Skating Into a New Era

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The smiles are the easiest thing to notice.

The clock has barely struck 7 a.m. at the Goggin Ice Center, and even though Miami's senior synchronized skating team has already been working hard for more than half an hour on this early-September morning (while much of the campus is still asleep), everyone is smiling.

Or giggling. Sometimes giggling.

The team is putting in choreography for its short program under the watchful eye of first-year head coach Katey Nyquist, and obviously having a blast doing it.

Some movements don't seem to come naturally. (Thus the smiles.) Some attempts feel downright awkward. (Thus the giggles.)

But progress is still being made.

On this particular week, Nyquist and assistant coach Sammie Levine have enlisted the help of special guests Ben Agosto and Katherine Hill to work with the 41 student-athletes on their roster. Nyquist, who came to Miami from the Denver Synchronicity organization, was familiar with the Colorado-based couple's work and thought the pair could bring a unique perspective to the 2024-25 RedHawks.

The instructions fly fast and furious as Agosto (an Olympic ice dance silver medalist) and Hill (a world-renowned choreographer) contribute to the installation of three total programs, two for the senior team and one for the collegiate team.

"Left fist to right hip." (Sounds like instructions from the Twister board game.)

Miami Skating practice — *Hill and Agosto (fourth and fifth from left in front row) with Miami's senior team*

"Camelers! When you're in camel position, it's really important to lean your body away." (Begging the immediate question: Is 'camelers' even a word?)

"Start to pull in, but don't look at each other!" (Easier said than done.)

Glance around the room, and it's clear that the skaters are enjoying every minute of the creative process, but it's also evident that Nyquist is as well.

"They've loved it…it's been making me so happy to see," Nyquist said later. "By the end of our program, I want everyone in the stands to feel like, 'I wish I could come out and skate with them!'

"That's the energy that we're trying to go for, and the team knows that, so they're really working hard to show that. One thing Katherine said is, 'As performers we can't use our words to explain what we're doing, so we have to use our bodies instead.'…that's exactly what we're trying to do.

"We want everyone to feel like they're a part of the performance."

"We want to be having so much fun ice skating that the crowd is drawn in," said senior Katie McDonnell. "Our short program is upbeat and fun…we want to get the crowd grooving with it. The long program is a bit more emotional, and we want the audience to really feel the feelings we're trying to portray, like we're acting in a play or movie."

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The next morning, a visitor to Goggin might have been surprised to find the practice rink empty…at least until turning the corner to see the entire collegiate team gathered around Agosto, Hill, Nyquist and Levine in the lobby of the building. It was time to practice lifts, an element of the program that can provide valuable points to the team's score but is also dangerous enough to require learning on solid ground before transitioning to the ice.

"A very effective base allows your flyer to have moments for the audience to enjoy," Hill explained before the team split up into smaller groups to rehearse. "Please take your role seriously: There's not only a responsibility for safety, but there's pride in nuance…we really want to be able to celebrate that."

The first few attempts at raising teammates overhead into the air were cautious and tentative, but before long, the smiles were back.

"It's exciting the way that we're evolving as a team and as an organization," sophomore Emalie Werkowski said after practice. "[We're trying] new things, and being fearless in the way we're going into it."

Nearby, teammate Caroline Yaeger agreed. "The choreography is so different than anything we've had in the past few years," said Yaeger, who is in her third year with the collegiate team. "I'm really excited to usher in a new era of Miami Skating…

"I think it's very collaborative right now: If something doesn't work right away, the coaches want us to keep trying, but they're also open to new ideas.

"I feel like we're part of making the program what it is."

Nyquist knows she and Levine have their work cut out for them overseeing the latest chapter of Miami's elite synchro program, especially following Hall of Famers Carla DeGirolamo and Lee Ann Shoker (who combined for 39 years on staff with the RedHawks). This year's coaches and skaters alike are intent on honoring the program's proud tradition —one Levine experienced as a student-athlete herself before graduating this past spring— and building upon past successes while also stepping into a promising future.

Or as Werkowski put it, "We have this understanding that despite all the changes we're going through, we still have this standard of excellence as Miami. And I feel like we're still upholding that while also evolving different niches and parts of it."

But instead of stressing about trying to extend the Red and White's string of collegiate national titles or worrying about trying to get Miami's senior team back to worlds, Nyquist said she's mostly just excited for the progress she expects to see between preseason practice and the national championships four months from now.

"I had all summer to sit and think about these programs and the music…so I came in with millions of ideas," Nyquist laughed. "The team has really tried everything that I've asked of them and they've had such open minds throughout this whole process.

"That's allowed me to show my best choreography and adapt the programs from what the vision in my head was, so that's been really, really cool.

"I think they've grown as skaters and they're learning to trust the process," Nyquist continued. "It might not be good when they first try it, but after a couple weeks it's going to get better and better and better. That's one of my jobs as a coach: To be able to see where they're going to be in a few months and the growth they're going to have. [So I can] choreograph a program to that level of skating and not necessarily to where they are at the current point in the season."

"The coaches set very clear expectations at the beginning of the season," said Sydney Schnell, now in her second year skating on the senior team. "Everyone has been super adaptive to the changes and everyone's super excited to be at practice…

"We've all been on the same page, we all know what our goals are, and we've been keeping to a plan of what we need to practice in order to achieve those goals."

"We're trying to get out of our comfort zones a little bit," added McDonnell. "We're trying new tricks, we're trying new moves, and we're doing new lifts. Bringing outside choreographers in gives some of those outside discipline ideas that we can bring to synchro. Incorporating pairs elements and dance elements has been a really exciting process, trying to boost synchro as a whole…

"It's a new era of synchro…and we're just trying to really hone in on that Miami Skating style."

So what exactly will that style look like this season?

Sammie Levine and Katey Nyquist — *Levine (left) and Nyquist (right)*

"In the best way, I think it's funky," Yaeger said. "It's artsy; it's fun. It's really big and grand, but it's not as precise. It's like everything is kind of almost hip-hoppy and freestyle."

"The biggest thing for me has been freshness and passion and fire," Werkowski chimed in. "I feel like the coaches come in every day wanting to skate the program with us!"

"It's almost like they breathe life into us," Yaeger nodded. "You can feel the passion emanating off of them, which makes us want to do better and be better."

Ask Nyquist, a five-time national champion skater and world bronze medalist with the Haydenettes herself, to sum up her approach to leading the Red and White, and her eyes light up with —what else?— another smile.

"We have a lot of goals that we're trying to accomplish within a season and within the next couple of years, but ultimately, I want them to love skating for their entire lives. That's a big cornerstone of my philosophy," she said. "And also: Really challenging the skaters to try hard things and to set high goals and expectations for themselves. They are excellent skaters and they should 100 percent be holding themselves to extremely high standards…

"I just love synchro so much. I was one of those athletes not so long ago, and I feel very strongly that I have a lot to give to them. It's a way to give back to a sport that really gave a lot to me.

"To build them up as people and as skaters is one of the greatest honors of my life: to be able to be here and support them and challenge them to do things that they don't even realize they can do.

"That's definitely why I'm here."

Find more Front Row Features at: MiamiRedHawks.com/FrontRowFeatures.

The Miami synchronized skating teams will perform at intermission during the home hockey game on Friday, Nov. 1 (7:05 p.m. puck drop) and host a free Family & Alumni Weekend Exhibition on Saturday, Nov. 2 at 3:30 p.m. at Steve "Coach" Cady Arena. The RedHawks' domestic competitive schedule begins later in November; check out the full list of dates and events here.

Players Mentioned

Katie McDonnell

Sydney Schnell

Emalie Werkowski

Caroline Yaeger

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