Lake Placid, NY – February 5, 2013 – The Skyliners Synchronized Skating Team competed at the 2013 Eastern Synchronized Skating Sectional Championship this weekend at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, the site of the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics and Home of the Miracle on Ice. The competition was exceptionally successful for the Skyliners, with all qualifying divisions earning a berth to “Nationals,” the U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships to be held February 27 – March 2 in Plymouth, Michigan.
The Skyliners brought home more than their fair share of hardware, with the Juvenile and Preliminary divisions bringing home Gold medals, Pre-Preliminary and Novice winning Silver, and Intermediate earning a pewter medal in a very competitive division. Skyliners Junior and Senior did not attend but were granted byes and will also be competing at Nationals.
First up competing on the 1980 Rink was the Juvenile team. Skating to Disney’s Beauty & the Beast their elegance, grace and technical skills made them the gold medal favorite with all seven judges placing them in first place, and making them the Eastern Sectional Gold Medalists for the third consecutive year.
A few hours later, the Intermediate team earned a spot to skate at nationals with their crowd pleasing, clean and crisp skate choreographed to an upbeat Jackson 5 medley.
Saturday started out with a tough schedule on Rink 1932 for the Skyliners’ two preliminary teams, with qualifying rounds in the morning and the finals in the afternoon. Both teams made it to the finals. Preliminary clinched the gold medal skating to the music from Footloose. The Pre-Preliminary team performed their routine to Braham’s Hungarian Dance Number 5 and won silver in the same division.
The Novice team competed late Saturday afternoon, skating beautifully to the romantic routine of Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella. Their graceful performance was awarded the silver medal and, they too, will be skating at the National Championship. This season has been one of the Novice line’s most successful years in Skyliners history, with gold or silver medals in each of the competitions in which they have skated thus far, and the team’s 10th year in a row bringing home a medal from the Eastern Sectionals.
All Skyliners enjoyed the festivities at the Olympic Skating Center after the competition. After the awards ceremony, skaters and spectators were treated to an exciting party on the Olympic Speed Skating Oval with a fireworks display, s’mores and skating to music on the same ice where Eric Heiden became a speed skating legend at the 1980 Olympic games.
Both Skyliners Junior and Senior teams who compete as part of the United States Figure Skating Association’s Team USA received a bye so did not need to compete to win the right to compete for the national title, and will be joining their Juvenile, Intermediate and Novice Teammates at Nationals in March. While their teammates were competing in Lake Placid, the Junior Line was competing at the French Cup in Rouen, France. The Junior team finished an impressive fourth place among some of the best European teams. Meanwhile, Skyliners Senior team, was busy gearing up for their international debut at the 2013 Spring Cup being held in Milan, Italy on February 8-10, where they were invited to participate to represent Team USA, an impressive feat for a team entering only their second competitive season.
About 1000 skaters and coaches participate in the Eastern Sectionals, which is part of Eastern Synchronized Skating Challenge Series, and is made up of both qualifying and non-qualifying divisions.
