WPCNR RINKSIDE. By Hope Barbulescu, Courtesy, The Skyliners. (Edited) November 13, 2007: The Skyliners, Westchester, Connecticut and New Jersey and New York's national synchronized skating team skated their strongest first start ever this past weekend.

All Skyliners Synchronized Skating Teams won medals at the 2007 Thanksgiving Classic held on November 10 in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Skyliners Junior team took home the Gold for both their short and long programs, while Novice received the gold for its outstanding high energy performance skated to a medley of songs by Bon Jovi. The other two competing Skyliners teams took home medals as well, with Preliminary winning the bronze in its division and Juvenile medaling in fourth place. Here,. the Junior Team is shown practicing at Elmsford's Westchester Skating Academy Halloween Night readying for the competition. The Four times-a-week practices paid off.

The Skyliners Organization supports five teams with skaters who range in age between 6 and 18. Skyliners Coach Josh Babb (addressing the skaters above) said, “We are very pleased with our performance, and are off to a terrific start. The first competition of the season can be extremely difficult as the routines are new and are still being fine-tuned. With such a great showing right out of the gate, I am sure that our performance can only get stronger and the girls will continue to shine as the season progresses.”

The Skyliners Preliminary and Beginner team will next compete at the Terry Conners Synchronized Skating Open in Stamford, CT on Sunday, December 2nd. The Preliminary, Juvenile, Novice and Junior Teams will also be competing at the Cape Cod Classic in Bourne, Massachusetts on Friday, December 7th and Saturday December 8th.

Emma, left, and Christina, right, veterans of last year's Junior Eastern Champions, sport their Team USA Jackets. The Skyliners are outfitted with their team gear by Team President, White Plains' Larry Rosen, (below) proprietor of The Athlete's Foot at The Galleria.

Larry Rosen, of The Athlete's Foot,  President of The Skyliners.

The Skyliners, with athletes hailing from Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey, represent the Windy Hill Skating Club and the Skating Club of New York and are seasoned champions. 2006-2007 was the most successful competitive season in the Skyliners six year history, with four of the five Skyliners teams achieving medals at the Eastern Sectional Championships in Providence Rhode Island. All Skyliners qualifying teams are nationally ranked, and each Skyliners team earned gold medals in the 2006-2007 competition season.

2007 Skyliners Junior Team: The USFS Eastern Champions Enjoying the Moment at Providence, Rhode Island 

Great Skaters Skate Everywhere! Skyliners Skating for  Governor Eliot Spitzer above at the New York State Gubernatorial Inauguration in front of the New York State House, January, 2007, stopping pedestrian traffic.

The Junior team, which was chosen to skate at Governor Eliot Spitzer’s inauguration last year, was also chosen by the United States Figure Skating Associationsm (“USFS”) to represent the United States and the USFS as Team USA in Zagreb, Croatia in March, 2008. Tryouts for next year’s Skyliners teams will be held in April, 2008 and several “Skating with the Skyliners” events will be held throughout the year as a way to introduce new skaters to the sport.

The Skyliners Skating Bryant Park last December when they shared the exhibition ice with Sasha Cohen.

Visit the Skyliners at www.skylinerssynchro.com on the web to find out more about the Skyliners.