March 31, 2007

LONDON, Ontario - Making its second straight appearance at the World Championships, the Miami University senior synchronized skating team stands third after the short program at the 2007 International Skating Union World Synchronized Skating Championships. Competing in London, Ontario on Friday, the RedHawks posted a total segment score of 69.75 in the short program and trail only Sweden's Team Surprise (77.54) and Russia's Paradise (70.55) heading into Saturday's free skate.

Friday's competition marked the fifth time in the past seven years that Miami competed at the World Championships, and the RedHawks impressed by posting the second highest technical element score (40.31) of the 21 teams competing. Miami also registered solid marks in program component score (29.44), skating skills (7.32), transitions (7.07), performance/execution (7.57), choreography (7.54) and interpretation (7.29).

After equaling the highest finish ever by an American skating team with its fourth-place finish at last season's World Championships, Miami heads into the Saturday's free skate looking to make U.S. Skating history. If the RedHawks maintain their current hold on third place, they would post the highest finish ever by an American skating team at the World Championships.

Since the 1995-96 season, the senior skating team has finished no lower than fourth at the U.S. Nationals and have won a pair of national championships, including last season's title-winning squad.

The free skate gets underway tomorrow at 3 p.m. at the John Labatt Centre, with the medal ceremonies scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Complete event coverage is available at www.skatecanada.ca.

2007 ISU WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS
SHORT PORGRAM
1	Team Sweden 1 	        SWE	77.54
2	Team Russia 1 	        RUS	70.55
3	Team USA 2 	        USA	69.75
4	Team Finland 2 	        FIN	68.93
5	Team Canada 1 	        CAN	68.54
6	Team USA 1 	        USA	67.71
7	Team Canada 2 	        CAN	66.38
8	Team Finland 1 	        FIN	60.75
9	Team Germany 	        GER	59.23
10	Team Switzerland 	SUI	50.40
11	Team Sweden 2 	        SWE	48.29
12	Team Russia 2 	        RUS	47.06
13	Team Italy 	        ITA	46.14
14	Team Japan 	        JPN	40.95
15	Team Czech Republic 	CZE	40.89
16	Team France 	        FRA	36.30
17	Team Croatia 	        CRO	32.72
18	Team Australia 	        AUS	31.45
19	Team Great Britain 	GBR	31.23
20	Team Austria 	        AUT	30.95
21	Team Hungary 	        HUN	28.71
TEAM KEY
AUS 	Australia 	Team Australia
AUT 	Austria 	Sweet Mozart
CAN 	Canada 1 	Nexxice
CAN 	Canada 2 	Les Suprêmes
CRO 	Croatia 	Zagreb Snowflakes
CZE 	Czech Republic 	Olympia USK Praha
FIN 	Finland 1 	Marigold Ice Unity
FIN 	Finland 2 	Team Unique
FRA 	France 	        Les Zoulous
GBR 	Great Britain 	Storm
GER 	Germany 	Team Berlin 1
HUN 	Hungary 	MJC Team
ITA 	Italy 	        Team Italy
JPN 	Japan 	        Jingu Ice Messengers
RUS 	Russia 	        Paradise
RUS 	Russia 	        Tatarstan
SUI 	Switzerland 	Starlight
SWE 	Sweden 	        Team Surprise
SWE 	Sweden 	        Team Boomerang
USA 	USA 1 	        Haydenettes
USA 	USA 2 	        Miami University Senior Varsity Synchronized Skating Team