By Ryan Ernst
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Miami University senior Sarah Danielson practices two hours a day. She lifts weight. She conditions. She is part of the largest women's sport at the school. This week, she and her teammates are competing for a championship - a world championship.

Yet most Miami students think of Danielson and her 51 teammates as cheerleaders, on ice skates.

The sport is synchronized skating. Miami was the first school to start a varsity program for the sport. It has qualified for the world championships six times, placing as high as sixth. The team is known worldwide for its synchronization, precision, creativity and skill. In Oxford, it is known mostly for small-scale intermission performances at Goggin Ice Arena hockey games.

"When I tell people (about the sport of synchronized skating), I usually just get a blank stare," said Danielson, a senior co-captain. "They'll say, 'Oh, that sounds interesting.' But if they ever get to see it, usually they're pretty impressed. I haven't met anyone that has seen it and not been impressed."

The impressive part of the sport is the sheer spectacle. It incorporates the lifts, jumps and spins of singles and doubles competitive figure skating, with up to 20 skaters on the ice at once. All skaters, obviously, are synchronized with one another.

"People are usually in awe when they first see it," said coach Vicki Korn, who founded the team in 1984.

"The speed at which they travel and the quality of skating is the same as the competitions people are used to seeing on TV, only people have never seen it all done at the same time before."

Few have seen the sport first-hand. Even fewer have participated in it. That's why Miami is a hotbed for synchronized skating talent. As one of only 17 colleges with a varsity program, the RedHawks consist almost exclusively of skaters with deep roots in the sport. It is a plus when it comes to recruiting, but a setback when it comes to college sports legitimacy - where it takes 20 varsity programs to be recognized by the NCAA.

The sport is also on the cusp of becoming an Olympic sport. It was set to make an appearance in the 2006 Games, but a change in judging pushed back that date.

It's something to which Korn said she looks forward. But now her attention is on this year's team and the task at hand. The World Championships kick off Thursday in Ottawa and run through April 6. The RedHawks' goal: to improve on last year's ninth-place finish.

"This is one of the best teams we've had as far as cohesiveness. Every year we get better and better skaters," Korn said. "So we're definitely capable of moving up."

Korn also pointed out, though, that synchro skating has yet to change its judging system after the scandal of the Salt Lake City Olympics, and teams are sometimes overlooked. Junior Heather Paige, the team's other co-captain, knows that as well but says there are other reasons for the trip.

"I'm really just excited to compete and represent the U.S.," she said. "Especially at a time like this, it makes you feel very patriotic."

Others

Anderson grad Nicci Fusaro, a diver at Southern Cal, finished sixth on the 3-meter springboard at the NCAA national championship meet.

In the swimming meet, Ursuline product Erin Phenix placed seventh and tied for 12th in the 100-yard and 50-yard freestyles. The Texas senior was also on the third-place 200 free relay and the sixth-place 200 medley relay teams.

Tennessee freshman Jacque Fessel, from St. Ursula, took seventh in the 100-yard backstroke.

• The Atlantic 10 Conference honored the Xavier tennis program with three weekly awards Monday. Sophomore Lauren Clary and senior Brent Lehring were named the conference performers of the week, and freshman Kristen Clary won rookie performer of the week honors.

• Oak Hills grad Nick Pieczonka hit for the cycle, drove in five runs and scored three in Thomas More's 17-7 win over Hanover on Tuesday.

• Joe Horne, a St. Xavier alumnus pitching for Wabash College, threw a complete-game, nine-inning shutout in a 13-0 win over Olivet. The performance earned Horne the North Coast Athletic Conference pitcher of the week award.

• Mount St. Joseph senior Erin Mallory, a Seton graduate, hit two game-winning home runs last week en route to the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference player of the week honors.

• Oak Hills alumna Tracy Morgan, a junior at UNC-Wilmington, was named to the Colonial Athletic Association all-defensive team after averaging 7.8 rebounds a game and collecting 36 steals this season.

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E-mail rernst@enquirer.com