JUVENILE | 2012 U.S. SYNCHRONIZED SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS CHICAGO JAZZ by JOSH ELLIS “Supercalifragilisticexpialido-
cious” was one of Mary Poppins’ famous sayings, and Chicago Jazz, which skated to a selection of Mary Poppins songs, were simply super. Chi- cago Jazz (Chicago FSC) earned gold in the first event of the competition. “Tey skated practically perfect,”
coach Kristi Frank said. “Tey did ev- erything we were asking for.” With white and pink umbrellas being held up in the stands, last year’s silver medalists put together a perfor- mance as sweet as a spoonful of sugar, skating to some familiar songs. “We chose a theme that we knew
every little girl would enjoy skating to all year long,” Frank said. “Te crowd really enjoys the music and gets into it, and they entertain every time they do it.”
Te youngest gold medalists in the competition had a blast. “It felt amazing to come all this
way and have an amazing skate. It felt better than anything else before,” team member Amanda Angulo said.
Te Skyliners (Te SC of New
York) overcame mid-performance ad- versity to land on the second spot on the podium.
“Teir performance today was
quite spectacular,” coach Natalie Mar- tello said. “We had an issue today where one skater’s blade got caught in another’s dress, and I think they handled it beautifully and were poised and comfortable.” Skating to music from Sister Act,
a favorite childhood film of Martello’s, the Skyliners performed well beyond their years. A dancing nun cheered them on from the stands. “Te girls showed the spirit of
true athletes today, and it’s great at such a young age to have by far the best skate of our season,” Martello added. Te Mini Mates (Hayden Rec-
reation Centre FSC), performing in their home state, captured the bronze medal.
“I was so proud of the way they
skated today,” coach Kendra Flanagan said. “Tey have improved all season
long and this was just the icing on the cake.” Flanagan wore shoes covered in
sparkles, that served as a represen- tation
for the performance, which
sparkled on the ice. Skating to Fame, the Mini Mates earned the same color medal this season as they did in last year’s event. Te Synchroettes (Essex SC of
NJ), dressed in bright colors and performing to music from Seussical, earned the pewter medal.
As the first team to compete,
the Synchroettes set the tone for the weekend. “To have many of them at their
first nationals, to be the first team to skate, there’s a little pressure and you never know, especially on this stage, what’s going to happen,” coach Geri Lynch said. “To be able to go out and have the best skate that you can is such a great feeling. It doesn’t matter what the results are, they already won, they’ve succeeded.”
juvenile MEDALS
GOLD Chicago Jazz
SILVER Skyliners
BRONZE Mini Mates
FOURTH Synchroettes
CHICAGO JAZZ
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