GCS Masters 6th in Nation

After our bronze medal skate at Easterns in January, we got back to work to prepare for Nationals in Providence, RI where, five years prior, GCS Masters earned 5th Place at the 2015 U.S. Synchronized Championships.

In the weeks between Easterns and Nationals we focused on transitions, performance, rearranged a feature in our line element, and drilled our whip intersection. The Sunday before we left, we had a chance for a dress rehearsal at a Send-Off Exhibition hosted by our club, SCNY, at Chelsea Piers.

Our Nationals experience began with an early morning practice at our home rink, City Ice Pavilion. It is helpful to get our skates underneath us earlier in the day, before hitting competition ice. Immediately after practice, we carpooled to our hotel in Providence, where we rested and freshened up for our 8-minute official practice. Our team banner was hanging right above the judging panel, which was an encouraging reminder every time we smiled in their direction.

After official practice we celebrated the season with a team dinner and small party, where we exchanged "secret psycher" gifts, presented superlative awards, and ate a skate-shaped donut cake!

The next morning we had a productive unofficial practice, followed by some rest, and doing our hair and makeup. We headed over to the Dunkin Donuts Center to perform our "Wake Up In Paris" program one last time. We took the ice 7th, on fresh ice.

We put out a clean, high-energy and theatrical skate. We improved our base value from Easterns by receiving a Level 2 on our Whip Intersection - something we had been working on all season, and ultimately received all of our intended level calls. Our score of 34.78 was a 4-point improvement on our Easterns score, and put us in 6th place. We are thrilled that we were able to put out our best skate of the season when it mattered most.

Some of us made our way back to NYC, while others stayed to enjoy the amazing skating to come over the weekend, but we all left energized from a great season and can't wait to do it all over again!