US Synchro Senior Short

The gorgeous spring weather inspired me to start spring cleaning. I watched the synchro championships on Icenetwork.com last weekend, but I didn't get into sharing my thoughts. Rainy weekends are much better for blogging! The webcast showed a lot of empty seats in Mariucci Arena in Minneapolis, I hope skating fans weren't staying at home waiting for my expert commentary. An exciting event was missed with teams making strong moves to cap off their seasons and be teams to watch next year. The senior event included a spoiler on the path to the World Championships. 

Starlights - The party got started with the newest senior team, the Starlights of the Skokie Valley Skating Club in Buffalo Grove, Illinois. I always made a point to watch their freeskate in competitions where they competed as juniors last year. If Oscars were given for skating, the Starlights would have received a costume award. They skated to Enya's Sail Away in various shades of blue and green. As they made their formations, they created this unique sense of ocean waves coming together.

This season they made their international debut as seniors, at the French Cup placing 9th with 147.20 points. It was a bit controversial for a team that had just moved up from juniors to be named as part of Team USA, especially as the ICE'Kateers made the same move and were not selected.

Their short program here was highlighted by quick and seamless transitions from element to element. I particularly liked their triangle intersection that transitioned into a straight line intersection. It was good choreography using the music and positions. 58.59

Western Michigan University - WMU won the Midwestern Sectionals last year and was 2nd this year to Miami Senior Varsity. They competed at the Spring Cup in Milano, finishing 6th with 120.32 points.

I enjoyed their parallel wheel into a 3-spoke wheel. I also enjoyed their transition into their triangle intersection. 54.78

ICE'Kateers - This team hails from the OC. (Always liked the Disney reference in their name, so appropriate for Anaheim). They are the 2nd Pacific Coast team to compete at Nationals at the senior level. I've always wondered why synchro isn't as big there considering how many great singles skaters have come out of California, especially SoCal: Michelle Kwan, Mirai Nagasu, Rachel Flatt, & Debi Thomas to name a few.
They did not compete internationally, but did win the Pacific Coast Sectionals.

They skated a smooth program in in stunning and cool toned, sea green dresses. The highlight of their short skate for me was their moves-in-th-field sequence. Gorgeous spirals to the crescendo of the music into spread eagles and then into 135 spirals. 56.04

Haydenettes - The Haydenettes are coming into this event primed to avenge their 2nd place finish to Miami Senior Varsity last year. Not only did they win all of their domestic events, they skated to above 200 points in all of their competitions. They skated to 3rd at Cup of Berlin with 202.36 points. They won Eastern Sectionals this year after generally having a bye to Nationals due to international competition conflicts.

I don't think their speed translates well on the webcast, but they skated a strong and precise short. I liked their deep blue dresses with the butterfly design across the chest. A program highlight was the block; just beautiful skating with speed and deep edges going in and out of turns. 85.92 blew the field away!

Crystallettes - The Crystallettes of Dearborn, Michigan have been the bridesmaid of Nationals by finishing 3rd five times in a row. They like the Haydenettes have seemed to skate on the attack ready to stake their claim to greatness. They skated to gold at the Cup of Prague, but their final score was much lower than what most top teams win with at 151.16 points.

In Minneapolis, the skated snazzy and fun short to Sammy Davis. They also showed skating is "green" by recycling their freeskate dresses from last year. I really liked this program, even more than the Haydenettes'. There were two highlights for me: their no hold block showed synchro style in their togetherness plus their knee action was smooth and made them look like they were dancing on air. Their spiral sequence was super sweet as well. 73.86

California Gold - The O.G. of Pacific Coast Synchro and the first Pac-team to earn an international medal, used to be thought of as a possible spoiler to the established favorite eastern and midwestern teams at nationals. This year has seemed to be a bit of rebuilding season with a new members skating on the team. They placed 10th at the French Cup with 141.06 points.

Hey Big Spender! Oooh, there's no amount of money that take away that splat. Too bad, they had good choreography and elements. However, I think they looked a bit stiff and some of the lines didn't link up right away after transitioning. I did like their spirals into their circle. 54.02

Miami Senior Varsity - The defending champions have also had a rebuilding season with a new head coach and several new skaters on the senior team. They won a silver at Neuchatel Trophy in Switzerland with 177.18 points. They won Midwestern Sectionals this year after generally having a bye to Nationals due to international competition conflicts.

I love their music choices from various Romeo and Juliet themes. My favorite element is their transition from a 3 spoke wheel to the parallel wheel. They have a nice ending section as they transition from a block into Ina Bauers. The Ina Bauers have good flow from four lines to two. 73.63 which puts them in 3rd behind the Crystallettes! That was close, I would think it's a bit like apples and oranges for the judges on that one. The Crystallettes had an upbeat program while Miami was more dramatic. I think Cyrstallettes program just showed stronger skating skills throughout, but I agree their skates deserved the similar scores.

Evolution - This team from Detroit, Michigan has had an up and down season. At the Porter Classic, their music stopped twice. The crowd cheered them through after the music went out the second time. They then  finished sixth at Cup of Berlin with 134.35 points. They finished 3rd at Midwestern Sectionals.

The final team skated to West Story. I liked their sky blue dresses and their flow from the parallel wheel into an intersection. 58.13

Photos by me, 1. Starlights at 2009 Nationals 2. Miami at Fall Exhibition

Complete Senior Short Results:

1 Haydenettes, Hayden Recreation Centre FSC 85.92 50.16 35.76 8.89 8.71 9.07 9.14 8.89 0.00 #4

2 Crystallettes, Dearborn FSC 73.86 43.28 30.58 7.57 7.36 7.79 7.82 7.68 0.00 #5

3 Miami Univ Sr Varsity, Miami University 73.63 43.06 30.57 7.64 7.36 7.79 7.79 7.64 0.00 #7

4 Starlights, Skokie Valley SC 58.59 35.82 23.77 5.89 5.68 6.07 6.07 6.00 1.00 #1

5 Evolution, Detroit SC 58.13 35.19 22.94 5.75 5.54 5.93 5.79 5.68 0.00 #8

6 ICE'Kateers, Glacier Falls FSC 56.04 34.10 21.94 5.32 5.21 5.68 5.75 5.46 0.00 #3

7 Western Michigan University, Western Michigan University SC 54.78 32.41 22.37 5.61 5.25 5.75 5.71 5.64 0.00 #2

8 California Gold, All Year FSC 54.02 31.45 23.57 5.96 5.57 5.89 6.04 6.00 1.00 #6