The best team of teenage synchronized ice skaters in the world trains in Vernon Hills

Stop into almost any ice rink across the suburbs and you'll find aspiring young skaters honing their skills so perhaps one day they'll become the best in the world.

But at Glacier Ice Arena in Vernon Hills, the girls making up a synchronized skating team training there already are.

After strong showings at three international competitions last season, the International Skating Union ranked the Teams Elite's junior division squad of 14- to 18-year-olds No. 1 in the world.

Synchronized skating, commonly called simply "synchro," requires teams of up to 20 skaters to execute difficult routines with speed and precision. Though it has many similarities to synchronized swimming, synchro is not an Olympic sport, so at present the best teams are determined by the results of big tournaments held in the fall and winter.

Though the sport is most popular in Europe, there are around 600 active synchro teams in the United States, according to U.S. Figure Skating.

Program director Danielle Ostrower said she was on her couch when she heard the good news of her team's ranking.

"An assistant coach sent me a picture of the rankings with our name circled at the top," Ostrower recalled. "I was like, WHAT?! It's amazing and feels great."

It was a rapid ascent to the pinnacle of the sport for the junior team, which is just beginning its fifth season this fall.

Ostrower said that before she was brought on board to run the competitive teams, the programs at Teams Elite were more casual.

"When it's for recreation, you would just be coming in once a week to practice and you'd do it as one of maybe a million other sports you were doing," Ostrower said. "It was just for fun."

But the girls and young women on the competitive teams treat it as their day job.

"Sometimes we'll joke that our competitions are our business trips," said Rena Knysz, 17, who has been on the junior team since its inception. "It really is sort of a job. You're not going to let little things slide and are going to do your best."

Last season's "business trips" were the Hevelius Cup in Gdansk, Poland, in January, where the team earned a third-place finish. Then in February, the team took home the gold at the French Cup in Rouen, France. And in March, the team earned third place at the ISU World Junior Championships in Innsbruck, Austria.

The foundation for those accomplishments on the international stage was built during practice.

The team trains on ice about seven hours per week during the spring and summer, and about 10 hours per week in the run-up to tournaments.

Members also put in about two to three hours of off-ice strength and conditioning work, including ballet lessons.

"Every year we try to push ourselves to be best we can be," Knysz said. "The team this year is really strong and the coaches have pushed training this year. We know we have to work so much harder to stay at No. 1."

The team's season will kick off later this month at a tournament in Detroit. Ostrower said the results there will determine which international competitions the team will be placed in for the rest of the season.

Ostrower attributes the team's success to how each member is "super competitive" and dedicated to the group.

"We attract a certain kind of athlete who (wants) to put team ahead of themselves," Ostrower said. "It is a sport that really teaches life skills you can't get anywhere else."

Teams Elite's motto is "more than a team ... a family."

Knysz says that is true to her and the other girls on the junior team.

"I know that at any point in my life if I'm struggling, I can go to my teammates and they'll be able to help me out," Knysz said. "I can't imagine skating anywhere else."