While most students were enjoying their day off on Monday, Ashlyn Kirkpatrick, junior, and Savannah Lockwood, senior, left to go to Austria for an international synchronized skating competition. Synchronized skating is a sport in which a team of sixteen girls skate in time with each other, doing elements such as circle elements and wheels. Lockwood and Kirkpatrick’s team will represent the US as they compete in the Mozart Cup in Salzburg, Austria against 16 other teams from around the world.

“There will be a couple teams from Finland, France, Austria, and Germany,” Lockwood said. “Last year there was a team from Italy. There may even be a team from South Africa.”

Both Kirkpatrick and Lockwood compete for the junior division of St. Louis Synergy. This year, they will compete in the junior short and junior long programs along with four other teams from the US.

“We are going with another junior team called the Lexettes out of Boston, Massachusetts,” Lockwood said. “There are also two senior teams going. We will compete two of the days and we will practice at a rink an hour outside of Salzburg. We will fly in through Munich so we will be able to see part of Germany and then drive over to Salzburg from there.”

To both Kirkpatrick and Lockwood, it was a honor to be able to represent the US in an international competition as the team was chosen based on accomplishments in prior competitions.

“We got chosen as Team USA last year, which was based on the previous year’s placement in nationals,” Kirkpatrick said. “Last year we got 2nd overall at Nationals so we are getting funding from US Figure Skating for part of our training this year.”

The team has accomplished this through practice and hard work.

“Our team practices for about 3-4 times a week and its about 3-4 hour practices each time,” Kirkpatrick said.

Kirkpatrick was with the team last year when they placed 8th at the competition, just behind the other US team. Lockwood will not be competing due to her concussion, but is going to support her team. They return Sunday night.

“I’m very excited it will be a lot of fun and it will help the team really bond,” Lockwood said. “It will be a fun experience to be able to compete with such great international competitors and just be on the same ice as them.”