The community had just hosted the U.S. National Figure Skating Championships, the first national skating event held here and a huge feather in the cap of local residents who had spent years working to build up the sport,

Sean O'Reilly, general manager of the Wichita Ice Center, said his team got to know numerous athletes who had been in Wichita for a development camp after the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

Several members of the figure skating community have spoken out after several athletes and their families were involved in a plane crash