Miami University's senior synchronized skating team continues to excel on the ice, finishing the ISU World Championships April 1 through 5 in Zagreb, Croatia in seventh place.

Miami represented the United States in the competition as Team USA 1 after winning the national title last month. In all, 23 teams competed, with Team Canada 1 coming away with the gold after posting a score of 223.58. Miami's score for the competition was 188.42.

"As a team, we really came together," senior skater Jaime Hartman said. "It was one of our best performances. Our long program could have been better, but as a team we really performed well and enjoyed skating with each other, which is one of the most important elements of the sport."

The team skated its short program Friday. After a solid performance, Miami scored a 71.62, which placed them just under three points behind eventual gold medalist Team Canada 1.

The RedHawks skated their long program Saturday. The 'Hawks wound up scoring a 116.80 that night, which was enough to land them in seventh place.

"We skated two great programs," junior skater Katie Bowling said. "We're really happy. We really skated for our hearts and had a great time at the competition."

In addition to the competition, the team gets chances to explore the cities they travel to, in this case, Zagreb.

"It's really fun to experience the cities by going on the metro and riding it into town with the people that ride it every day," Hartman said. "It's a really cool experience to just be surrounded by their culture."

For Miami's seniors, this was their last chance to showcase their talent on the ice. The senior class has amassed an impressive resume. They are the only class in Miami history to win nationals two times, which occurred their freshman year and again this year.

"Especially for our seniors, this was really special," Bowling said.

Despite losing such a decorated group of girls to graduation, next year's team still promises to have a lot of talent and should be able to compete with the best, Bowling said.

Hartman, a member of the senior class, echoed Bowling's sentiments.

"My class has really experienced a lot of success over the last four years and the program has grown tremendously since then," Hartman said. "We've experienced a lot of firsts. We were the first team to medal at worlds. I think Miami's program is the best of the best and we certainly have the ability to continue to be successful down the road."

Bowling said the team's unity allows them to compete at a high level.

"We have really gotten so close, especially these past few weeks since Nationals," Bowling said. "If you're all on the same page, then that's when you're able to do great things. So I really expect great things for the future."

Even with Miami's synchronized skating successes in the past, Bowling said the team feels no added pressure heading into big competitions.

"There may be some pressure, but we just try to focus on our skates," Bowling said. "Each competition is a new day, and even though we've been very successful in the past, a lot of us skate simply because we love it. We just try to have a great time, as opposed to focusing on coming out on top."