Latest news with #U.S.SynchronizedSkatingChampionships
CBS News
17-03-2025
- Sport
- CBS News
Minnesota synchronized skating team has its best season in 8 years; laying groundwork for Olympics
The Twin Cities-based Northernettes Junior team recently represented Team USA at a World competition in Poland and took home gold for the first time. The synchronized skating club took home even more hardware in other age divisions, making it their most successful season in eight years. The Northernettes Novice team won their first medal at the U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships in Colorado Springs, Colorado earlier this year. "Last season we lost the podium by .06, and so the whole season was about redemption," said Suzy Balvance, a novice synchro skater. "It gave us so much more drive to come back for the next season," said Audrey Lee, a novice synchro skater. Balvance, Lee and their teammate Julia Holmes proudly wore their Pewter medals, which was a fourth-place finish. This is the highest award the novice team has earned. "We're competing against all the best teams in the country and everyone is putting out their best skates at the end of the season, so to place in the top four was really impressive for them," said Alana Christie, the founder and director of the Northernettes. The synchro skating club is a true passion project for Christie. Growing up in Minnesota, she fell in love with this sport as a synchro skater in high school and college, but the club she formerly competed for ultimately folded. "When I moved home after college in 2017, there was no really high-level synchro here and I was like, 'We need this, let's do it,'" said Christie. Christie filled the void in Minnesota creating the Northernettes. She started with just one team of 20 skaters. Now, eight seasons later, the Northernettes is composed of seven teams and 120 skaters, and it's growing. "This is the state of hockey, and we have so many rinks and figure skaters and kids on the ice, I just know that this could be a really good market for synchro," said Christie. Another successful Northernettes team this season was the Aspire team, which is made up of the youngest skaters. "We won all of our competitions," said Ellie Anderson, an 8-year-old skater on the Northernettes. Team members have big dreams for their growing sport that's pushing to be in the Olympics in the near future. "My dream has always been to go to the Olympics in figure skating," said Anderson. "Our organization, and just synchro and figure skating in general, are working really hard to get synchro into the Olympics, and I know it will happen at some point," said Christie. Members of the Northernettes enjoy getting the experience of being a part of a team when skating is often an individual sport. "It's not all eyes on me, so it gives me less pressure," said Nadalyn Johnson, an 8-year-old skater on the Northernettes. "The support system is really nice to have," said Balvance. "It feels like you're not alone, and you have people to back you up," said Eleanor Ewald, an 8-year-old skater on the Northernettes. March 22 is the last open house for skaters who are interested in joining the Northernettes next season. Any level skater at any age can attend.
NBC Sports
25-02-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
WORLD ALLROUND SPEED SKATING CHAMPION JORDAN STOLZ TO RACE IN ISU WORLD CUP SPEED SKATING EVENT HEADLINING THIS WEEK'S WINTER SPORTS COVERAGE EXCLUSIVELY ON PEACOCK
Live Coverage of ISU World Cup Speed Skating Event, ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships and U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships Streams Exclusively on Peacock This Week Mikaela Shiffrin Earned Milestone 100th Skiing World Cup Win Last Weekend Legacy on Ice Figure Skating Tribute to Stream Live on Peacock this Sunday, March 2; Encore Presentation to Air March 30 on NBC STAMFORD, Conn. – Feb. 25, 2025 – U.S. speed skating star and 2024 World Allround champion Jordan Stolz, who won three races at last week's World Cup event in Tomaszow, Poland, is expected to race at the ISU World Cup Speed Skating event from Heerenveen, Netherlands, beginning this Friday, Feb. 28, at 1 p.m. ET exclusively on Peacock. In addition, the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships from Hungary and U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships from Colorado Springs highlight live coverage of winter sports this week on Peacock. Legacy on Ice, the skating tribute event benefiting the families, loved ones and first responders affected by the Ronald Reagan National Airport aviation tragedy, will stream live on Peacock this Sunday, March 2 at 3 p.m. ET. NBC will air an encore presentation of the event on Sunday, March 30 at 1 p.m. ET. The event will be co-hosted by 1988 Olympic champion Brian Boitano and 1992 Olympic champion Kristi Yamaguchi. The slate of performers and presenters features some of the skating world's most beloved stars, including Madison Chock and Evan Bates, Johnny Weir, Nancy Kerrigan, Nathan Chen, Jason Brown and Peggy Fleming. ISU WORLD CUP SPEED SKATING Jordan Stolz headlines live coverage of all three days of the 2025 ISU World Cup Speed Skating from Heerenveen, Netherlands, beginning Friday, Feb. 28, at 1 p.m. ET, with all competition presented exclusively on Peacock. Stolz became the first man to win three individual titles at a single world championships with wins in the 500m, 1000m, and 1500m in both 2023 and 2024, and recently concluded an 18-race World Cup win streak. NBC Sports' ISU World Cup Speed Skating Live Coverage Schedule All times Eastern, check local listings, subject to change. FIGURE SKATING Live coverage of ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships is presented exclusively on Peacock this week, kicking off tomorrow, Wednesday, Feb. 26, with the men's short event at 5 a.m. ET. The championships will be held from Fonix Arena in Debrecen, Hungary, this week. Additionally, coverage of the U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships from Colorado Springs, Colo., begins tomorrow, Wednesday, Feb. 26, at 7 p.m. ET exclusively on Peacock. Approximately 1,700 skaters from 90 of the top synchronized skating teams from across the country will be competing for U.S. titles in eight divisions: senior combined, junior, collegiate, juvenile, intermediate, novice, adult, and masters. The event will also serve as the final U.S. qualifier for the 2025 World Championships, which will be held in Boston, Mass., from March 25-30 and presented on NBC and Peacock. 2025 ISU World Junior Championships Coverage Schedule 2025 U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships Coverage Schedule MIKAELA SHIFFRIN In additional winter sports news, two-time Olympic gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin earned her 100th alpine skiing World Cup victory last weekend, winning the slalom by 61 hundredths of a second in Sestriere, Italy. Shiffrin, coming off a major injury suffered in November, became just the second athlete in a Winter Olympic discipline to reach 100 career individual World Cup victories. In March 2023, she broke Swede Ingemar Stenmark's Alpine record of 86 World Cup wins. Shiffrin is next expected to be seen across NBC Sports platforms during the FIS World Cup Finals in Sun Valley, Idaho, from March 22-27. CHASING GOLD The debut episode of Chasing Gold: Milan Cortina 2026, NBC Sports' monthly program that immerses viewers in the world of the Olympic and Paralympic athletes as they prepare for the next Winter Games, is currently available to stream on Peacock. The premiere installment features the comeback of three-time Olympic medalist alpine skier Lindsey Vonn, two-time Olympic gold medalist alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin's recovery from injury, and an interview with three-time Olympic gold medalist snowboarder Shaun White. For more information, click here. —NBC SPORTS—
