Porter Classic 2021 Wrap-Up

by Grace Leonard

It was a weekend to remember! The return of synchro’s favorite week of the year! The return to the founding city of our sport. The return of the only competition with a hashtag that’s endured the test of time – Dr. Porter Weekend! 

On Friday, Saturday and Sunday over 150 teams across 18 divisions gathered at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube to show off their programs and all their hard work from this year and the greater part of 2020. The weekend also featured a joyful exhibition from the Hockettes Unity Team, which is composed of traditional synchronized skaters and Special Olympics Athletes. 

Things kicked off on Friday night with the highly anticipated junior division.Teams Elite won the short program with a score of 60.73. After earning their first qualification to the Junior World Synchronized Skating Championships in 2020, where they were unfortunately withdrawn from the competition due to COVID, this team is definitely looking to make their return to the world stage. Fond Du Lac Blades placed second with a score of 55.52. Despite one fall, their technical element score was only .21 below first place. Northernettes placed third with a 53.20 and Starlights rounded out the top 4 with a 48.91.

On Saturday night, the junior division resumed with the freeskate competition. Although the top four solidified their placements and medals with scores of 117.51, 97.34, 96.01 and 95.70 respectively. Other teams in the division used their free programs to shake up the standings. Hockettes earned a score of 93.85 which proved just enough to edge out DC EDGE for 5th place. With just half a point separating these two, and a little over 5 points between their standings and 4th place, it will be interesting to see these teams continue to go toe to toe in the US and abroad. St Louis Synergy’s junior team performed with a consistent steadiness over both programs to earn 7th. Wisconsin Inspire notched an 8th place placement in the free program and 9th place finish overall. Dazzlers slotted into 8th and Team Delaware skated two clean performances to round out their weekend.

The excitement on Friday night continued on into the senior short program. In the absence of Skyliners, the division was short and sweet, but with outstanding performances nonetheless. The Miami University Senior Varsity team earned a first place finish with a clean skate and level 4s in their intersection, no hold and traveling circle elements. They skated to “House of the Rising Sun” and earned a score of 69.12. Crystallettes claimed second with a score of 61.13 and level 4 calls of their own for their intersection and no hold step sequences. Adrian College Varsity scored 54.450 to finish in third after completing a level 4 intersection. 

The Saturday night freeskate competition ended with Miami University hoisting the Dr. Porter Cup for the first time since 2015. Despite two falls in their freeskate, they ended with a final score of 123.18 for the program and 192.30 overall. Crystallettes earned the silver medal with an overall score of 170.41, despite two falls in their freeskate as well. With a strong and clean performance,  Adrian College earned second place in the freeskate and a very close third overall with a final score of 169. 

Saturday morning started early with the Snowplow Sam division. The hometown Hockettes skated away with gold earning 1s across the board. Onyx Infinity Lakeland, Arctic Edge Unity and Onyx Infinity SIR also showcased some very strong performances and went home with medals of their own. 

Next up was Aspire Beginner. Crystallettes ended up on the top of the podium, followed by Chicago Skates, Livonia Icettes and Onyx Infinity SIR. The Winter Club Crystals, Arctic Edge Unity and Evolution also made it a tough competition for the judges by earning a few 3s and 4s in their ordinals. 

Five teams competed in Aspire Pre-Preliminary with Onyx Infinity ultimately placing first, followed by Arctic Edge Unity, Evolution, Intensity and Hockettes. For Aspire Preliminary, Chicago Skates achieved gold, the Winter Club Crystals earned silver, Starfire finished with bronze, Charlotte Synchro received the pewter medal and Team Delaware finished in a nearby 5th place. 

Across the building, the juvenile division kicked things off in the Stadium Rink for the day.Team Image skated to gold and earned 46.65. Capital Ice Connection finished in a very close second, with a score of 45.02. They earned the highest program component of the division with a 3.9 in performance. Starlights earned third place with a score of 42.10 and Crystallettes earned pewter with a 39.28. The Fond Du Lac Blades, Team Ashburn, Hockettes, Wisconsin Inspire, Carolina Formation and Dazzlers all finished within 6.74 points of each other to round out the remainder of the category. 

The open juvenile division kicked off next, with strong performances from Teams Elite, Kalamazoo Kinetic, Capital Ice Chill and Capital Classics in Group A and Chicago Skates, Chicago Radiance, Team Magnifique and Intensity in Group B. Strong debuts were also made by Arctic Edge Unity, Richmond Synchro, Winter Club Crystals, Traverse City Northern Lights, Miami Skating Academy, IceLiners and Dazzlers in a division that’s fairly new to IJS! 

Novice shortly followed with a strong field of 19 divided into groups A and B. In Group A, Teams Elite finished in first place with a strong score of 79.51. They earned a level 4 for their opening twizzles and traveling circle, as well as their moves element. Northernettes finished with a 74.32, with strong program component scores that lifted them to second place. Separated by less than half a point were DC EDGE (69.73) and Crystallettes (69.31), who finished 3rd and 4th respectively. Skyliners Black, California Gold, Dazzlers, LA SYNCHRO, Team Ashburn and IceLiners rounded out the first group. In Group B, Team Image earned the top spot with a score of 83.49 and level 4s for their moves element and no hold step sequence. Skyliners Blue finished in a very close second place, with a score of 82.80. Starlights earned a 76.87 to win the bronze medal and Fond Du Lac Blades scored 70.64 to garner the last podum spot. Hockettes, Carolina Formation, Intensity, Team Delaware and Saint Louis Energy also competed in Group B. 

Preliminary also divided into two separate groups. For group A, Fond Du Lac Blades, Miami Skating Academy, IceLiners and Dazzlers all earned the top four spots. While Hockettes, Silver Streaks and the Livonia Icettes also skated some very strong programs. In group B, Crystallettes, Arctic Edge Unity, Glenview Blades and Intensity also earned medals, but it was very close! Kalamazoo Kinetic, Onyx Infinity and Starlights all finished just shy of the podium. 

The Open Adult Division was small but mighty with Evolution ultimately claiming the top spot despite the Lake Effect Flurries also receiving a few first place ordinals. 

In the Masters Division, it was the Starlights who took home the gold with a score of 45.12. DC EDGE earned the silver medal and a score of 43.40. Allegro! took home the bronze with a score of 41.28 and Goldenettes earned pewter with a score of 38.49. Onyx Infinity and Kalamazoo Kinetic rounded out a tight division. The top three teams were only separated by less than four points! 

DC EDGE moved their way to the top of the leaderboard in the adult division, skating to an 80s workout theme and scoring 56.73. Newcomers, Michigan Adult Synchronized Skating, earned a 49.20 to claim second place, Crystallettes followed with a 41.69 and Team Delaware earned fourth with a score of 40.72. Saint Louis Synergy placed fifth with a score of 34.83. 

Sunday started and ended with the collegiate divisions. In open collegiate, eight teams competed, but it was Adrian College that ended up with the gold. Miami University notched top ordinals as well to earn the silver and Trine University finished with bronze. University of Michigan finished with the pewter medal and Western Michigan, University of Missouri, Michigan State and Mirror Images rounded out the rest of the group. 

Pre-juvenile was up next. In Group A, Teams Elite stole the show with the top score of 39.28. Chicago Skates took second with a score of 32.33 and a level 4 line element and Hockettes finished in third with a score of 26.61. The Louisville River Stars also landed on the podium with a score of 25.17. Hamilton Harmonies, Charlotte Synchro and Chiller Synchro all delivered strong performances as well. In Group B, Crystallettes skated away with the number one spot and a score of 35.10. Wisconsin Inspire and Glenview Blades finished closely behind them with scores of 32.81 and 32.61. Kalamazoo Kinetic secured fourth with 31.39 points. Shining Blades, Carolina Formation, Onyx Infinity and Silver Streaks weren’t too far from the podium as well. We can’t wait to see these young skaters develop their programs over the holidays! 

The intermediate is always one of the biggest, most competitive and most anticipated divisions at Dr. Porter. This year was no exception with two groups of 12 teams each. In Group A, Teams Elite were the runaway standouts with their video games themed program. They earned a score of 72.63 and a 15 point buffer between them and the Skyliners (57.29) who finished in second. Fond Du Lac Blades secured third with a score of 54.32 and the Northernettes wrapped up fourth with a clean skate and a score of 49.87. Wisconsin Inspire also skated clean and finished in a close 5th place. Carolina Formation, Dazzlers, Team Image Pink, Intensity, Northern Lights, Arctic Edge Unity and Richmond Synchro also competed in group A. In group B, Capital Ice Chips took home the gold with a score of 68.46. Team Image Black scored 59.12 to earn silver, Team Del Sol received bronze and Mirror Images seized the pewter medal. DC EDGE, California Gold, Team Delaware, Starlights, Miami Skating Academy, Team Ashburn, Onyx Infinity and Chiller Synchro also competed in group B. 

Open Masters wrapped up the weekend’s competition on the Olympic Rink. Arctic Edge took home the gold after a sensational skate. 

The collegiate division was the last event of the weekend. Miami University came out the gate first and set the bar high with a score of 103.93. Western Michigan answered with a solid score of 88.95 despite a few bobbles, earning them the silver medal. University of Michigan finished in third place with a score of 87.83 and University of Delaware took fourth with a score of 85.04 for their Chicago program. Trine University, Adrian College, Michigan State University, University of Notre Dame, University of Illinois, Boston College and Liberty University also delivered strong performances, proving that despite training obstacles related to COVID-19, the collegiate division has bounced back. 

Congratulations to all who competed, coached and cheered their loved ones on from the stands or the livestream at this year’s Dr. Porter Classic! It had been two years too long since synchronized skaters could experience their favorite weekend as it was intended. Best of luck to all teams as they take their feedback home to keep working towards sectionals in 2022!