Meet Lindsay Grajek

Hello out there!  As one of the newest Dream Team members I would like to take this chance to introduce myself. My name is Lindsay Grajek and I am currently living in-between Massachusetts and Michigan. I grew up in the small town of Howell, Michigan, where at the age of 5 I started skating for my local synchronized skating team at Grand Oaks Ice Arena.  I then went on to skate for the Hockettes out of Ann Arbor, Michigan, where my younger sister Christine actually still skates.  At the end of my junior year of high school I decided to take a large leap, trying out for the Haydenettes. It was an absolute dream come true to receive the news that I had made the team, but immediately after the reality of that dream became very clear. If I wanted to be a member of the team I would have to move out to the Boston area and attend a new high school for much of my senior year. It was extremely hard for me to leave the home I had always known and my friends that had been there for me my entire life, but it was well worth it.

              

During the year I live and train in Massachusetts.  I go to a small school in the Western part of the state called Fitchburg State University. I am a part time student studying biology, in hopes of later going into Veterinary medicine. With the remainder of my time outside of classes and skating, I work at the recreation center at my school. It was originally planned that I would spend one year after graduation in Massachusetts and then transfer back to Michigan to be a full time student. Well, as I go into my third year at Fitchburg and my fourth season with the Haydenettes, I can say that plan didn’t exactly pan out, and thank goodness for that!

               

So far this summer I have driven the 12 hour haul from Massachusetts to Michigan about 3 times round trip with my teammate, Courtney Cameron, who also lives in Michigan. Recently we took the time during our drive to make a quick stop at Niagara Falls in Canada. When the team has practice during the summer I spend my mornings working as a lifeguard at my school’s recreation center and then drive over to the rink for the rest of the evening.  I also took part in my first worksop as a DREAMer this summer. The camp was hosted by the Unity figure skating club in Sugarland, Texas and it was an amazing experience. There were so many young, talented and hardworking skaters that really helped remind me what our sport is all about.

Courtney Cameron and I at Niagara Falls in Canada

Rylee and I in Sugarland, Texas

When I have time at home I can be found one of two places, at the rink or on the water.  Living in Michigan it is easy to find open ice at just about any point of the day. Many times on nice days I am the only one at the rink. There is nothing better than having an open sheet of ice and the ability to play whatever music I choose. My other love is for the water.  I live on Lake Chemung back in Howell and I love just about any activity that can be done on it; skiing, wakeboarding, tubing, or just swimming. I guess that would include skating as well in the winter! (Frozen water).

I hope that everyone has a great summer!

-Lindsay

Meet Dana Manson!

Hi everyone! My name is Dana Manson and I am from Denville, NJ. I am a senior at Morris Knolls High School and am currently counting down my last few days until graduation. I feel that my high school years have flown by and it is hard to believe that it is already time for college! Not only will I be transitioning from high school to college, but also moving to a new team. For the past three seasons I have been a proud member of Skyliners Junior and although moving on is tough, I am incredibly excited to be spending my tenth year of synchro with Miami University in August! I love everything about the school and I am confident that I will be able to use the skills and values I have gained from my previous teams to make me successful in my transition to college. I look forward to all that lies ahead and cannot wait for all the amazing experiences I will have in the years to come!     

                                                                                                                      

Even though my synchro season has ended, I've been busy finishing up my last few weeks of senior year, skating at the rink, working out at the gym and helping out other skaters! When I’m not doing synchro, I enjoy helping out our basic skills skaters at my home rink. In April I helped out basic skills classes at Mennen Arena’s Learn to Skate program and have enjoyed doing that since my freshman year in high school. 

This past weekend, I got the chance to meet some more young skaters and headed down to Houston with my DREAMmates, Lindsay, Ashley T, and Sharon as well as former Dream member, Tessa, to coach at a workshop for the UNITY Synchronized Skating Teams. We flew down to Texas on Saturday afternoon and coached the workshop on Sunday. During our trip on Saturday we enjoyed the Texas culture by having some delicious “Tex Mex”(Texas’ Mexican Food) at “Lupe Tortilla”  where we discussed plans for the workshop with the coach. We had a little fun and pretended it was Lindsay and Tessa’s birthdays so we could wear sombreros and have the waiters sing to us. I have to say, the sombreros were pretty stylish! On Sunday we all had lots of fun teaching skills and drills, off ice conditioning, transitions, no hold blocks, musical interpretation, judging and off ice dancing to the skaters at the workshop. What a full day! It was such a great time for all of us and we got to meet so many awesome, dedicated skaters. We cannot thank the Unity Synchronized Skating teams enough for such a wonderful experience and wish them the best of luck in their upcoming season.

DREAMers Lindsay, Ashley, Sharon and I at the UNITY Worskhop

As for the rest of my summer, I will be beating the heat at the rink. I will be training hard all summer for Miami’s tryouts and will spend some time on campus at Miami elite camp before I move in August which will be fun! I also look forward to spending time with my family before heading to college. My twin brother, Alec and I will both be packing for school and going our separate ways in August. Alec will go to Northeastern University and I’m off to Miami which is very exciting for both of us. I always enjoy our family trip to Long Beach Island every summer and love reading and relaxing on the beach. I am very excited for my summer and hope everyone enjoys theirs as well!

Dana 

Meet Ashley Tomich

Hi! My name is Ashley Tomich and I’m from West Caldwell, New Jersey.  I’m finishing up my senior year at James Caldwell High School and will be graduating in 2 weeks.  This will be my first season as a member of the Haydenettes as I will be attending Merrimack College in North Andover, MA in the fall where I will be pursuing a degree in elementary education.

For me, skating runs in the family.  My mom is the head coach for the Synchroettes organization, my older sister Kaleigh skated for the team when she was younger and now coaches along side our mom, and my dad played college hockey and worked at the rink where he and my mom met, which is in fact the rink that I spend most of my time at now!  I started skating when I was just 18 months old.  In 2001, the Synchroettes (the team my mom founded) had their very first season, which I was a part of.  We had an intermediate and preliminary team that year, and that was my first year of synchro at the preliminary level as a 6 year old.  This past season was my 12^th year on the Synchroettes as a member of the Junior team, which was also the organization’s very first Team USA appointed team.  During my 12 years as a Synchroette I skated at the preliminary, juvenile, novice and junior levels with 3 years of cross skating as well.

2013 Synchroettes Junior short program: "Trashin the Camp"

Starting my senior year this past fall, I was faced with the question of “where do you want to go to college?”  I knew I wanted to continue my career as a synchronized skater, but I had to figure out where.  Since the highest level the Synchroettes field is Junior, I knew I’d have to spread my wings and start looking at my options.  I applied to Miami University of Ohio, University of Delaware, and several schools in the Boston area, all of which had the chance for me to skate and continue my education.  After trying out for the Haydenettes in March, I was thrilled and honored to hear the news that I had made the team, which also helped me narrow down my college decision.  After visiting my remaining schools, I chose Merrimack College as my new home for the next four years and I can not be more excited to be a Merrimack Warrior, plus a Haydenette.

When I’m not at my team’s practice or practicing on my own, I like to help out with the younger developing teams at my home rink.  The past few years I would help out at the Synchroettes beginner and preliminary team practices throughout the week as I love to give back to the sport that has done so much for me and help it to grow.  Assisting with the younger teams has always been a great and rewarding experience and I strive to inspire them and be somebody that they can look up to.  Through skating I have also found the opportunity to work with children with special needs through the Special Olympics program at my home rink, Codey Arena.  This has been something that I have always enjoyed and has given me the chance to combine my passions for skating and volunteer work.

It’s not often, but when I’m off the ice you can find me spending time with my friends and family.  I have created so many great friendships through synchronized skating and we spend just as much time together off the ice as we do on.  You can also find me catching up on schoolwork since skating takes up most of my time, although with school coming to an end, it has been nice to have some free time.  With the Jersey Shore so close to where I live, I frequently take trips down the shore with friends or family during the summer.  I’m a big New York Rangers fan, and my dad and I practically watch every game together.  With New York City only a half hour train, bus, or car ride away from my hometown, we like to go to games from time to time.  I also love taking trips into the city to shop around, go to dinner, or to see a Broadway show.

My sister, mom and I at the Leon Lurje Trophy award ceremony in Sweden

Being a member of Team USA is such an honor. My first experience competing internationally this past season with the Synchroettes, and many of the girls I have grown up with who are my best friends, was incredible.  Traveling to Sweden in January and hearing the words, “representing the United States of America” while seeing the US flags in the crowd and hearing our parents and loved ones chant “USA! USA!” was amazing.  Coming home with the bronze medal from the Leon Lurje Trophy after our international debut was the icing on the cake.  I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for the Synchroettes, and though it has been hard to leave the team that has been such a major part of my life, I am very excited to continue my synchro career with the Haydenettes and embark on the next chapter of my life.

Ashley Tomich

Watching Team USA

This past weekend I had the privilege of attending the 2013 Synchronized Skating World Championships in Boston, Massachusetts.  Although there were several DREAM team members competing, I was not one of them, and this allowed me a very unique experience. As a competitor, I usually do not have the opportunity to relax and enjoy a competition, as I experience the blur of the event. As a spectator, my eyes were opened to all the other things that go on while I am “in the zone” and focused on my job to “leave it all on the ice”. As a member of the DREAM program, I had the amazing opportunity of not only painting spectators’ faces, but also signing autographs! My fellow DREAM team members Sharon Neff, Ashley Tomich, Dana Manson, Katilyn Peterson and I met with young skaters before opening ceremonies on Friday and signed cards with our photos on them as well as programs and tickets! It was a very humbling experience and one that I will remember for a very long time.

I also had the opportunity to watch two of my former teammates, Ashley Mulhern and Audrey McQuade, compete at the World championships. Ashley, Audrey and I skated together on Skyliners for many years. Our very first year together we skated on the juvenile line and that was the first year I competed at a national championship (in San Diego, which was a very long time ago). 

One of the greatest parts of this competition was the crowd!  Because the World Championships are only held in the United States infrequently, synchro skaters and fans traveled from all over the US to be in Boston. It was great to see friends that I’ve made over the years from all different teams come together to support our fellow Team USA competitors. Throughout the stands you could see several spectators sporting both historical and new Team USA jackets. One of my former coaches, Natalie Martello, wore the one she had received when she used to compete. It’s pretty amazing how all these skaters chain together from one era to another. 

A former Miami University camp counselor of mine, Lauren Magliola, brought some of her skating students over to the Athlete Development booth while my fellow DREAM team members and I were signing autographs in order for us all to meet and share our skating triumphs. It was adorable to talk to all of her young skaters and see how much enthusiasm they have for the sport at such a young age! One of them even told me that she wanted to skate for Miami one day!  It was great to talk to them and to tell them how I had known Lauren when I was just about their age and that my dream came true when I was accepted to Miami University.

Sennett  

An experience never to be forgotten

 It is hard to put the past week into words.  From the beginning, this World Championship was unlike any other the Haydenettes and I had ever attended. Instead of multiple flights, we simply drove into the city for practice as if it were any other day of the week.  The difference was that we arrived to find countries from all over the world waiting for us.  The week was filled with multiple practices each day. To open up the competition a draw ceremony was held on Thursday night.  Each team made a short video that they felt showed their personality.  It was so much fun to see how similar and goofy all the teams were. There were also shout outs from a few of the Boston Bruins to the teams representing their home countries!  For that night we were not competitors, we were all just skaters who loved Synchro.

Former DREAMer Erica Hoffman and I.

The next night everything became real. The short program was absolutely amazing! We skated with our hearts and enjoyed support from a full arena. The only way to explain our moments spent on the ice is in one word, love!  After all was said and done we found ourselves in 2^nd place.  Upon returning to the hotel the team held a small medal ceremony with just our coach Saga Krantz. It was so special to have some time to celebrate within the team. That night was a high unlike any other, but it was time to focus once again because the competition was far from over.

               

The last night of the competition we were 19^th in the skating order, just as we had been for the short program.  Knowing it was the last night of not only competition, but our season as well, we knew we could give absolutely all that we had left. The feeling of unity on the ice was incredible. Each one of us skated not only with, but for each other. Hitting the ending position was a moment none of us will soon forget.  We knew at that moment we had done what had come to do. We skated with our hearts and put out two programs that showed who we were as a team.

               

This year had many ups and downs, but the downs did nothing but help to fuel our hard work. This was a very special team and I will always love all the girls who took on the World with me, in front of all of those who were there to support us in our home town! A particularly special moment was when Lynn Benson, the founding coach of the Haydenettes, gave us each our bronze metal. This team has so much history and it is amazing to be a part of that.

Receiving our bronze medals from Lynn Benson

There is no feeling like that of representing ones country on the World stage and we were so happy to share the experience with The University of Miami! Congrats on two fabulous skates! A special congratulation to all the teams who took part in the competition and goodbye for now from Boston!

Lindsay 

"Leaving Our Mark" 2013 World Synchronized Skating Championships

Hey Everyone!

After the overwhelming excitement that the short program brought, stepping out onto fresh ice with the whole crowd dressed in red, white, and blue, we honestly didn’t know how it could get any better than that. Yet somehow, the night of the long program, this same thrill occurred again, as if we were all experiencing it for the very first time. I’m not sure that anything will ever be able to top the feeling of stepping out onto the ice and being completely overtaken by the roaring of the crowd and the blur of our country’s colors filling the air.

DREAMmates Ashley and Ashleigh. Photo by Sarah Arnold

As we prepared to compete, we completely transformed from ballerinas the previous night, into flirty, fierce, and fabulous flappers. At last it was time to perform and leave absolutely everything that we had out on the ice for our final time this season. The crowd was on their feet and roaring once again. Hearing them announce, “Representing the United States of America, Team USA 2” is one of the most powerful and touching things a skater will ever hear. The crowd was so unbelievably supportive, that as we stood in our warm-up block, it was almost impossible to hear the one skater screaming at the top of her lungs for us to begin. At this, we all pulled together and counted “5-6-7-8” as one, so that we could begin as a unit. Once we had done this, I could feel that it was going to be a great skate because it seemed that all 16 hearts were beating as one. We hit our opening pose and I was so completely in the moment that from there, our skate almost became a blur. The thing that I remember most clearly from our program was coming around in my 135 in the moves in the field element and just pausing for those few seconds to soak everything in and fully enjoy the moment. When we hit the ending pose, I knew it didn’t matter what the score was, but instead that we had brought America to their feet and made them proud with two of our best skates of the season.

Team USA 2 overjoyed with their final long program skate of the season.

Ashley Mulhern and Audrey McQuade, Team USA World Team Members

It was amazing to watch the final 8 teams compete their long programs and to be able to cheer on our fellow Team USA teammates, the Haydenettes, as they skated a wonderful long program performance, earning them their fourth World Bronze Medal. We couldn’t have been more proud of them or to be able to call them our teammates.

Ashley Mulhern and number 1 Fan, sister Madison Mulhern.

Just walking around the arena during the ice cuts was an unbelievable experience in itself. People from all over the country had come to watch us compete and we had made them proud to be from the USA. I could not believe that young skaters were asking me to sign their programs and take pictures with them, when just 3 years ago I was sitting in their seats, watching Team USA compete at the World Championships in Colorado, USA. This was such an honor for me and goes to show that dreams truly do come true. I was also incredibly lucky to have many of my family members there to support me as well. In addition to those from the US, I have made many friends from all over the world while competing on Team USA over the past 6 years. I was completely overjoyed to reunite with them and share this amazing experience in my home country.

The 2013 ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships ended with an amazing competitors party at the Top of the Hub, overlooking all of Boston. It was amazing to see all of the competitors, from 15 different countries, come together to celebrate a common accomplishment, after competing against each other all weekend.

As a team, we did not set a goal of a certain place we wanted to get, but rather the goal of “leaving our mark” on the world, and I think that it is safe to say that we did just that! I am extremely proud of all that my teammates and I have accomplished this year was very happy to end on such a wonderful note!

Congratulations to Team Unique (FIN 1), Nexxice (CAN 1), and the Haydenettes (USA 1) on their medals and to all teams for such an extraordinary weekend! Thank you to all of the incredible fans for their support and for making this weekend truly unforgettable!

Miami University Team USA 2

Love & Honor,

Ashley Mulhern

What it is all about

Tonight was a night that will never be duplicated. Simply put, the night was all about the love of the sport. Our coach, Saga Krantz, has always been able to give us calming perspective, and the words she spoke before we competed the short program were no exception. As a team we had prepared ourselves for a home crowd, but it was hard to imagine what that would really mean. When she was still skating herself, before coming to the United States, Saga had competed in a World Championship in her home country of Finland and her team took home the silver medal. Her advice to us was to take it all in, and we did.

This sport is unlike any other. You are not only working with others, you are becoming one large piece of a unit. That is what we were looking to accomplish in our short program skate. Our focus when stepping out onto the ice was not to grab a medal, but rather to skate for all those hours we had spent falling and getting back up. We skated for all the painful practices and all of the years of training. We skated for our families, who have all given so much for us to be able to reach our dreams. We skated for our teammates who were going to be right by our sides the entire time, and who had been through all of the tedious training. But more than anything, we skated for that little girl inside each one of us who dreamed of becoming a Haydenette and skating at a World Championship.

Stepping onto the ice was extremely emotional. The moment they announced “Team United States of America 1” the crowd was set ablaze. I had never heard such a roar of applause, and looking into the audience each face was covered with a smile. An overwhelming sense of pure joy filled the arena, but yet there was also a sense of serenity that allowed us to stay focused. We knew what we had to do, we stayed in our zone, and when we hit the ending position we were able to let the emotion fully sink it.

Both of the United States teams put out strong skates and we could not be more excited to share this experience with all of our team members on Miami! Best of luck to all of those competing tonight!

Lindsay