2012 U.S. SYNCHRONIZED SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS | COLLEGIATE
MIAMI UNIVERSITY MIAMI UNIVERSITY by JOSH ELLIS Seven was heaven, but eight is
great for the Miami University Red- Hawks. Tey brought home their eighth consecutive collegiate title, but what will set this year’s championship apart from the rest? “We always have a good group of
girls, but this year, for whatever reason, this group just clicked from the very beginning,” coach Carla DeGirolamo said. “On the ice and off the ice, this has been a really special season.” Members of each of the last four title-winning teams, Miami University seniors Emily Stephenson and Lauren McHenry each offered their opinion on the title they earned in their final year. “It was so much fun; I think the connectedness we felt through this performance is what will make this year memorable for me,” Stephenson said.
“Te other teams have gotten a lot
stronger, so we have really had to push ourselves, and we couldn’t have asked for a more dedicated team. To fin- ish with that skate was really special,” McHenry said. Skating to a compilation of songs
from Beyoncé with the common theme of love, Miami University shimmered
18 APRIL 2012
in their classic red outfits to an overall score of 87.80. “Tey were amazing,” DeGirola-
mo said. “It was such a heartfelt skate and they were so connected with each other and the music. It was really fun for me to watch.” Miami University received posi-
tive grades of execution on each of its 10 elements, including 4.90 points for their level four moves-in-the-field seg- ment. Te gold medalists were aided by a component score of 51.44, the high- est by nearly four points. Skating second in the 13-team field,
the University of Delaware set the early pace with a score of 84.29 points, which held up as the silver-medal performance. With signs in that stands that
read “Let’s Go Hens,” the University of Delaware breezed along the ice in their jazzy costumes and Chicago-themed skate. It received the top element score of the competition of 36.45 points. “We were really happy and felt
they went out there and really sold the performance,” coach Megan O’Donnell said. “In terms of letting some nerves go and enjoying the mo- ment, we really felt that they did that.” Each year, members of the Uni-
versity of Delaware collegiate team de- cide on the theme the team will skate to throughout the year, which differs from how the theme is selected for the other University of Delaware teams. Tis year, their “Chicago” performance stood as tall as the city’s skyscrapers. “We had a bunch of ideas, some silly and some not so silly,” team mem- ber Lauren Petroff said. “But we chose Chicago, because we felt we could put a brand new twist on it and show a dif- ferent story with it.” Singing the school’s fight song
before it stepped on the ice, the Uni- versity of Michigan secured the bronze medal with 80.83 points. Skating to music from Pretty Little
Liars, the team from Ann Arbor put together the type of performance that could not be kept a secret. “It felt fantastic,” senior Macken- zie Collins said. “It was probably one of the best run-throughs of my life. Our team really worked on our attitude for the performance, and I think we got that down.” Also from the Wolverine state,
Western Michigan performed its skate from Beetlejuice to the pewter medal and 79.99 points.
collegiate MEDALS
GOLD Miami University 87.80
SILVER University of Delaware 84.29
BRONZE Univ. of Michigan 80.83
FOURTH Western Michigan University 79.99
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