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Miami Synchronized Skating Teams Dominate Season-Opener

Alyssa Zediker, For The Miami Student

With a deep breath before every skate this weekend the synchronized skating teams were able to embody their performances and successfully complete their first competition.

"We take a deep breath right before we start the program, [which] really puts us all at ease and it allowed me to take a moment to prepare myself and be just calm and cool," Collegiate team member senior Bianca Pomponio said.

The synchronized skating team was able to pull out medals in all levels at the Dr. Richard Porter Classic held in Ann Arbor, Mich. Dec. 1 and 2. Both the senior and the collegiate teams placed first in the competition and the junior team placed third in their division.

"As a coach, you know what you hope to get, but you don't necessarily know what you are going to get," Head coach Carla DeGirolamo said. "I was very pleased with all five performances and I thought that everyone skated confidently, with a lot of energy, and they were aggressive."

Miami's collegiate team scored a 80.25, good for a 16.05 gap ahead of its nearest competitor.

"Not only was it great getting a medal, but it was also great knowing that we put out some great performances," Pomponio said.

The senior team finished with a 146.02 score, which was comprised of their ratings from both their long and short programs.

"We really try to take each part of the program one step at a time and each performance has a set type of character that we try to embody and I think that everyone really performed well," senior team member Taylor Walker said.

The junior team competed for the best finish by a Miami junior team at the Dr. Richard Porter Classic and they received a total score of 131.12. It was the best finish by a junior team in Miami history.  

"They all did what we set out to do, they skated strong, aggressive programs with a high level of performance, and they were fast and exciting," DeGirolamo said. "That's all that we can ask for and the scores are the scores and they are something that we can't directly control, but everybody got off the ice feeling like they gave it everything they could at this particular point."

Looking forward, DeGirolamo wants to continue working on their elements, since they were downgraded on a lot of them, but says this is to be expected this early in the season.

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The task at hand is to maintain the motivation which both Pomponio and Walker feel is renewed after this first performance, so they can continue focusing on improving their performance and cleaning it and adding additional layers of choreography, which will help increase their scores

"[We need to] continue to increase our scores, because now everyone will be out to catch us, so we need to make sure we stay ahead," DeGirolamo said.