2017 WORLD SYNCHRONIZED SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS


The Haydenettes, on page 14, celebrate their free skate tribute to Prince. Te Haydenettes carried with them a bit


of uncertainty when they boarded a plane for Colorado Springs, Colorado, and the 2017 ISU World Synchronized Skating Champion- ships, held April 7–8 at the Broadmoor World Arena.


Te five-time and reigning World bronze


medalists from Lexington, Massachusetts, had put together a robust campaign, winning their 25th national title and finishing a solid second internationally at Leon Lurje Trophy in Sweden and Cup of Berlin. But a tsunami of bad luck in the week


leading up to Worlds cast a partial shadow on


the team’s prospects of winning the title or returning to the podium. In the end, the U.S. juggernaut pulled together to perform a spec- tacular free skate to music from Prince, but fell short of winning an overall medal, placing fourth in the 24-team field. Te Crystallettes of Dearborn, Michigan, experienced their share of bad luck, too, with falls in both programs en route to a ninth- place finish. Russia’s Paradise, performing with just 15 skaters due to injury, repeated as champion, edging Finland’s Marigold IceUni- ty by .12 point. NEXXICE of Canada earned the bronze medal.


The Haydenettes display great unison in their “Gladiator” short program.


“We have had a very challenging week


coming over here, and yesterday’s performance was not what we were hoping,” Haydenettes coach Saga Krantz said following the free skate. “But to overcome everything and to skate like that in front of the home audience and to get the calls that we did, I could not be happier.”


Krantz, though, became emotional when talking about the string of injuries, illness and hardship that the team endured leading up to their departure for Worlds. One skater sustained a concussion, two needed stitches from cuts they got during practice, one was


SKATING 15


PHOTOS BY GIANNI MAROSTICA


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