TRIANGLE SYNCHRONIZED SKATING TEAM QUALIFIES FOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Hot Pink Polka-Dotted Teenage Skating Team Heads to Portland, Maine

 

Thursday, February 5, 2009 -- Hillsborough, North Carolina
Carolina Ice Synchro’s intermediate team has qualified to compete at the 2009 U.S. Synchronized Skating National Championships in Portland, Maine, March 3rd through March 7th.  This is the first time a non-adult synchronized team from the southeast has qualified for Nationals. This annual event crowns U.S. champions in eight levels: juvenile, intermediate, novice, junior, senior, collegiate, adult and masters. The event is also the primary selection event for the World Synchronized Skating Championships.

The team qualified for Nationals by placing fourth out of 15 teams competing at the intermediate level at 2009 Eastern Synchronized Skating Sectional Championships. Eastern Sectionals took place in late January in Morristown, NJ, and included nearly 2,000 athletes from across the Eastern section of the United States. Similar competitions were conducted in the Midwest and Pacific sections.

Carolina Ice Synchro’s intermediate team is comprised of thirteen girls ranging in age from twelve to seventeen who attend schools across the Triangle. The team skates to a program set to fifties music, with formations including traveling circles, pivoting lines and blocks, flying camels and complex intersections. The team performs intricate footwork involving a number of complicated turns such as double three turns, brackets and mohawks.

The team trains in Hillsborough, NC, at the Triangle SportsPlex and represents the Central Carolina Skating Club. They are coached by Jamye Gaster and Paula McKinley. Carolina Ice Synchro has been training teams for eight years and is a relative newcomer to the sport. The team practices four hours a week in addition to the time required for team members to advance their individual skills as singles skaters.

“We’ve trained hard over the last year with an eye on our dream of qualifying for Nationals,” said coach Jamye Gaster. “We were an underdog at Eastern Sectionals where many of the northeastern teams have a long tradition of synchronized skating and a larger number of competitive skaters involved in their programs.”

 “We have always felt that we had the talent and the passion to make Nationals and this year we did it,” added coach Paula McKinley. The team will be skating an exhibition program at the RBC Center during the Carolina Hurricanes home game on March 20th.

The team is seeking donations to fund its trip to Portland for the National Championship. Individuals who would like to make a contribution should contact Karen McClure at Karen.McClure@duke.edu or 919-667-2574.

Team Members
Chrissy Barr (home schooled), Mariah Benfield (Walter Williams High School, Burlington), Nicole Cates (Western Alamance High School), Brittany Clark (Fuquay-Varina High School), Ariane Cook (Chapel Hill High School), Ashleigh Faucette and Haleigh Faucette (Cedar Ridge High School, Orange County), Samuela Fernandes (Smith Middle School, Chapel Hill), Hanna Hoke (Ravenscroft School, Raleigh), Renee Kramer (Chapel Hill High School), Amanda McClure (Durham Academy), Hadley Reid (Carrboro High School) and Sally Warren (Carrboro High School).

About Synchronized Figure Skating
Synchronized skating began in the 1950’s, has grown rapidly since the 1970’s and is now the fastest growing division within U.S. Figure Skating. For a synchronized team to flow in unison, individual skaters must be competent at a variety of skating skills, including speed, footwork and ice presence. Synchronized Skating is currently under consideration to be added as an Olympic sport.  

Contact Information
For more information or to view a practice session please contact Holly Russell at
Holly.V.Russell@gsk.com or 919-749-2484. Action photography and video clips are available on request.

Visit our youth synchro page