When Marisha Schwab first joined Orange Experience, it consisted of only one member, but needed eight to compete.

Now, the synchronized skating team — with Schwab as its president and captain — has 11 members and is preparing to compete at the 24th Annual Skaneateles Figure Skating Competition in December.

“I came here to Syracuse because I knew there was a skating program, but there wasn’t a huge program for synchronized skating,” the junior biochemistry and forensics science major said. “I am very proud to see that the team and the collegiate synchronized skating program is growing here.”

Synchronized skating is judged similarly to figure skating, but with up to 16 skaters on the ice, teammates have to be completely in sync. To prepare for the competition, members practice three times a week and fund gear and traveling expenses on their own.

To make this possible, each member pays dues at the beginning of the season and works together to raise the rest of the expenses. In the past two weeks, the Orange Experience skaters fundraised $1050 of their $2,000 goal by donations through a GoFundMe campaign.

Orange Experience will also compete in the 2015 Eastern Synchronized Skating Sectional Championships and the 2015 Empire State Winter Games in Lake Placid, New York.

“Right now we are in the choreography stage of putting the program together,” coach Lisa Mirabito said. “Then we will go back through and talk about what it takes to make it a better program to be competitive, the arms, bodies and heads, and all of these other things that will prepare them both physically and mentally.”

Mirabito, who began coaching the team in 2008, said practice, drills and team building are essential to competition preparation because the team is comprised of 11 skaters from diverse backgrounds coming together to compete.

When coordinating their routine for Skaneateles, the Orange Experience skaters pitched ideas for music to Mirabito until she approved a Beyoncé mix of “Halo,” “Crazy In Love” and “Love On Top.”

Although the choreography is mainly in the coach’s hands, the end result is a joint collaboration with the skaters in order to create the smoothest routine possible.

Liz Sprout, a first-year member of the team, said the music engages the skaters in their performance during a competition.

“Coming to college and skating to Beyoncé is so much fun. A four-hour practice is so hard, but once they put on the music we get really pumped up,” said Sprout, a sophomore broadcast and digital journalism and international relations double major. “It is definitely going to affect the way we perform — it’s going to make us more into the program and more excited about the performance.”

Mirabtio and Schwab agree that the Orange Experience brings a certain passion to competitions that other teams may not have. The SU members have to fund their own expenses and have to want to attend practices each time they hit the ice.

Schwab said this passion has been a driving force in the team’s development, as she has seen the group grow from a sole performer to a full team. As someone who has been with Orange Experience for years, Schwab said the team has been one of the greatest parts of her college experience.

Said Schwab: “To be able to share my skating passion with other girls and giving girls the opportunity to skate in college — it’s a great feeling.”

Published on October 7, 2014 at 12:01 am

Contact Alexa: adiaz02@syr.edu | @alexalucina