Collegiate Wins, Senior Second at Nationals
3/1/2015 12:00:00 AM | Synchronized Skating
PROVIDENCE, R.I.--On the final day of the U.S. National Championships, the Miami University collegiate synchronized skating team came away with its 11th-consecutive and 17th overall national crown, while the RedHawk senior team punched a ticket to the ISU World Championships in April with a second-place finish on Saturday evening.
Heading into the competition, Miami’s collegiate program already owned a U.S. Figure Skating record for most consecutive national titles in any discipline at any level of skating and extended that record on Saturday. Skating to an Italian-themed program with music from the movie “Nine,” Miami put forth a dominant performance to notch a score of 94.12 with an executed element score of 40.66 and a program component score of 54.46. Although the RedHawks had a 1.00 deduction, Miami bested its nearest competitor by 8.43 points to capture gold among a 12-team field.
Michigan finished second with a score of 85.69 followed by Metroettes (84.25), Delaware (82.60), Team Excel (80.42), Michigan State (79.07), Adrian College (76.99), Western Michigan (73.32), Illinois (71.24), New Hampshire (67.50), Massachusetts (63.14) and Maryland (55.2).
The RedHawk senior team rocked its Elivs-themed free skate program and crushed its previous season-high mark for the program by more than 16 points, with a score of 129.94. Their powerful performance earned an executed element sore of 62.40 and a program component score of 69.54 with 2.00 in deductions. Miami finished with a combined score of 194.70, which was a season-high mark by more than 25 points, to finish second among a 10-team field.
The Haydenettes placed first with a combined score of 210.55. Skyliners finished third with a combined score of 178.99 and were followed by Crystallettes (173.78), ICE’Kateers (155.82), Adrian College (148.77), Starlights (145.46), Team Del Sol (142.14), Team Excel (110.28) and Western Michigan (108.17).
The collegiate team concluded its competitive season on Saturday, while the senior team earned a bid to represent the United States at the ISU World Championships April 10-11 in Hamilton, Ontario.