Dec. 28, 2009

The Miami University synchronized skating squad made history in 2007, achieving a world-class level that no other United States team had ever reached.

Here’s the way MURedHawks.com reported the story, the No. 4 headline of the first decade of the 21st century.

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Apr. 1, 2007

MAKING HISTORY: Synchronized Skating Earns Silver Medal at ISU World Championships

RedHawks Post Highest Finish Ever for U.S. Skating Team

LONDON, Ontario - Posting the highest finish ever for a United Skates skating team, the Miami University senior synchronized skating team turned in a silver-medal finish at the 2007 International Skating Union World Synchronized Skating Championships. Standing third after the completion of Friday's short program, the RedHawks registered the second-highest score in Saturday's free skate (128.96) and finished with a second-place point total of 198.71.

Trailing only Sweden's Team Surprise in the team standings (222.24), Miami followed up last season's fourth-place finish -- which equaled the highest finish ever by an American skating team -- by becoming the first United States skating team ever to medal at the World Championships.

In Saturday's free skate, Miami turned in a total segment score of 128.96, which included a technical element score of 68.59 and a program component score of 61.37. Miami also received solid marks in skating skills (7.71), transitions (7.50), performance/execution (7.71), choreography (7.75) and interpretation (7.68).

Speaking to its milestone accomplishment, Miami and Team Surprise were the only two teams to finish among the top three in both the free skate and the short program. The RedHawks bested Canada's Nexxice (194.08) for silver-medal honors, while the United States' Haydenettes (193.36) and Finland's Team Unique (191.76) rounded out the top five teams.

Having earned a spot in the World Championships in five of the past seven seasons, the RedHawks have finished among the top four teams at the past two World Championships, including this season's silver-medal finish. In its past five appearances at the World Championships, Miami has finished no lower than ninth.

Also excelling at a national level since the 1995-96 season, Miami's senior skating team has finished no lower than fourth at the U.S. Nationals and won a pair of national championships.

2007 ISU WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS FINAL RESULTS
FPl. Name Nat.                   Points SP FS
1 Team Sweden 1 SWE       222.24 1 1
2 Team USA 2 USA             198.71 3 2
3 Team Canada 1 CAN        194.08 5 5
4 Team USA 1 USA             193.36 6 4
5 Team Finland 2 FIN          191.76 4 7
6 Team Canada 2 CAN        189.68 7 6
7 Team Russia 1 RUS          188.92 2 8
8 Team Finland 1 FIN           187.42 8 3
9 Team Germany GER          166.78 9 9
10 Team Switzerland SUI      145.21 10 10
11 Team Sweden 2 SWE       141.13 11 11
12 Team Russia 2 RUS         132.74 12 12
13 Team Japan JPN              122.32 14 13
14 Team Czech Republic CZE 122.02 15 14
15 Team Italy ITA                 120.90 13 15
16 Team Croatia CRO           103.80 17 16
17 Team France FRA             101.03 16 17
18 Team Austria AUT             92.18 20 18
19 Team Australia AUS           89.33 18 19
20 Team Hungary HUN           83.67 21 20
21 Team Great Britain GBR     82.21 19 21

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