Photo Credit: KrPhotogs Photography
Teams Elite and the Skyliners have been selected to represent Team USA at the ISU World Junior Synchronized Skating Championships 2024 in Neuchatel, Switzerland, March 15-16.
Teams Elite's selection comes on the heels of the team winning their first-ever U.S. junior title at the 2024 U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Skyliners earned the silver medal while Team Image and the Lexettes claimed bronze and pewter, respectively.
“This is a testament to how much we’ve worked,” said Abbi Nelson, who has competed with Teams Elite for six years. “This team has showed up to practice 100% committed, 100% involved and what we’ve done at every practice is what we did tonight. That’s exactly who we are.”
Both Teams Elite and the Skyliners have stood on the podium at the World Junior Championships before. In 2022, they made history when the Skyliners secured silver and Teams Elite earned bronze, marking the first time two U.S. teams brought home medals from the same Worlds. The Skyliners, who are four-time World Junior medalists, enter as the reigning World Junior bronze medalists.
“[It means] everything to us,” fourth-year Skyliners junior team member Madison Jarvis said of making the World Junior Team. “To end on such a high note [is] amazing. It’s what we’ve worked for, not just this season, but our whole skating careers.”
The Lexettes have been named first alternate while Team Image will be the second alternate.
Earlier in the day, Hayden Select skated to the lead after the senior elite 12 short program. Esprit de Corps also won both the adult and masters championships.
JUNIOR FREE SKATE
After earning silver two of the last three years the U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships have been held, Teams Elite clinched the gold medal and the top step of the podium for the first time in the team’s history.
They secured a two-day total of 198.87, their best total score at the event. Despite a fall in the free skate, Teams Elite earned Level 4 designations on five elements, including their Level 4 intersection with a Level 4 point of intersection that scored 10.50 points. Their snake charmers-themed free skate received 124.98 points.
“This is what you dream of ever since you were a little girl or little boy,” Nelson said. “To actually accomplish [winning the U.S. title], it makes me feel so proud of ourselves. Every moment that we put into practice has led to this moment. It feels beyond amazing."
Last year’s U.S. champions, Skyliners junior, took home the silver medal, roaring back from fourth place after the short program with a win in the free skate. Scoring 131.37, their utopia-themed program featured five Level 4 elements, and they were awarded a grade of execution of 1.54 or higher on each of their elements.
With a total score of 197.41, Skyliners junior has now finished in the top three every year the U.S. Championships have been held since 2015.
“After our disappointment yesterday, we just wanted to leave everything out on the ice,” Jarvis said. “We wanted to not worry about the other teams or scores or placements. We just wanted to skate for ourselves and because we love to do it.”
Standing on the podium for the third straight year, Team Image claimed bronze with a free skate score of 121.00 and an overall mark of 191.43. Their desert Arabian queen-themed skate opened with their strongest element, an intersection.
“It was completely amazing,” said fourth-year Team Image skater Sophie Ryan of the team’s skate. “I'm so proud of what we've done and what we've accomplished in the season so far. Getting off the ice, it was just a surreal experience."
The Lexettes also came out strong in their skate to "Prologue" by Woodkid, starting with a well-executed move element. They went on to tally a segment score of 117.50, finishing the competition with 183.98 points.
"I think our whole team feels very proud of what we just put out onto the ice,” said Vivian Wang, who has skated on the Lexettes for two years. “We could really feel the energy from each other and from the crowd. It was just amazing."
SENIOR ELITE 12 SHORT PROGRAM
Hayden Select is poised to repeat for the senior elite 12 U.S. championship, securing a lead of more than 20 points going into the free skate.
The team out of The Skating Club of Boston tallied 72.39 points, the best-ever short program score at the U.S. Championships by more than 10 points.
Skating to "Take Five" by Quincy Jones, Hayden Select kicked off their performance with a Level 4 twizzle element and Level 4 move element and ended with a Level 3 intersection with a Level 4 point of intersection that was awarded 9.32 points.
"I think it went really well,” Hayden Select skater Julianna Calvello said. “We had one job going out on the ice and it was to do what we did at official [practice] yesterday – just really enjoy our skate, sell it, but not do too much, and live in the moment.”
Competing in the senior elite 12 division for the first year, the Hockettes recorded 50.89 points for their electricity-themed short program.
"I feel good about it,” Hockettes team member Chandler Carroll said. “I feel that we did really attack it. The energy felt like everybody was in it as a team, so I'm incredibly proud of that. We are a very unique team, so we're pretty proud of our unique performances tonight."
This marks the second year senior elite 12 has been held as an official competition at the U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships.
ADULT FREE SKATE
Already the team with the most U.S. adult titles, Esprit de Corps added another gold to their collection – the 13th in the team’s history.
And they did it in historic fashion, clinching the highest score ever in the adult division at U.S. Championships by more than 11 points and becoming the first team to break the 80-point mark.
Their first intersection of their Fabulous!-themed free skate received more than eight points, the highest-scoring element of the competition. They were awarded 80.20 points total to take their first gold since 2020.
Quote: “We feel awesome,” said Erich Mehnert, who is skating with Esprit de Corps for the fifth year. “It felt good collectively as a team. I think we were all just in sync, in unison with everything.”
The fight for silver came down to the wire with the Crystallettes edging out DC EDGE by less than a point. Both earned their best-ever score at the U.S. Championships.
For the Crystallettes, the silver is their second straight at the U.S. Championships, and they have placed in the top three every year the event has been held since 2017. Their program was themed to the movie In the Heights with the highlight being each of their two intersections, which both received more than seven points. They concluded the competition with a total of 76.84.
At 76.06 points, DC EDGE stood on the podium for the third straight year. They received positive levels of execution on all their elements in a program that told the story of the progression of a breakup and the emotions facing that.
Earning the pewter medal for the second straight year was California gold with 68.23 points. Their performance themed to The Blues Brothers showcased two level 4 elements, and they were awarded their top score at the U.S. Championships.
MASTERS FREE SKATE
Winning their second U.S. championship of the day, Esprit de Corps returned to the top step of the masters podium for the first time since 2020.
The team with most masters titles with 10, Esprit de Corps earned their best-ever score at the U.S. Championships at 56.73. During their Fabulous!-themed program, they recorded a Level 4 mark for their intersection and a Level 3 for their synchronized spin.
“We just wanted to show that we love ice skating and show everybody that ice skating can be for any age,” said Esprit de Corps skater Donna Houlker, who has been with the team since 2020.
With an African jazz free skate that ended with their best element – a Level 3 synchronized spin – Allegro! received 53.61 points to earn the silver for the second straight year and finish in the top three every year the event has been held since 2019.
With the bronze, Ice Denettes Tenacity brought home their best-ever result at the U.S. Championships. Highlighted by a Level 3 intersection, they tallied 49.31 points.
DC EDGE kept their medal streak alive, taking the pewter. They have now finished on the podium every year the event has been held since 2020. Their skate set to a theme of “a trip to the movies” was given 48.75 points.
Competition continues Friday with the juvenile free skate, senior short program and senior elite 12 free skate.
The junior, senior elite 12, collegiate and senior competitions can be streamed live on Peacock Premium. The juvenile, novice, intermediate, adult and masters competition are available to watch on the U.S. Figure Skating YouTube page. Fans can also follow along on the 2024 U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships event page.
