The Colonials winning streak continues at the 2007 US Championships
(February 25, 2007; Colorado Springs, CO) The wonderful year that started at the Thanksgiving Classic last November continued at the 2007 US Championships this past week where the Colonials earned medals in the Junior, Intermediate and Juvenile divisions. With these medals, these three Colonial teams have a perfect record this year — they have medaled at every competition in which they participated.
The 2007 US Synchronized Skating Team Championships were held at the World Arena in Colorado Springs, CO on Feb 22-24. Hosting this year's US Championships was the venerable Broadmoor Figure Skating Club, home of past skating champions such as Peggy Fleming and Todd Eldredge.
The Junior competition was a nail biter to the very end. After the short program, there was only a .07 difference between the first place Skyliners from the Skating Club of New York and the second place Colonials. The long program was equally exciting with the Hockettes from the Ann Arbor Figure Skating Club, skating last, coming back from third place to edge the second place Colonials by one-tenth of a point 150.59 to 150.49.
In the long program, the Colonial Juniors performance to music from the Broadway play Wicked was clean and fast. Skating across the ice as a block of three lines, the skaters alternated between hold and no-hold steps whose power and energy grew as they moved from one end of the rink to the other. Various Moves in the Field were also a highlight, with long sustained Spirals, Spread Eagles and Ina Bauers.
This has been an amazing year for the Colonial Juniors – they’ve had strong performances at every competition in which they’ve skated including a 4th place finish at the French Cup in Rouen, France. At the French Cup, they skated to a packed house and competed against the best teams in the world including the top two Finnish teams. And they aren’t done yet! By virtue of their finish at the Junior World Challenger, they will be representing the United States at the World Junior Challenger in Nottingham, England in March.
The Colonials Intermediate team won the bronze medal in their division. The team executed the steps and moves in their program with characteristic technical excellence. They skated to a medley of Superman music in red, white and blue costumes. Their program featured a number of intricate moves including interacting lines, traveling wheels, circles and a spiral that the whole team holds through a series of turns.
Coming off a stirring first place finish at the 2007 Eastern sectionals, the Juvenile team finished third at this year’s US Championships. This is an improvement of five spots over an eighth place finish last year. Like the other Colonial medalists, the Juveniles have medaled in every competition in which they have skated this season.
The Colonials Juvenile team is young with a majority of skaters around ten years of age. They skated with happy smiles as they moved from one well executed move to another. The highlight of the program was a very tight egg beater in which the spokes of two moving wheels intersect one another. Their program was skated to music from the The Disney Channel's High School Musical.
The Colonials Senior team, the newest addition to the Colonial Synchronized Skating teams, competed in their first US Championships. They finished eighth in both the short and long programs. They competed at the highest level of competition at the US Championships, against the two world teams, as well as veteran Senior teams who have international experience and reputations. The Senior programs are favorites of the crowd as they feature both fast moving elements and intricate moves with dramatic footwork. The highlight of the Colonials short program is a very fast moving circle within a circle while their long program features a "playful" tango line.
Finally, the Colonials Adult Masters team finished eleventh in their division. In this division, the majority of the team must be 35 years or older. Their program features a moving circle and intersection with a forward lunge.
The Colonials Synchronized Skating Teams skate out of the Colonial Figure Skating Club in Acton, Massachusetts. Merita Mullen (Wayland, MA) is the Director of Synchronized Skating at the Colonials. She is joined by Assistant Coach Nancy Schricker and Intern Coaches Lindsay Howie and Colleen Rafus. Jane Gruber is the Physical Therapy and Fitness Coach. Amy Boucher coaches the Adult Masters team and new Assistant Coach Nancy Rossi assists Merita with the Senior team.
The Colonials website at www.ColonialSynchro.org is an excellent place to keep track of the latest Colonials news. Photos from the competition will be available from the News & Results page of the website.
Skaters interested in participating in spring tryouts should check the website for dates and locations.
About the Sport of Synchronized Skating
Synchronized skating is the newest discipline of figure skating, having started 50 years ago by Dr. Richard Porter in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It is a specialized branch of skating distinct from figures, free skating, ice dancing or pair skating. It involves eight to twenty skaters on the ice at the same time, and is characterized by intricate formations and maneuvers, footwork, changing arm and hand holds, deep edges, sharp changes of direction and absolute uniformity.
Programs are judged for technical difficulty and presentation (artistic impression). On the junior and senior levels, teams are required to perform a short program and a free skate. At all the other levels, teams only perform a free skate. In the U.S., synchronized skating teams compete in U.S. Figure Skating sanctioned competitions in 15 levels. The levels are differentiated by the age, skill level and the number of skaters on each team.
Jeff Sokolov
Publicity Chair (Publicity@ColonialSynchro.org)
Colonials Synchronized Skating Teams