Adult 2016 U.S. SYNCHRONIZED SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Pow! Bam! Crash!
DC EDGE carries ‘Batman’ theme to title by RENEE FELTON
Between them, DC EDGE (Washington FSC) and Esprit de Corps (Hayden Recreation Centre FSC) have won the last seven adult titles, trading even and odd years dating back to 2011 when Esprit de Corps won their second straight title. Tis year, the Caped Crusaders from DC EDGE won their third victory in five years be- hind a challenging “Te Evolution of Batman” free skate.
Complete with Bat signals emblazoned
across their chests, the team from the nation’s capital earned 61.06 points and earned the event’s highest program components. Teir unique tran- sitions were the lowest of the team’s component marks, but were still higher than the rest of the field.
“Te focus has been building toward na-
tionals and we felt this program was something that would stand out in the division,” coach Jenny DeSimone said. “We decided to go with something a little more challenging. We typical- ly choose fun and light-hearted music. It’s been incredibly challenging to focus on a more athletic style of skating and it took us all season to get into the character and build it.” Adorned in beautiful lace and chiffon dresses
— think Duchess of Cambridge on her wedding day but in black and white — Esprit de Corps totaled 59.75 points for a program set to “Dream” by Imagine Dragons and “Wake Me Up” by Avicii. Erika Hoffman choreographed the beautiful
program. “We were struggling to pick music at the be- ginning of the season and then when we started to look into the dream theme,” she said. “We found the first piece of music and I thought, ‘I can cho- reograph to this, I would skate this program.’” Te theme is easily relatable to the skat- ers, including 10-year veteran Melanie Barton
26 APRIL 2016
Wunsch, who will welcome her first child at the end of the summer. “Having a great theme — dream — where
we can, start to finish, exude is a great thing to have,” she said “A lot of us have been on this team for a long time. It is a great outlet where people can escape life and do something they love.” Te Colonials (Colonial FSC) won their
first U.S. Adult medal, improving dramatical- ly over their performance at the 2016 Eastern Synchronized Skating Sectional Championships. Teir previous highest finish was sixth in 2013
Rhoads, Nicole Davies, Elyse Lerman, Christine Burke, Lauren Trapani, Shira Selis, Shana
DC EDGE (l-r) Michelle Daichman, Libby
Weisberg, Taylor Kennedy, Caitlin Lombardi, Jennifer Bienstock, Cabray Haines, Kristin Huppi, Katie Huppi, Kim Eddy, Sarah Eddy
and 2015. “We got fifth at Easterns, so we’ve come a
very long way to nationals,” coach Amanda Wer- ner said. “I’m super excited because the biggest thing for me was looking like you’re enjoying the performance and they all did.” Te Colonials’ 55.75 points was nearly six points higher than their sectionals score and nar- rowly edged the 55.70 points earned by pewter medalists Team Delaware (University of Delaware FSC). It was an Eastern team sweep for the event.
JAY ADEFF/U.S. FIGURE SKATING
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