The Southern CT Synchronized Skating team (SCSS) of the Shadows, Shimmers, and the Sprites, racked up their medal count at the 33rd Annual Colonial Classic Synchronized Skating Competition in Lowell, Mass. this past weekend.
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— An announcement from the Southern CT Synchronized Skating Team
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Sprites Win Gold
Seven judges unanimously ranked the SCSS Sprites (which includes Gabriella Stemp of Darien) in first place for their gold-winning program to Motown classic, “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” by The Temptations.
This is the line’s second gold this season, and their 5th consecutive gold in two seasons.
In Saturday’s group of four Synchro Skills Level 2 teams, the Sprites performed their program flawlessly with energy and big smiles.
The Sprites, winning gold in Lowell.
“We hope we make it look easy as our line has its challenges with different skill levels and big age differences from our youngest seven-year olds to our oldest 13-year-olds,” said 10-year-old Sprite Caroline Ellis.
Rebecca Middlen, a second year Sprite and 13-year-old skater from Norwalk added, “The older, more experienced Sprites try to help the younger or first year Sprites by preparing them for what it’s like to skate at the awesome Tsongas Center arena.”
Front row, from left: Stephanie Boccuzzi, Sydni Foster, Anna Livits, Anastasia Ladyka, Rebecca Conroy, DARIEN’s Gabriella Stemp. Back row, from left: Elizabeth Brown, Sarah Boside, Danielle Curis, Maddie Fredericks, Emily Seligson, Caroline Ellis, Rebecca Middlen, Jennifer Olmsted, Julia Peldunas
Shadows Get Silver
The SCSS Shadows, which includes Michelle Han of Darien, earned silver on the podium for their captivating swing dance performance to Jessica Simpson’s “Swing with Me Baby”.
The group of seven Open Juvenile teams was highly competitive with first place winner Rainbow Connection from Potsdam, N.Y., skating a fast Irish jig; a British-Bond theme from Team Esprit; a Latin theme from Team Munchkins, and other teams skating to music from Beyoncé, Queen, and 80’s pop tunes.
The Shadows on the ice at the Tsongas Arena last weekend
“We got a lot of things right today – we felt together and there was good energy from the audience and judges,” said 15-year-old Shadows skater Danielle Nugent.
Gina Valenzano-Gomez, SCSS Head Coach said, “While it’s been a long day, I am very, very proud of all three lines. They practiced hard, handled challenges really well, and today, we really pulled together as one team supporting each other on and off the ice.”
The three coaches Gina, Val Legutko and Kari Pace started their challenging 16-hour Saturday with a 5 a.m. practice, followed by a full day of competitions for each of the three SCSS lines, and ended the day after 9 p.m. at the rink.
Front row left to right: Michelle Han of DARIEN, Isabella Osinovsky, Alyssa Fish, Natalie Pesantez, Danielle Nugent, Sarah Meyer. Back row, from left: Deanna Gladstone, Kara McLaughlin, Stephanie Tancs, Madeline Ciampa, Rachel Iannazzo, Vanessa Wynter, Olivia Linnartz
The consistently successful SCSS team benefits from these coaches’ unwavering commitment and dedication that they demonstrate every day – and have done so for the last 20 years.
This year’s team is comprised of 41 skaters from Stamford, Greenwich, Westport, Darien, Norwalk, New Canaan, Southport, and White Plains, N.Y. For more information about the SCSS team, visit: www.terryconnerssynchro.org or like us on Facebook.
All photos from the Southern CT Synchronized Skating Team