Nationals: Saturday

Cal Gold supporting the Adult Team!

Cal Gold Adult Competition

It was an early morning for both Adult and Senior, but the strong practices brought confidence to Adult going into their competition and to Senior who skated their official practice later that morning. The nice thing about having competition in California is that we can do off ice outside in the warm sun! When we skated, our program was solid and powerful which made us excited for the competition later that night. When we got back to the hotel, we had a little bit of down time before we left to watch Adult team compete. And didn't we look fantastic!? Every California Gold supporter was geared up with funky glasses and headbands! They skated with a couple bobbles, but all in all, we thought it was amazing!
Then, after coming back to the hotel and resting awhile, Senior got ready for competition and headed to the rink for the last time. Off ice was intense as we got into our warrior character. When we had our skated on and stood by the side of the rink, we shouted our motto for this season: "We will rise and rise again, until lambs become lions." Our program was not the best that it could have been, but it was still enough to maintain our fourth place finish. We held our Pewter medals with pride and 14 of the 18 on our team were ecstatic to have our first Senior division National title.

California Gold Senior - Pewter Medalists

As our season comes to an end, I look back on all of the amazing memories that have come from this team over that past eight months, and I would not take back one minute of it. This was one incredible season for California Gold as an entire organization, and I am so proud to be a part of it.

Congratulations California Gold!

Nationals: Friday

Today was an awesome day starting out with short official in the morning. We had a rough first run with a problem with the music, but stepped it up for an amazing second run through. We felt confident going into short program that night. We came back to the hotel for a little bit of down time, but got right back out to cheer on the adult team in their official practice. Their program has improved so much since sectionals and have added another skater too! They are very impressive for the ten practices they've had since they started.

Fans Cheer of Cal Gold

Then, Novice got ready for their competition and the Senior team sent them off with a "tunnel" to their bus. Unfortunately, we couldn't go and scream for them in the stands because we had to prepare ourselves for short program, but we were definitely watching on icenetwork! They skated an awesome program that got all but one of their calls! We are very proud of them!

Novice Competition (watched on icenetwork)

After putting our hair up and make up on, the Senior team stepped onto the bus and to the rink for a bit of off ice before we competed. We put our skates on and got on the ice and skated a smooth and powerful short program. We were very happy with our skate and accomplished our goal of getting 3's in our G.O.E. that counted. We are sitting in fourth place right now and ready to blow the judges away with our long program Saturday night!


GO GOLD!!!

Nationals 2011

The U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships are upon us once again, but unlike other years, they take place just a short drive from our rink. This weekend, in Ontario, California, Novice and Senior Short are on Friday night and Adult and Senior Free Skate will be on Saturday Night. We are so thrilled to have the chance to perform for our friends and family in a national competition, so come out and support us and our fellow synchronized skating teams!

Sectionals: Saturday

Throwin' up peace signs for the Adult Team!

It's always exciting to sleep in when you're a synchro skater. And this morning, everyone got to sleep in :] Unfortunately, one of our skaters is sick with a fever and another has an injured wrist. But, we conquered these obstacles at Senior Long official practice in which we did an amazing program and two more awesome sections. After our practice, we went back to the hotel and had some downtime while Adult and Novice slicked their hair back and put their make-up on. A short bus ride to the rink later, we cheered for Novice team and they are now the Pacific Coast Silver Medalists! Then our Adult Team skated and, again, we cheered loudly with our "groovy" hair bands tied around our heads and psychedelic flower cutouts. They are currently the Pacific Coast Champions and are committed to working hard to place at nationals! Tonight, Senior Team rocked it in our long program! And again, we set the goal of breaking 100 points and we were able to achieve and surpass it! We are proud of what the California Gold teams have accomplished today and we're all ready to keep training when we get home.

Senior Award Ceremony

Sectionals: Friday

Novice Skates Their Official Practice

Friday morning, Novice woke up early to go to an unofficial practice to get used to the ice. It was a little shaky, but they had a great off ice and skated two awesome programs for their official practice. Then, Adult and Senior went to their unofficial practices at a separate rink. We both had very productive practices and Senior ended with a fabulous short program. Team manager Cheryl complimented the Adult team in saying that every single time they skate, they look so much better! After that, we went back for a Panera lunch and some down time.

Everyone on California Gold!

Last night, Senior competed short program with a goal of breaking 55 points. We were so pleased with our skates and the fact that we scored over our goal and broke 60 points! In California Gold history, we have never scored a short program over 60 points. We know that our competition is not over yet and had another unofficial practice last night to prepare for our long program today. Novice is all ready to compete this afternoon with their Wizard of Oz program. The Adult team will reveal their program tonight as well.

Today, everyone competes, so let's finish it out strong! GO GOLD!

Pacific Coast and Midwestern Sectionals!

The Adult Team skates their official practice.

Hello from Rochester, Minnesota! California Gold is safe and warm inside their hotels right now after two great official practices. First, the senior team skated their short program with confidence and poise. They are ready to blow the judges away with their presentation and speed! Then, the adult team went out and skated their program to "Hair" and everyone loved it! The parents and senior skaters were shocked at how amazing they were after only 6 practices! Since the coaches were busy skating, Annaleigh helped critique their program. Tomorrow, Novice will have their official practice and Senior will skate second for short program. We'll be sure to keep you posted, but if all fails, you can visit the official website at http://www.rochsports.org/synchro/

California Gold on TV!

The upcoming movie, RISE, is being promoted big time during the US National Championships on television. About a minute into this trailer, California Gold makes a short appearance from our performance in Spokane, WA for last year's Nationals. Be sure to check out RISE and support US Figure Skating by going to see the movie February 17th!

Later this week, California Gold will be leaving for Minnesota where it is FIVE DEGREES outside! But, the freezing cold weather will not faze us and we are ready to out out some great programs. This morning, both our Novice and Senior teams had amazing practices and are pumped to perform this weekend. Another thing we are excited for is the debut of out Adult Team! They will be performing for the very first time this weekend and we will be cheering our loudest for them!