JUNIOR
2017 U.S. SYNCHRONIZED SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Back row (l-r) Skyliners Rosalie Emerson, Michaela Kaminski, Kelsey Bialo, Alexis Bolner, Isabella Dinelli, Neha Reddy; middle row (l-r) Alaina Rothschild, Whitney Elmlinger, Virginia Barney, Olivia Marshall, Audrey Laude, Kylie Saloma, Jessica Hu, Katherine Elmlinger; front row (l-r) Margaret Brooks, Emily Kirillov, Alexandra Perez, Katherine Orlin, Madison DeBlasi, Cordelia Chen
BATTLE- TESTED
Skyliners rally with stellar free skate
to claim title BY TAYLOR WATTERS
Te Skyliners (SC of New York) proved they
are battle-tested, overcoming a fall in the short program to win the title with their free skate set to music from Te Last of the Mohicans. Te Skyliners used the competition as
preparation for their next event: Te World Junior Synchronized Skating Championships. Tey were favorites to contend for a gold medal, March 10–11, in Mississauga, Canada. “We are looking forward to Worlds and
are trying to keep the energy up for the rest of this season,” skater Isabella Dinelli said. Trailing the Lexettes (Hayden Recreation
Centre FSC) by 2.5 points, the Skyliners opened their free skate with a Level 4 pairs ele- ment that highlighted their perfectly synchro- nized death spirals. Tey seamlessly transitioned into their Level 4 wheel element, a traveling three-spoke, which added 7.93 points to their technical score. Teir Level 4 no hold element underscored their strong edges and individual skating, while staying lined up with each other. Teir 12.35-point margin over the
Lexettes in the free skate lifted the Skyliners to victory with a total score of 174.67 points. In looking to World Juniors, team mem- ber Alexis Bolner said, “We need to stay calm before we skate. Sometimes we rush, so slow- ing it down a little and taking our time with everything should clean up the performances.” Finding their way to the podium for the
10th consecutive season, the Lexettes skated to “Crystallize” by Lindsey Stirling for their short program. Tey displayed intensity and softness by combining hip-hop, dubstep and ballet. Te Lexettes performed their free skate
to music from the Titanic soundtrack. Teir overall score of 164.82 easily secured the silver medal. “We really wanted to bring the story
of Jack and Rose into our program,” skater Cameron Feeley said. “We really focused on expressing emotion in the different styles of music through both performances.” “Competing here felt amazing,” skater
Sarah Shorter added. “I think we built the best
programs we could at this point in the season and our performances were better than any we have done in practice, and definitely better than every performance during the regular season.”
Te Starlights (Skokie Valley SC) cap-
tured the bronze medal. It was their first medal at the junior level. Tey placed third in the short program with their “music box” program and were fourth in the free skate. “Overall, I think [the free skate] was a
great skate,” coach Heather Paige said. “We have had the same mistake [falls during the intersection] happen to us a couple of times now, but it was a good place for it to happen because the recovery didn’t affect anything else in the program. So we were really thrilled with how nicely the rest of the program went; it was a great skate for them.” Te Starlights earned 141.21 points, landing them ahead of pewter medalist Chica- go Jazz (Chicago FSC), which tallied 139.03 points.
20 APRIL 2017
JAY ADEFF/U.S. FIGURE SKATING
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