To succeed in synchronized skating, an entire company of skaters must be able to display just as much prowess under pressure ... in complete unison.

At this past weekend's National Synchronized Skating Championships in Minneapolis, Minn., the team of young skaters from Triangle SportsPlex's Carolina Ice Synchro had to skate flawlessly -- in the same place, on the same ice, in the same outfit, to the same music, at the same exact moment in time.

For the second time in as many years, the planets aligned for the 15 young ladies who comprise the local squad (including five from Chapel Hill and Carrboro).

In an eye-opening statement that a group of determined southerners could actually perform a "minor miracle on ice," the intermediate-level team qualified for National competition by earning a silver medal out of 18 teams at January's Eastern Sectionals in Lowell, Mass. The regional event covered the geographical area from Miami to Maine.

A dream
"Going to Nationals for a second consecutive year was truly a surprising feat for this small team," said Holly Russell, mother of synchronized skater Hadley Reid. "They beat much more established programs to earn this spot at the national level."

Carolina Ice Synchro competed as one of only a dozen U.S. teams who earned a place to compete at the National Championships. Each of the three sections -- Eastern, Midwest, and Pacific -- sent their four top teams to compete nationally.

"Going to nationals for a second time in two years is a dream come true for both the team and for us. I am so proud of our girls," said Paula McKinley, co-coach for the past nine years with Jamye Gaster of the Carolina Ice Synchro intermediate squad.

They train on the ice rink at Hillsborough's Triangle SportsPlex facility.

"The girls skated an incredibly clean program," co-coach Gaster said. "The team's attitude and personality really sold the program to both the judges and the audience."

Going back
Though the squad was disappointed with their scores at Nationals last Thursday evening, coaches and supporters remained proud of the little southern squad "that could."

"Well, they came in twelfth out of twelve," Russell said. "Obviously, that's not what we would have hoped for, but given the challenges, it's still great to be the twelfth best team in the country."

"I think everyone was a little down," Russell added, "and we were certainly scored lower relative to the Regionals. This really came as a surprise to us, as there were no mistakes that we could really see."

Russell's daughter Hadley Reid, 15, a Carrboro High School student, maintained an optimistic outlook.

"The biggest thing we really wanted to do this year was to get back to the National Championships," she said. "Once we got here, of course you get caught up in wanting to improve our standings, but we'd set our goal, and we made our goal."

Heads up
Synchronized skating began in the 1950s and is now the fastest growing division of U.S. Figure Skating. Individual skaters must demonstrate speed, footwork, and ice presence. The sport is currently under consideration to be added as an Olympic Sport

"I know some people love curling," Russell said, chuckling, "but I think synchronized skating teams are awfully fun and beautiful to watch."

"Competition is offered for divisions including beginners, pre-juveniles, juveniles, intermediates, novice, junior, senior, adult, and masters, Russell explained.

"We joke that figure skating can be so demeaning," she added, laughing. "You can be skating 12 years, and you're called a novice."

McKinley said this year's season was fraught with challenges from the start.

"We had to keep our heads high from the beginning," she explained. "We had ice rink troubles...so for a month, we actually got out onto ice rink with no ice. We just wore our sneakers on the concrete. All we could work on was choreography, and we didn't really know if it would work.

"We were pretty excited when the ice came back."

The team also found itself playing catch-up with skaters on northern teams who virtually grew up on ice.

"We were the southernmost team to compete at the Nationals," Russell said. "The Midwest was very strong; the origins of synchronized skating are actually in Ann Arbor, Mich. The Californian teams were a little mixed, but there's a lot of tradition there. That's where a lot of the Olympic skaters train."

Dancing
"We were definitely a small fish when it comes to synchronized skating, being from North Carolina," McKinley said. "Many folks don't even know we have an ice rink, never mind synchronized skating. It's a culture in the Northeast and the Midwest; everybody knows about it."

The Carolina Ice Synchro intermediate team consists of girls between 12 and 18 years old who train twice weekly at the Triangle SportsPlex in Hillsborough, alongside other SportsPlex teams in beginner, pre-juvenile and open adult levels.

The intermediate squad's winning routine was set to music by Christina Aguilera and included compelling formations and intricate footwork. The group often draws inspiration for their routines from 1980s and 1990s dance club music themes.

"We don't typically go for the mellow soundtrack kind of stuff," McKinley said. "We like to entertain."

While in Minnesota, the girls managed to entertain themselves while they weren't on the ice themselves. Some time was spent watching other squads for ideas and inspiration.

"It's definitely fun to watch what everybody else does," team member and Chapel Hill High student Christine Hamilton said. "We really do get ideas from them that we can try later."

Hamilton said, having traveled, trained and spent so much time together, the team is pretty close-knit.

"We really are," she said. "We form pretty close bonds, and everyone on the team is pretty good friends with each other now."

Dig in
Hamilton did note that team camaraderie wasn't limited to skating in Minnesota, however.

"Well, we did get to the Mall of America," she said.

After reviewing their own performance at Nationals and looking at other teams' routines, however, coaches and parents remained a bit confused as to how their squad didn't score higher.

"We just have to dig in and say, 'Okay, we thought we were doing everything right and we're capable of doing things right, so where do we need to improve?'" Russell said.

"Really, there was nothing we saw where we said to ourselves, 'Well, we should have done that," or "Everyone's doing that.'" McKinley said. "As far as we're concerned, we've mastered what we did, even if we didn't get the nod there. But there are things we're still going to need to work on, so, we go back, and we look at harder footwork and harder elements, and the girls need to be introduced to those right away."

Team member and Chapel Hill High School student Ariane Cook agreed.

"I think we might try some more difficult footwork, because I think most of our skaters are strong," she said, "and we could challenge ourselves a little bit to make us more competitive."

New challenges
Unfortunately, additional preparation for a shot at returning to the National Championships for a third straight year in 2011 will involve filling vacancies left by graduating skaters.

"Our division has an age limit of 18," Cook explained. "We'll be losing four girls this year, either because they're moving on to college or they're too old to compete, but the others are hopefully staying, and we'll have a (great) team next year."

Once finalized, the new team with eight returning members will have plenty to skate for.

"Next Year's Nationals are in Ontario, Calif.," McKinley said, "but our next big trial will be the Eastern Sectionals in Lake Placid, NY, and we're excited, because that's got a history of its own."

However far the merits of next year's intermediate-level Carolina Ice Synchro squad take them, rest assured they will go there together, with grace and skill, and as one: in perfect unison.