Short Hills Skaters, Essex Teammates Heat Up The Ice

SHORT HILLS, NJ — The Skyliners Synchronized Skating Team and three Short Hills residents are off to a winning start for the 2016-17 competitive season.

During the recent Essex Synchro Classic in West Orange, the team’s Pre-Juvenile and Preliminary skaters earned the top spot on the podium with their gold-medal winning programs, with their Pre-Preliminary skating peers earning bronze medals.

According to a team news release, Skyliners Pre-Juvenile skaters performed their program to music from “The Wiz” to win the gold medal.

The Junior and Senior Team USA skaters were equally successful at their first competition – the New England Challenge Cup in Marlborough, MA – where they earned gold and bronze respectively.

At the New England Challenge Cup, Skyliners Juniors gave an intense and controlled performance for their short program “Gangster Hip Hop,” and moved into first place with their emotional free skate to the music from “Last of the Mohicans.” The Senior line performed a graceful short program to “California Dreaming” and took overall bronze after their upbeat Whitney Houston-themed free skate program.

Skaters included:

• Erin Dingley - Maplewood - Senior line
• Grace Fanning - Scotch Plains - Senior line
• Eliza Farber - Montclair - Senior line
• Virginia Barney - Short Hills - Junior line
• Jessica Hu - Short Hills - Junior line
• Michaela Kaminski - Whippany - Junior line
• Emily Kirillov - Fair Lawn - Junior line
• Audrey Laude - Short Hills - Junior line
• Alexandra Perez - Gladstone - Junior line

Both the Junior and Senior lines will be representing Team USA at international competitions in early 2017, marking the Skyliners’ 10th season representing the United States abroad, the news release stated.

“The skaters came out of the gate with impressive performances,” said Josh Babb, Skyliners Head Coach and Director of Synchronized Skating. “We’ve been working extremely hard to get these programs ready for this competition season.”

Photos: Skyliners Synchronized Skating Team

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