CANANDAIGUA — Precision, cohesiveness and power are the key components for any winning synchronized skating team. But for synchronized skater, Jennifer Menikotz — a graduate of Canandaigua’s St. Mary School and Brighton’s Our Lady of Mercy School for Young Women — her Catholic education and faith also have provided a foundation for her success on the ice.
In April, Menikotz and her Haydenettes synchronized skating teammates, representing the United States, took home the silver medal at the 2026 World Synchronized Skating Championships in Salzburg, Austria.
“It was just so surreal,” Menikotz told the Catholic Courier May 21.
After listening to mom, skating became Menikotz’s passion
Menikotz starting skating when she was in second grade, begrudgingly taking to the ice to appease her mother.
“My best friend at the time started skating, and my mom was like, ‘Oh, let’s try ice skating,” and I was like, ‘Nope, I don’t want to do it. This doesn’t sound fun. I don’t want to try it.’ My mom basically forced me to start,” Menikotz, 20, recalled.
After participating in a Christmas ice show, Menikotz continued to skate at the Canandaigua Civic Center and then at other rinks in the Rochester area. As she progressed in the sport, she discovered synchronized skating, a form of skating where a team of skaters performs various shapes and formations on the ice. Menikotz skated with the synchronized skating team in Canandaigua before she shifted to Mirror Images synchronized skating team in Fairport when she was 10 years old.
Fulfilling a dream that started at 12 years old
While with Mirror Images, Menikotz witnessed a teammate get accepted to a college in Massachusetts and skate with the Lexettes, the junior-level synchronized skating team of Hayden Synchro based in Norwood, Mass. By the time she was 12, Menikotz said, she desired to do the same thing.
“I wanted to move to Massachusetts; I wanted to skate for the Lexettes, and I wanted to skate for the Haydenettes, that was always the goal,” she explained, noting that she attended Hayden Synchro camps with the Haydenettes, and watched the Haydenettes skate at competitions and on YouTube.
So, after graduating from Mercy in 2023, Menikotz enrolled at the College of the Holy Cross in Worchester, Mass., where she is in the pre-physician assistant program and is a religious studies minor. She skated for two years with the Lexettes before earning a spot on the Haydenettes in spring 2025. The Haydenettes, the senior-level synchronized skating team of Hayden Synchro, are the most decorated synchronized skating team in U.S. history, having won 33 U.S. titles.
“I wasn’t expecting it,” Menikotz said about making the Haydenettes. “I was just trying out to try out. It was a dream come true.”
With her family in the stands, Menikotz wins a world medal
In her first year with the Haydenettes, Menikotz won two silver medals and a bronze medal at international competitions in Rouen, France; Nottingham, England; and Norwood, Mass. The team also won the U.S. title, which qualified it for the World Synchronized Skating Championships, the most prestigious event for synchronized skaters, since the sport is not yet an Olympic sport. In Salzburg, the Haydenettes came home with the silver medal, the team’s third-straight world medal.
“To be able to stand on that podium with my friends was just so surreal,” Menikotz said of winning the silver medal. “I think it made us even more ready to keep working towards one day getting that gold medal.”
Menikotz’s parents, Catherine and Michael, along with two of her uncles and a cousin, were in Salzburg to cheer her on.
“It was so cool. I give them so much credit that they were able to just come out for that and celebrate me. They were just so proud of me,” Menikotz said of her family’s support.
Catholic education, faith have remained pillars in Menikotz’s life
Menikotz also had support back at home from her alma mater, St. Mary School, which posted about her silver medal on its Facebook page.
“I was with the same kids from first to eighth grade and we knew everybody in every grade, all the teachers we knew so well, and the principals, it was all just one big family,” she recalled.
She also has fond memories of her time at Mercy.
“The teachers there were phenomenal,” she said. “They really helped me to grow as a student, and I learned so much.”
Her experiences at St. Mary and Mercy were some of the reasons why Menikotz’s top three college choices were Catholic schools.
“It (Catholic education) was a familiarity for me, and I really enjoyed my education through Catholic schools,” she said.
Despite the time demands of her training and her full-time course load at Holy Cross, Menikotz makes time to attend Sunday Mass on campus or at St. Mary Church when she’s home. She also volunteers at a nursing home every Sunday while at Holy Cross to play games with the residents and help them with technology.
“My faith is very important to me. It truly gets me through super-hard times,” Menikotz said, noting that her faith got her through a knee injury during her freshman year of college.
As Menikotz prepares for her senior year at Holy Cross and her second season as a Haydenette, she is proud of what she and her team accomplished last season and is excited for the future.
“I’m just really grateful,” she said.
Editor’s Note: Below are videos of Menikotz and the Haydenettes from the 2026 World Synchronized Skating Championships.
