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It started out as somewhat of a joke.
 
As the Miami University varsity synchronized skating teams entered the final month of their 2024-25 competitive schedule, the RedHawks were looking for some momentum.
 
With the calendar approaching February, neither the senior or collegiate team had yet achieved the scores or results they were hoping for and (in past years) often accustomed to.
 
But as the collegiate team prepared for the Midwestern Synchronized Skating Sectional Championships, the refrain of an Ellie Goulding song became an unexpected rallying cry for the Red and White.
 
"Anything could happen. Anything could happen. Anything could happen. Anything could happen."
 
Before long, the song —and its sentiments— started spreading throughout the team during its winter-term training.
 
"If you really think about it, anything could happen," said sophomore Emalie Werkowski, a second-year member of the collegiate team. "I think it's such a good mentality for us to have had this season, and it really evolved into a team-wide thing."
 
"It's hard to see that when you're not even getting a medal at each competition," sophomore Sydney Schnell (a two-year senior team skater) added. "But when we made that switch, everything just [picked] up…
 
"Our mentality and unity helped so much…it was just reassuring that literally, 'anything could happen', and positive things can come from that."
 
The collegiate team went on to grab first place at the event in Kalamazoo, Mich. with a season-high score of 111.23. And the next time out, at the Tri-State Competition in Mentor, Ohio, Miami claimed another trophy.
 
That set up the final (and most important event) on the two teams' domestic schedule: The U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships in Colorado Springs, Colo.
 
First-year head coach Katey Nyquist said her biggest goal in Colorado was for both teams to skate clean. "I wasn't even really worried about a score," she said. "I just wanted them to have a skate that they feel proud of."
 
And the Red and White did just that.
 
The senior team performed its 'Move!' short program on Friday, Feb. 28 and earned its best score of the season, setting off a wild celebration among the RedHawks in the 'kiss-and-cry' area.
 
Assistant coach Sammie Levine admitted she couldn't stop crying afterwards. "Nationals was amazing," said Levine, who had skated for the Miami senior team the previous four seasons before graduating and joining the coaching staff. "It was so emotional for me, because it was my first nationals not competing, but it also came with a certain amount of pressure as a new coaching staff.
"It was such an honor and almost a relief to watch them finally do what they know how to do and have validation from the scores…it was a long way to get to where we wanted to go and it was so special to get there."
 
The Miami senior team hadn't yet cracked the 60-point mark in a short program that season, but the RedHawks posted a 70.04 on that Friday night at Broadmoor World Arena, good for second place in a seven-team field.
 
"The score was icing on the cake," said Nyquist. "We both felt really strongly that this program was worth a 70, and to earn it at nationals was surreal."
 
"It was so great because they were able to perform like they practice all the time," Nyquist continued. "It was difficult throughout the season to have those ups and downs at competition…but for Sammie and I, we were like, 'This is how they always look!' We weren't surprised by it.
 
"We received a lot of feedback from audience members and alumni that they 'finally could see our vision being realized.'"
 
The senior team capped its stay at the U.S. Championships with a stellar free skate the next night, procuring another season-best mark of 140.11 and sealing a silver medal.
 
"That was such a highlight," Schnell said. "Coming from the bottom, being the underdogs the entire season, having people not even think that we would be getting a medal, to [then] skating two clean programs at a national championship…
 
"It's rewarding. It just solidifies all the hard work that you did…being able to come together as a team after all of the lows throughout the season and ending on a high was awesome."
 
Not to be outdone, the collegiate team took care of business in Colorado Springs as well. And if there was any question whether the RedHawks were ready to defend their back-to-back-to-back national titles, it ended pretty much when the team got off the bus.
 
"My favorite thing about the collegiate team is their off-ice warm-up," Nyquist smiled. "They just show up like national champions and there's no doubt about it. They are on fire, and it's so fun to watch them be so confident in themselves."
 
"Man, I would be scared to compete against them," Levine laughed. "They flip their shades on; they walk in like they own the place. You just know they're going to do what they know how to do.
 
"They're such sharks. They're huge competitors: They go out there with a bang, and that is the Miami Skating spirit that we're so proud of.
 
"It was just awesome."
 
The RedHawks' performance of a program themed around 'The Who' collected a score of 107.16, almost eight points ahead of the nearest opponent in a 12-team event. Miami's collegiate national championship was its fourth in a row and 23rd all-time.
 
"I think it proves our determination and our grit," said Werkowski. "What's most impressive to me is our mental improvement…how we approached competing and working together as a team has been like nothing I've ever experienced or seen. It's just been so amazing to feel that improvement!
 
"Seeing that really pay off in us winning again was so amazing. And on top of that, just watching the senior team do what they did…obviously, it felt amazing for us to win, but it felt even more amazing for us to be there to support senior and watch them get second.

"It was just such an amazing moment for the two teams collectively."
 
Nyquist agreed. "I think one of my favorite memories is seeing collegiate and senior cheer each other on," she said. "I'm really, really proud of how connected the girls are with each other…we had so many shared experiences and ups and downs this season, and seeing the 'sea of red' was very special."
 
The coaches and student-athletes are already looking forward to the 2025-26 season, which unofficially kicked off last month with tryouts for both teams. More than 80 skaters auditioned for the 40 spots between the senior and collegiate groups.
 
"Our rosters are finalized now…there was so much talent that came in, and the thought and care that went into selecting each athlete was very intentional," Levine said. "I feel great about our teams going into next season: They're full of talent and spirit and work ethic."
 
"We're excited to go into a season knowing what we can change and do better," said Nyquist, who was hired only a few weeks before last season's tryouts (while Levine literally came on board the day before they began).
 
"To do it with these two teams that we've built is going to be amazing. Our new skaters are going to bring so much to the programs this year, and our returners are also really motivated and excited to get the season underway. We're pumped."
 
Schnell said she's hoping the senior team can break through in 2026 and return to the ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships for the first time in three seasons. Two United States teams are selected for worlds each year.
 
"Honestly just riding off the momentum that we had from this past season, we ended on such a high," Schnell said. "It's about keeping that high and remembering it: Once you have it, it's easier to keep going…
 
"Finally [getting to go to worlds] would be icing on the cake."
 
Nyquist and Levine attended this year's World Championships in Finland as part of a U.S. Figure Skating training program, which allowed the duo to ask questions about building programs, grade of execution, and other coaching strategies as they work toward qualifying in the future. Several of the people the Miami coaches had the opportunity to learn from in Helsinki are Miami alums, including former RedHawk coach Heather Paige, Lauren Bracken and international official Karin Sherr.
 
"We went into it wanting to gain as much information as we could, so I think that really helped us," Nyquist said.
 
"Our goal is to take our own teams to a world championship," said Levine. "So to have an opportunity to ask all of our questions and be there to learn and prepare was pretty huge for us."
 
While that outstanding goal is still in front of the RedHawks through this offseason, it doesn't take away from the journey the 2024-25 team experienced. Particularly, the encouraging way things ended when the Red and White left the ice for the final time in Colorado.

"At our postseason banquet, we saw all these smiling, happy, fulfilled faces," Levine observed. "Even though our season was filled with some difficult mountains to climb and lessons to learn, I think that's what Miami Skating is: You do it together. We're all in this and we fight for it as a family."
 
"It brings you back to the 'why' of all of this," Nyquist concluded. "Obviously, we're here to be competitive, be successful and build a program that is going to be a dominant force domestically and internationally.
 
"But we're also here to help these athletes become better skaters and better people."
 
"Both teams had a similar journey, where we started at the bottom and ended on top," Schnell said. "And being able to both end on top was the best feeling ever."

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