What makes Miami University’s synchronized skating teams so good?

Year in and year out, synchronized skating is consistently one of the top teams in both the country, as well as the world. The RedHawks are currently ranked 20th in the world, according to the International Skating Union World Standings.

The program is split into a collegiate team and a senior team. The collegiate team performs against other universities in the country, while the senior team goes off to compete internationally if it places high enough.

This past season, the collegiate team won its fourth-straight title at the 2025 national championship in Colorado Springs, CO. The RedHawks have won 23 national titles overall and hold the record for most consecutive national title wins (2005-16) in United States figure skating.

The senior team has gone off to compete at the world championship in Finland twice in the past four years. In 2007, it became the first team from the U.S. to medal at the world championships.

Miami’s national and global success begs the question: what is it about this program that sets it apart from larger schools?

According to junior skater Eleanor Ashdown, who skates for the senior team, Miami’s program is unique because the skaters get to live together in a small town.

“We all live in the same town here and live pretty similar lives here in Oxford to each other,” Ashdown said.“Versus other teams, where you might be traveling further to come to practice. In the same vein, we get to train every single day together for three to four hours, which is a really special opportunity.”

Head coach Katey Nyquist praises the fact that the school is a varsity program and that the players are varsity athletes. Miami is the only NCAA Division I school with a varsity synchronized skating program, which sets the RedHawks apart from other programs. Most schools have a club team that competes at the collegiate level.

“The synchronized skating community is a pretty tight knit community, and Miami has a really strong legacy of success,” Nyquist said. “A lot of people want to come here because it’s a varsity program, and that’s a unique experience.”

Miami’s varsity program appeals to high school prospects and encourages them to visit campus and reach out to the program, where they can learn more about it and decide if they want to try out for the team in the spring.

Another aspect of the program that drives it to success is the culture. Junior collegiate team skater Emalie Werkowski says that the team has a standard that the skaters hold each other to.

“I think our culture is very different from things you see on other teams,” Werkowski said, “and I think something that’s really especially unique with us is just the standard we hold ourselves to. I think we really inspire each other, and we’re really personally driven to just achieve this mantra that we always talk about: the champion standard on and off the ice.”

Enjoy what you're reading?
Signup for our newsletter

The team prides itself on the importance of being connected and holding each other to a high standard. The skaters know that at the end of the day, they will always have each other. The coaching staff also plays a role in setting that standard with goals that push them to a higher level.

“They set really high goals for us and keep the ball at constant upward movement,” Ashdown said. “I think that gives us more confidence because knowing that people beyond the athletes believe in us makes us have more belief in ourselves.”

On top of the confidence, Werkowski praises how important the coaches pushing them to improve is for the team.

“They just really challenge us and show us new ways that we can be improving, no matter how new or how veteran we may be,” Werkowski said.

The RedHawk synchronized skating team is preparing for the upcoming season, and pushed by their unique structure, high culture and great coaching staff, the team will be ready for another highly successful season.

Both the senior and collegiate teams have a competitive domestic schedule from November to February, culminating in Salt Lake City, Utah, at the 2026 U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships, where they hope to take home a fifth consecutive national championship title.

hartlapo@miamioh.edu

rosente2@miamioh.edu