On Sunday, skaters of all ages and skill levels competed in the “Tricks for Treats” Halloween competition at Sharks Ice at San José.

Candy Goodson, senior skating director for Sharks Ice, said 45 team skaters and 42 individual skaters competed across a variety of categories, including synchronized compulsory, individual compulsory, synchronized dance and jump and spin.

Each competition also hosted a costume contest.

SJSU Figure Skating Club volunteers operated the check-in table, patrolled the grounds, ran scores to judges and distributed awards at the podium.

Goodson organizes the “Tricks for Treats” competition every year and said the event has only gotten bigger and better.

“Last year, I don’t think we had as many (skaters) come in costume, they just came and did their moves,” Goodson said. “This year, they really got into it and it’s gotten better every year … we had some wonderful costumes.”

Goodson said the low-stakes nature and festive atmosphere of the competition makes it an easy entry point for skaters of all levels.

Goodson said Sharks Ice advertises the competition to their skating school via their coaches and private lessons. 

The entry fee for Tricks for Treats was $30, according to the entry form.

“I think it does (encourage people) to just participate, because it’s not a high-pressure competition,” Goodson said. “And they’re very small groups so everybody receives some kind of award.”

SJSU Figure Skating Club entered six members in the competition: Danny Chew (advanced 1), Tochi Evuka (advanced 1), Niamh Myers (advanced 3), Sasha Westly (advanced 3), Amy Huang (advanced 3 and jump and spin silver) and Christopher Garcia (jump and spin silver).

Solo compulsories involve an individual skater performing three chosen maneuvers without music, according to the competition flyer.

Connecting steps are limited and not judged, according to the same source. 

Maneuvers may only be performed once, in any order, with no additional maneuvers allowed. 

Skaters in this category were grouped by age and level, from beginner 1 to advanced 4. 

Tochi Evuka, a fourth-year aerospace engineering student who joined SJSU Figure Skating Club last semester, won gold in the advanced 1 solo compulsories. 

“It was a good introduction to the competitive scene, very beginner friendly,” Evuka said. “I know that I made a lot of mistakes and there’s a lot that I learned because this is my first competition.”

Evuka dressed as Chester Cheetah, the official mascot for Frito-Lay’s Cheetos snacks. 

“It was very thermally insulated,” Evuka said. “I was actually worried about that, so shout out to whoever made this onesie.”

Sasha Westly, a non-student member of SJSU Figure Skating Club, took bronze in the advanced 3 solo compulsories.

Though it wasn’t her first time skating competitively, she said it was the most fun she had because she got to skate against competitors of her age.

“Every other time I’ve competed, it’s either been just me alone or me and, like, a seven year old,” Westly said. “So even though I got third, it’s a third I’m super proud of because I got to skate with my friends.”

Though the competition was primarily geared toward children and teenagers, competitors were grouped by age so as not to compete against those much older or younger than them, according to Amy Huang, founder and alumni connections coordinator of SJSU Figure Skating Club.

Niamh Myers, a first-year undeclared student, won silver in the advanced 3 solo compulsories.

She dressed as Howl from Hayao Miyazaki’s 2004 film “Howl’s Moving Castle.”

“This competition is kind of marketed as a more chill competition, where it’s just an opportunity to skate, as opposed to you’re being judged on every meticulous detail,” Myers said.

Advanced 3 skaters were required to perform a flip jump, a loop jump and a sit spin.

Jump and spin involves two skaters entering the ice as a team: the first skater performs the choice of a required jump and the second skater performs the choice of a required spin, according to the competition flyer.

Both skaters are allowed two attempts at their respective maneuvers, the best of which is scored for each, according to the same source.

The team with the highest combined score wins. 

Skaters in this category were grouped by bronze (FS 1-3), silver (FS 4-5) and gold (FS 6-7) levels.

There are ten Freestyle levels in the Ice Sports Industry handbook, each of which require progressively difficult skills, transitions, spins and jumps.

Synchronized compulsories involve teams performing choreographed routines and maneuvers to music, according to the competition flyer.

Amy Huang, who dressed as a bottle of Kikkoman soy sauce, won gold in the advanced 3 solo compulsories.

She helped train her club members in the weeks leading up to the competition.

“I think all of them performed at the highest level of athletic ability that they have performed and I’m extremely proud of them,” Huang said. “All of my teammates have worked really hard on their moves.”

Though Tricks for Treats also welcomed entries for hockey puck handling and shooting, there were no competitors in that category this year.

Christopher Garcia, a fourth-year business management student, earned gold in the Jump and Spin Silver event alongside his partner, Huang.

He has been skating for over a year and practiced every day after class leading up to the competition.

“Apparently I was progressing really quickly, but once you get to jumps, the progression really slows down,” Garcia said. “So I’m kind of surprised today that I was able to actually land it. Very happy with the results, all thanks to Amy’s coaching.”