March 6, 2010

MINNEAPOLIS--Miami University's collegiate synchronized skating team won gold, while the senior team placed third on the final day of competition at the U.S. National Championships.

The collegiate team continued its dominance of the division. The RedHawks' gold-medal finish in the collegiate division marked Miami's sixth-consecutive national title and the program's 12th collegiate national crown.

Miami posted a score of 107.60 with its "Sex and the City" themed program. The RedHawks had a clean skate and earned a technical element score of 59.41 and a program component score of 48.19. They were the lone collegiate team to crack 100 points and topped second-place Michigan by just over nine points.

Michigan (98.46) was followed by Delaware (94.97), Michigan State (91.49), Illinois (90.34), Wisconsin (84.88), Western Michigan (80.69), Team Excel (74.23), Boston (67.46), New Hampshire (67-46), Cornell (49.94) and Oswego State (49.48).

Miami's senior team finished in third in both Friday's short program and Saturday's free-skate competitions. The RedHawks' free skate, a 1940s inspired program, was a clean skate and earned a score of 129.05 with a technical element score of 64.97 and a program component score of 64.08. After posting a score of 73.63 in the short program, Miami was one of just three teams to crack 200 points for the competition with 202.68.

The Haydenettes and Crystallettes finished first and second, respectively, in both the short program and free skate. The Hayedenettes recorded a score of 145.22 for the free skate and a score of 231.14 for the competition. The Crystallettes finished with a score of 136.49 for the free skate and 210.35 for the competition.

There was a significant drop off after Miami in the overall scoring for the competition with Starlights placing fourth (167.80) followed by Evolution (162.12), California Gold (151.84), Western Michigan (143.66) and ICE'Kateers (136.21).

Miami's junior completed its competition at the U.S. National Championships on Friday, finishing fifth in the division.