Team Elan and Hockettes in Germany for Cup of Berlin
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| Evolution Photo by Paul Harvath |
(1/20/05) — Two U.S. Figure Skating synchronized teams head to Germany Jan. 20-22 for the Cup of Berlin. Team Elan senior and the Hockettes unior will represent the United States.
Team Elan was established at the Detroit Skating Club in 1990 with 66 athletes in four levels. The program now fields teams at six levels with more than 150 athletes. The talents of Team Elan senior led them to capture third place at the 2004 U.S. Synchronized Team Skating Championships and place second in the 2004 French Cup.
The Cup of Berlin is the first international synchronized skating competition to be held in Germany, and Team Elan skaters are happy to be a part of it.
“We are very excited to go to Berlin,” said captain Sara Mahrt. “Our goal is to skate two really great programs, and we have no doubt that we will be prepared to go to Germany and represent U.S. Figure Skating very well.”
Mahrt and her teammates will tell a moving story this season in their free skate, showing the evolution of a team from its formation, through training, to performance.
The Hockettes of Ann Arbor, Mich., who won the pewter medal in the junior division at last year's U.S. Synchronized Team Skating Championships, will join Team Elan in Germany. The Hockettes will perform a new short program to “Higher Ground” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers and have enlisted the expertise of Marianne Selbert, former Radio City Music Hall Rockettes choreographer.
“We got the idea for our short program from the movie ‘Center Stage,'” said coach Erin Donovan. “There is a dance scene to this song in the movie and we wanted to capture the energy and sense of fun the dancers had with this piece.”
Check back to U.S. Figure Skating Online this weekend for results.
