INSYNCH ‘AMAZING’ EXPERIENCE
U.S. TEAMS UNITE AT FRENCH CUP by ASHLEY MULHERN
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our U.S. teams converged on Rouen, France, to represent our country and com- pete at the 2012 French Cup. Tis was an
extremely special competition as it was my first international event as a freshman on the Miami University senior team. I have always loved the honor of representing
the United States overseas, but this competition al- lowed me to represent my school as well. It was also exciting to be able to compete alongside of some of my best friends and my old team, the Skyliners. Te experience could not have been any more amazing! Te United States enjoyed a strong showing
at the French Cup with solid competition per- formances by California Gold, Miami, Skyliners and Team Braemar. To kick off the competition, teams from all 11 countries gathered in the town
1 | Miami’s Sarah Arnold, Martha Buckley, Ashleigh Ostin and Aziza Alaoui are on hand to cheer on California Gold.
2 | California Gold, which is used to sunny days and mild temperatures, watches the snowflakes fly in Rouen. 3 | Miami skaters Ingrid Benson, Andrea Trembath and Ashleigh Ostin play tourists for a day and check out the Eiffel Tower.
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square for a parade around Rouen. Team USA was in high spirits and energetic
even as we marched and cheered through the freezing cold temperatures of the night. We also enjoyed a great Team USA dinner with all four teams, organized by our wonderful team leaders, Robin Greenleaf and Bob Bauer. Tis time gave us the opportunity to meet girls from the other teams and make new friends that we will be able to cheer on in the future. Te 2012 French Cup was a challenging competition with the top junior and senior teams in the world competing for the top prize. I per- sonally could not have been more proud of the performances that came from the U.S. teams. Skyliners junior team finished in fourth place, only 10 points behind Team Fintastic of
4 | California Gold makes its walk from the hotel to the competition rink. 5 | California Gold endures the cold and snow in Rouen. 6 | Miami enjoys its short program performance to the song “Blue Suede Shoes” at the French Cup.
7 | Team USA gathers together for a photograph en route to the French Cup parade.
Finland, the reigning Junior World Challenge Cup champions. Team Braemar ended up in sixth place with two impressive skates. Miami skaters were thrilled with our perfor-
mances, and we were proud to feel that we had gotten the audience involved in our programs. I absolutely loved skating first in the short pro- gram, as it gave us the opportunity to sit in the stands with both Skyliners and Team Braemar bringing our voices, American flags and pride together to cheer on California Gold. Miami and California Gold placed fifth and respectively, with Sweden in between,
seventh
only behind Finland, Russia and Canada. Over- all the competition was a huge success for the United States, and I can’t wait to see how the rest of the season plays out.
8 | The RedHawks strike their beginning pose of their free skate in Rouen, France.
9 | DREAM skaters Ashleigh Ostin of Miami University and Emmeline Weinert of California Gold take in the sights of Rouen.
10 | Miami’s Vanessa Thornton and Ashley Mulhern display the spirit of Team USA following Miami's free skate.
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54 MARCH 2012
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