Northwoods Experience: 3 Skaters from Vacationland Excel on National Level | Lakeland News
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Three athletes from the Vacation Land figure skating club recently achieved significant success at the State Games of America held at Penn State, where they secured six national championship titles and ten medals in total. This high-level competition served as a prestigious Olympic-style festival featuring thousands of medal-winning participants across more than forty different sports. Following their impressive performance there, one skater from Vacation Land was selected to represent them again last week at the 2026 National Showcase in Colorado Springs, continuing the club's momentum on the national stage.
The team consisted of junior skaters Aviana Bisto and Courtney Winch alongside senior skater Maren Wallen, who competed against some of the best talent from across the nation to qualify for nationals. Aviana earned multiple honors by placing first in showcase character, showcase lyrical pop, and young adult duo with her teammate Maren, while also finishing fourth in compulsory moves and fifth in free skate. Courtney Winch added to their collective success by taking third place in both free skate and compulsory elements, expressing surprise at how well she performed despite facing the hardest competition of her career.
Maren Wallen had a particularly notable run after competing for three years without reaching the podium until this event where she finally secured a top-three finish. She won first place in young adult duo with Aviana as well as second place medals in showcase emotional and lyrical pop, which qualified her for another national showcase appearance. Her individual results included fourth place in emotional performance, seventh in open inflatables, ninth in character performance, placements within the top fifteen for an 80s and 90s diva theme, and a spot in the top twenty for lyrical pop, highlighting her versatility across various categories.
Coach Megan Bisto expressed great pride seeing her students representing the Brainer Lakes area on such a large national platform while hoping to inspire more children to join figure skating at Vacation Land. She emphasized that she wants young skaters to experience the same deep passion and unique feeling of stepping onto the ice as she does, viewing these competitions as transformative experiences for their development. The segment concluded with reporting from Brainer by Miles Walker for Lakeland News, a nonprofit news organization supported by community donations and sponsored in part by LVI Supply which provides industrial products and equipment to the area.
Read the full video transcript
Three different vacation land figure
skating club athletes competed in the
state games of America at Penn State
last month, bringing home six national
championship titles and 10 medals
overall. Following that, vacation land
sent one skater to the 2026 National
Showcase in Colorado Springs. That was
last week. Reporter Miles Walker has
more on the skater achievements in this
week's Northwoods Experience. Vacation
Land's first business trip brought
junior skater Aviana Bisto, junior
skater Courtney Winch, and then senior
skater Maren Wallen in front of the
national stage at the State Games of
America, an Olympic style festival where
thousands of medal award-winning
athletes competed across over 40
different sports.
>> It was really cool to see cuz I don't
think I've other than nationals, I've
never been at this big of a competition
where there is groups ranging from basic
skills all the way up to senior. So,
it's really cool to see the ranges of
skill levels and the different types of
competition that there was there.
>> Aviana competed in five different
categories, earning national champion
honors for showcase character, showcase
lyrical pop, as well as young adult duo
with Maren. She also placed fourth in
compulsory moves and fifth in freekate.
Courtney took home some hardware as
well, placing third in both freekate and
compulsory elements. When I got my first
place medal, I was like so surprised cuz
I didn't expect I was going to do that
well there cuz like it was like the
hardest skaters I've ever like competed
against.
>> I was working on a lot especially like
balance. I was trying to just focus more
on like my skills. Maren first competed
at the state games where she earned
first place in young adult duet with
Aviana showcase character and showcase
comedic as well as second place medals
for showcase emotional and lyrical pop
qualifying her for her third national
showcase. And there Marin took fourth
place in emotional performance, seventh
in open inflatables, ninth in character
performance, top 15 in the 80s and 90s
diva theme, as well as top 20 in lyrical
pop. This was probably my favorite one
because I podiumed finally after 3
years. The qualification for this year
was way more harder. You had to get a
certain score. You have to get in the
top four to qualify for nationals. So, I
was competing with definitely the best
of the best of the whole nation.
>> And coach Megan Bisto is not only happy
to see her kids representing the Briner
Lakes area on the national stage, but
also hopes to see more getting involved
with Vacation Land. I just want kids to
have the same passion for skating that I
have. To just have that feeling when you
step onto the ice, when you go to these
competitions and just to be a part of it
is such a big experience.
>> Reporting in Brainer with this week's
Northwood's experience, Miles Walker,
Lakeland News.
>> Northwoods Experience is sponsored in
part by LVI Supply, providing the Baiji
area with industrial products and
equipment sales and service. More info
at 218-444-3930
or lvissupply.com.
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