’t really know a lot about the Czech team, but I think it’s going to be great and a good start,” he said. “We play Canada next, so it’s a good game to get into it and really test ourselves. We’ll build chemistry for the games, see where we’re at and go from there.”

As for Sweden’s medal chances, it’s motivating to know the top four teams will get the chance to play at the Herb Brooks Arena, he said.

He also noted Canada and the U.S. are favorites for medals, but don’t count out Sweden.

“We have a chance to get out there and get a medal,” Ray said. “It’s just an exciting time to measure ourselves and really just play hard and compete, and hopefully, we have a chance for sure.”

The FISU Games will bring together 1,443 collegiate-athletes, ages 17-25, from more than 540 universities in 46 countries to participate in multiple different winter sports, according to FISU organizers. Athletes will compete in 85 medal events in Lake Placid, Saranac Lake, Wilmington, North Creek, Potsdam and Canton.