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2/5/00 Report

Disclaimers - I am sort of proofreading. I love all the skaters. I have trouble telling the difference between a flip & a toe, even though I KNOW the difference. You have been warned!

Overall

I have to say this is the most well organized Nationals in several years. The transportation is working very well so far. The Hotel is nice. The start orders are available in a timely manner and are free. There are large T.V. screens all over posting things as they happen. The draw party was great. Lots to do at the Science museum, including an IMAX film on the Winter Olympics. And good food too. The Gund Arena was not open today & I may not go to it all tomorrow either, as the Novice competitions are all over at Winterhust. Winterhurst has spruced itself up nicely, but is really to small to have competitions in. The seating isn't great. (Not comfy, not much of it) and the practice rink left the plexiglass up. I am just grateful the competition rink took most of the plexiglass down. The food is better than usual for the secondary rink (canned fruit, sandwiches, hot soup, coffee). The biggest trouble so far is that downtown Clevveland is scary & there is nowhere convienent to get groceries. As we were waiting for the bus to the draw party in the lobby/foyer of the Renaissance tonight, a street fight between what I will call "gangs" came in the door and made a huge scene. About 30 people (dressed all in fancy clothes) went scattering as the brawl (including one young man who was already bleeding from a cut in his chest). Many women ran into the nearby volunteer lounge. One lady yelled for security. Security came & sprayed mace and eventually got all the young men out. Then the skating folks tried to come back, but the mace irritated some of our throats. So many of us came upstairs into the main lobby to finish our wait for the bus. I assumed the hotel would post extra security to make the guests feel more safe, but I asked about it at the desk & it does not see, they have taken any action. Sigh. That is not good customer service. And they are exposing themselves to a very serious lawsuit if something else were to happen & a guest were to get hurt. Somtimes people just don't think things through.

Novice Ladies Practice - Free Skate

Group A
Theresa Antinori - Nice opening footwork segment followed by a fine sal-toe. Fell on the solo 3 sal. Nice camel-sit-layback spin. Solid loop. Fell on toe (or flip) then badly two footed a toe (or flip). Very pretty choreography. Solid 2 axel.
Louann Donovan - Coached by the Scotvolds. Skating to music from Chicago. 3sal-2 toe. Telegraphs jumps - especially flip - which she also fell on. Has a couple of posing sections in program. Very nice 2 axel. Long skinny legs give a coltish feel, but she had nice expression of the choreography.
Lisa Horstman- Skates very quickly - almost gives a feeling she is rushing. Very nice layback. 2 footed flip. 2flip-2 toe combo???. Nice 2 axel. Beautiful Ina Bauer into a lunge into a front spiral into a back spiral. Wins bear just for this cool sequence. Fell on sal - tilted in the air. 2 axel-2 toe ok. Needs to point toe on camel.
Lanique Ruffin- Really great spins - opening combo spin held very quick speed throughout. 2axel-2 toe combo slowed a little. Axel entry looked odd. 2 lutz-3 toe combo strong. Nice slow section with pretty outside spread eagle. Shakey but clean sal. Fell on 2 axel. Solo lutz fine. One other combo jump fine.
Tiffany Vise - "lefty". Rough run-through for her. Wrap on loop. Popped sal and fell. Wrapped toe. Slow spin. Wrapped sal. Missed a toe loop - bad pick placement. Little wobble on footwork.
Kailee Watson - also had a rough program. I saw her skate better at Golden West. Toe was ok. Fell on sal. Popped a toe or flip. Wobbled on footwork. Loop ok. Popped sal. Nice 2 axel. Ltz-loop combo nice.

Group B
Amy Bobrick. I was impressed by her posture throughout the practice session. Loop-loop pretty. 2 footed sal. Lutz-loop. Popped loop. Ina Bauer into a toe loop - toe loop. 2 axel fine. Split jump into a lutz. Very pretty.
Joan Cristobal. Much better expression of the music than anyone else in the field. 2 Axel. Axel-toe.Movements are all completed - finished off. Popped toe. Sal-toe. loop. Sal. Lutz.
Joelle Forte - skating to Cats. Music and choreography did not help her. Nice jump technique. Sal-toe. 2 axel-toe. Toe.-fall. Sal. flip.
Collette Irving. Scotvolds. Braveheart. Nice "snap" to all positions & jumps. Nice position. Toe?-toe. Loop. Fell on toe walley. Spread eagle. Ina Bauer. 2 axel.
Samantha Mohr - Epic soundtrack. 2 axel. Sal-loop. Nice position on Camel. Fell on loop. Nice posture. Sal-down. Layback leg is not quite there. Lost edge on axel landing. Lutz?
Brianna Weissman - BIG 2 axel with nice delay. Fought for landing on sal. Combo spin a little slow. Fell on flip. Nice loop. Tall girl with long legs - Ina Bauer should be more impressive. Fell on second 2 axel.

Novice Men practice - Short Program

Group B
Adam Aronowitz. Nice straight leg sit spin to open. Downhill from there. Looks like he has some juggling (a la Yagudin) in it. Popped the axel. Nice circular footwork. Closing combo spin good. Looked tired/ill?
Dennis Phan - Music cut off after first lutz. Restarted after next skater & completed the lutz well again. Nice axel. Good distance. Sit spin slow. Spread eagle. Sal-toe. Good camel. Skating to George M Cohan medley?
Shaun Rogers - Flip-Toe. Fast, especially on footwork. Very good edge control, even at speed. Sal. Lutz. Reminded me of Dan Hollander.
Traighe Rouse - very slim & on the short side. Skated to instrumental version of Stray Cat Strut that Aren Nielson used. Had a 3 sal-3 toe combo. Impressive, but wrapped and cheated. Very nice footwork & style to the choreography. 2 footed the axel. Fell on the lutz. Combo spin slow. Still left me smiling - seemed happy and comfortable with the program.
Daniel Steffel. Riverdance (or Lord of the Dance). I hear he is just back on the ice from an injury. Definitely showed. All timing was off. Did succeed in a flip-toe.
Christopher Toland - Carmen (sigh). Fell on combination (flip?-toe). Strong footwork.
Christopher Vaeth - I took a shine to this skater. Something about his presense on the ice. Nice eye contact - good reaching into the crowd. Don't see that often at a novice men's practice. Skating to a tango style piece. Fell on toe wally. Nice speed. 2 axel wrapped. Nice camel with "face-up" variation.

Novice Pairs Short Program

Group A
Clark & Shvetson - Russian style folk song. Side by side lutzs took off at different times. Lift was shakey. Side by Side spins ok. Tape was playing poorly on this sound system. Ok footwork. Split twist had no height.
Damron-Brown & Leftheris - New age style music (maybe Cirque). He popped the side by side jump. Side by side spins went off. Split twist went well. Synch off on footwork & in-betweens. Looks like a shiny new pair.
Hoffstadter & Vriner - Some medley that included "On a Clear Day". Nice one hand lift - trouble on a flip dismount. She bobbled some choreography. He singled side by side jump. Split was ok, but timing look odd. Side by side spins went off. Death spiral nice.
Nielson & Chrisman. Several pieces of music - I think from "Footloose". Strong one hand lift. Good death spiral. Side by side spin was way off. Big separation & different timing on flip.. Tired looking on footwork. Split shakey. Skated better at Golden West. Later in practice they seemed to come back together.
Group B
Goto & Smith - Santana (sigh). Nice pair spin to open. Good lift to a one handed position & dismount. He fell on lutz. Trouble in ootwork & side by side spins. Twist low & slow. Death spiral could be lower. Ended before music.
Hartunian & Forbs - Cirque? Beautiful "balletic" opening. Fast strong lift. Good pair spin. He popped lutz. Good footwork. Split twist low. Side by side spin little off, but very fast. Good death spiral. Strong pair.

2/6/00 Report

Cleveland lost all its brownie points today. The Novice competitions were so full that people were being turned away. People with all event tickets were turned away because they were selling tickets to local people. I am so glad so many people want to see Novice events, but if the arena can't hold the people who have all event tickets then they shouldn't have sold more tickets.I was in one of the few seats that I could take photos from (a big platform blocks much of the seats & weak lighting makes others undesirable. The stairs were so hard to get to that I stayed in my seat throughout all of Dance, Pairs, Men & Ladies. Keep this in mind as you read my notes. By the way - I am reporting it as I saw it. I have seen some of the results & they do not always agree with me. Buyer beware. If I just list an element it was completed successfully.

Novice Compulsary Dance

I will summarize the skaters abilities for both dances in one segment. The dances were the Rocker Foxtrot & the Paso Doble

Napier & Kimzey
Stiff knees. little slow. Nice pattern and line. Almost fell on sliding steps in paso. Stiff & scared.

Takatsuki & Ige.
First skaters from Hawaii to make it to Nationals. Lot of seoaration & toe pick noises. Patterns seemed small.

Davis & White
Big deep edges on 3 turn. Nice "pop" up on Mowhawk. Little slow, but perfect form. Little young for the expression of the Paso, but skated it fine.

Smith & Wilson
Very close together. Little scrapey on 3 turn & seperated in front of judges a bit.Paso was slow & somewhat lacking in expression.

Galler-Rabinowitz & Mitchell
Deep edges. Only a small separation.Mowhawk was scarey. Scapey on a couple of sections.Paso much better. fast & sure with deep edges. Very secure.

Frisch & Bommentre
Deep edges, good speed, close skating. Paso very sharp - especially nice arm positions.

Collins & Cloverdale
Seperated. Stiff kneees. Uneven speed. Nice line & expression.Paso was toe-picky, but better speed.

Smith & Smith
Looked tight & a little slow. Few scapey noises.Paso was much faster, but still needs more knee bend.

Dubose & Kimzey
Patterned seemed shortened - The mowhawk was off or out of synch. Slow. Stiff knees and shakey in Paso.

MacLeod & Moormann
She lost edge on 3 turn. Seemed shakey from start.. Uneven speed on paso, but better dance for them.

Goodsell & Taylor-Austin
Good speed & strong edges. Little separation. Excellent Mowhawk, but last one seemed off pattern. Paso was very strong. Strong & fast with finished positions.

Lawyer & Inman
Separated on 3 turns. last Mowhawk was rough. Used entire oce surface well.. paso was strong & fast with good edges.

Novice Men Short Program

Dennis Phan
George M. Cohan Medley. Lutz. 2 axel. Sal-toe combo. Wobble on first camel change spin. Little slow.

Daniel Steffel
Riverdance. Nice camel-sit. trouble on bunny hop style footwork. Fell on 2 axel. Fw seemed very simple. Lutz. Toe-toe.

Christopher Toland
Carmen. 2 axel. 3 toe-2 toe. Lutz. strong & fast, especially footwork.

Benjamin Zumsteg
Jazzy piece. Strong 2 axel. fell on toe (combo). Skated fast. Spun slow.Lutz. Good posture & style.

Jed Hopkins
Jazzy. "Sexy". Nice emotion. Fell on 2 axel. bad fall on 3 sal (combo). Was pre-rotating jumps with upper body. Footwork section was scarey. Lutz.

Sam DeFoe
Peter Gunn. Perfect posture. Textbook back crossover I would kill for. Lutz. 2 foot sal-toe. Flying spin little off. 2 axel ok.

Traighe Rouse
Stray Cats. Skater most likely to grow up to be Aren Nielson. Happy 7 smiling throughout & really danced his choreography. sal-toe (slowed at landing). 2 footed 2 axel.bobble on footwork. Lutz. Jumps less wrapped today, but still some.

Shaun Rogers.
3toe-2toe - near boards, but clean. 3? sal. superfast spins. Lutz.

Christopher Vaeth
Tango. Very expressive. Fell on 3toe wally, then did a toe (combo). Fell on 2 axel. Lutz nice. Camel variation nice, but slow.

Mauro Bruni
Schreechy whisting music. Ouch. Very slow entry to a fine 2 axel. Fell on Flip? toe wally?. Nice camel. Lutz.

Adam Aronowitz.
Circus music. miming. juggling etc... 2 footed sal.-toe. Lutz. Great 2 axel. slowed in footwork.

David Cochran-Yu
Carmen. sal-toe. 2 axel. Lutz. All solid.

Wesley Campbell
2 axel. Lutz. Popped sal (combo). Camel wobbled. Fly spin a little slow.

Dustin Brimsmade
New agey forest music. 2 axel. Tano Lutz. fell out of sal (combo). Nice butterflies into camel. back hydroblade.

Novice Pairs Short Program

Blakinger & Ladwig
Swing Music. Lift. Lutz. Death Spiral. SxS spin off. Twist ok, littel rough on set down. Pair spin.

Howerton & Pottenger
Guys & Dolls. he slowed at start of lift. Pair spin slow.. No split on twist. Lutz. SxS Spin. Footwork ok. Death Spiral.

Hartunian & Forbes
Lift strong. Twist could be higher. Footworrk was a tad off. Lutz ok, not perfect synch. Death Sprial short, but nice.

Mew & Gray
Jazzy 20's music. He put hand down in lutz. SxS spin off at end. Upside down "split" lift (Heart Attack in a split position). Death spiral. Pair spin.

Nielson & Chrisman.
Footloose. Lift went off at end - he couldn't switch to one handed for the set down - did a sort of lasso. SxS spin off. Footwork weak. This jump was a flip, not a lutz? He looked liek he may have been ill.

Heelan & Leser.
West Side Story. Fast lift with nice flip dismount. High twist. SxS spin off. Looked tired in footwork. he mis-picked in lutz & fell. Death spiral.

Goto & Smith
Sanatana.Lutz. Lift with one hand dismount. twist (no split). Death Spiral.

Roth & McPherson
Faster than Music (finished early). Strong lift to one hand. Dig twist with delay. Good death spiral. Lutz.

Damron-Brown & Leftheris
Forest-new agey.Lutz. Good twist. Nice lift to one hand. She lost edge on death spiral - no fall - early pull out.

Hoffstadter & Vriner
On a Clear Day. She has brace on left leg. Lift slow. Flip dismount. Footwork slow 7 got out of synch at end of diagonal. She popped lutz. Split twist. SxS spin fine, but she was right at the boards.

Clark & Shvetsvy
Folk music. Death spiral scrapey & not low enough.. She landed way forward on the lutz. Lift to one hand twist dismount. SxS spin off. Footwork scrapey - seemed to be her more than he?). Nice twist. Pair spin weak.

Ainsworth & Abrahams.
Thought we would make it through Novice pairs with no casualties, but this pair had a nasty fall on their lift. She bounced on butt, back & head. They did a full reskate. Lutz (successful both times). Twist (likewise) Lift. SxS spin off. Death spiral bobbled on her exit.

Novice Ladies Short Program

Kailee Watson. Looked a little stiff/scared. Sal-toe. 2 Axel. great smile. toe landing on lutz. Good straight leg sit spins. Hunched shoulders.

Joan Cristobal.
Light years ahead of pack in overall presentation.Sal-toe. 2 axel. Lutz. Scraped free foot on sit spin. She scrapes the entrances to the sal & the axel. Spiral was beautiful.

Amy Bobrick
Squeaked out a Loop-Loop as her combo. Excellent spiral. Strong 2 axel. Ina bauer - split-lutz.

Brianna Weissman
Huge 2 axel. Spiral sequence needed more "oomph". Spin hesitant. 3 toe (popped) - 2 toe combo.Lutz. combo spin slowed.

Samantha Mohr
Ballet.2 Axel. Sal-toe (squeaked out landing). Great layback. & combo. little wrap on lutz. Spiral just ok. slow at end.

Lanique Ruffin
In the Mood. 2 footed the axel. missed combo (sal-toe). spiral shakey. great layback & lutz.

Theresa Antinori
Arabianesque. Down on combo (toe?). Slow layback - nice position.Lutz. all in all this seemed very "by the numbers".

Joelle Forte
Miss Saigon. Sal-swing-toe. Nice 2 axel. Ok spiral. lot of back crossovers. Rockers into lutz. Nice closing combo spin.

Louann Donovan
Tango. Down on 3 sal (combo). Lutz. must have done axel, but I have no note. Did a cool change on her heel in her camel spin.

Tiffany Vise
Sal-toe. Axel took off on wet patch - looked like it may have singled?. Little bobble on footwork. Lutz.

Lisa Horstman
Ballet. sal(hand down) toe. Nice combo spin, but slow. nic one foot footwork into lutz.2 axel. Combo spin slow at end.

Colette Irving.
Swan lake??? Agonizingly familiar music. 3toe-2toe. very clean, just a slow on exit. 2 axel. nice spiral. Lutz.

2/7/00 Report

Got my first look at the Gund today. So far so good. Seats are in the front row. The front row isn't 25 feet above the ice. The kiss & cry & ABC booth are still under construction & the cameras aren't in yet - so things can get worse. Thankfully, today was the last day of hell in the Winterhusrt venue. What a miserable way to watch skating. Filled to capacity again - didn't seem to be people turned away, but they were all standing at the ends again.

Anyway I will now summarize. Please be advised my recording of jumps in the free skate is even less accurate than in the short. I have to memorize the jumps as they do them & write them down later in order to take the photos!

Junior CD/OD Practice

Baldwin & Fix
Um...Well. I always try to just report the facts. I try to phrase things as well as possible to avoid hurting anyone. I like to believe all these kids are working their hearts out to get here. The spin in their OD was not bad at all.

Nussear & Forsyth
One of the top in terms of speed & edge. Some separation in key sections.  Their OD music had a section that sounded like the blues. The choreography of their OD seemed to build in a lot of separation. She is extremely expressive - particularly good at making the Russian tango face.

Belbin & Agusto
Also strong in speed and edges. Very nice extension to their moves. They hold their positions nicely. The OD had a section of posing that was a tad too long for me.

Young & Young
Their wesminster waltz was very strong. Fast & deep edged. good knees. The tango seemed weaker. She seemed to have trouble with the back step sequence. Their OD was also weaker. They have a frantic opening, then the music got slower, but they didn't run through that section. Then they did their frantic closing. She bobbled in the footwork a couple of times too.

Mangiagli & Abrahams
Only average in terms of edges & speed. One lift had a problem. He caught an edge and they both went down in some relatively simple section of the OD.

Munana & Goldner
Not at the session - no music played.

Navarro & Shmalo
In opneing stroking she fell & hit boards hard. he carried her off. She did not come back. he came on the ice briefly & just warmed up. Then they both sat in the stand - she had ice on her head. reportedly she is fine & they will skate.

Valentine & Kossack
Really strong edges & fine speed. Footwork particularly fast & clean. Supurb lifts.

Goodwin & Cockrum
She was wearing a costume with two odd little "tails" coming off of it. They were strong skaters with excellent knee bend. tehir OD music has a really pretty slow section that starts it off. I liek it, so it is sure to be against the rules.

Hill & Traxler
Both are relatively tall. they get nice line and fairly decent speed, but I never felt that they were really secure. always a little out of control.

Manon & Obzansky
Seemed quite beyond the field to me. Better speed, edge & expressiveness.

Novice Free Dance

Napier & Kimzey
Carmen. Fell in warm-up. program was shaky. His left blade kept scraping. Lift was terrifying.

Goodsell & Taylor-Austin.
"I got the Latin Blues Dragnet Swing". Slow. Pretty line. Edges need work. Several very pretty moments.

Takatsuki & Ige
Seperated. Slow & scrapey. Fell on lift.

Smith & Wilson
Swingy be-bop blues. Slow. Some very nice & intricate hand holds.

Collins & Cloverdale
Backcrossovers very noisy. Nice smooth lifts. Upside down lift had a hard set down. Lots of big tricks.

Davis & White
Swingy big band music. Lots of fast tricks well skated, but not the edge or extension of others.

Dubose & Kimzey
New age & folk music. Nice long deep extended edges. One of the lifts was very weak. separation & synch problems.

Lawyer & Inman
Bobble on twizzle footwork. Closing pose rough. He sounded scrapey.

Smith & Smith
very fast - especially in beginning. He fell on a lost edge. Footwork a little off after that.

Macleod & Moorman
Other than too much air between them  (and simpler steps that rest of top) this was really good. Big band style.

Frisch & Bommentre
She bobbled on footwork a couple of times. Lift set down rough. Seemed weakened at the end.

Galler-Rabinowitz & Mitchell
Excellently skated & complicated spunky peasant number. No question they will win.

Novice Men Free Skate

Daniel Steffel
Slaughter on ## Avenue. 2 footed lutz-loop. 2 footed axel. 3toe-2toe. 2 loop. 2loop. (ill) Lutz.

Christopher Vaeth
Music Paul Wylie has used. axel-toe. 3 sal. down on flip. toe loop. down on lutz. forward on footwork. 2 footed 3 toe wally. axel.

Sam Dafoe
Tango. this guy has posture I would kill for. lutz-toe. axel. sal. fall on loop-toe. forward on toe. hand down on lutz. caught heel on axel.

Jed Hopkins
The Irish Tom Cruise Movie Music. 2 ft lutz. axel (squirrley) - toe. odd fall on some toe jump. 2 foot axel (or sal - in the corner). Loop. Flip. lutz. popped toe.

Benjamin Zumsteg
axel (landed forward) - toe. 2 foot lutz. fall on flip. stalled on lutz - didn't get pick in? sacrapey. down on sal. 2 foot axel. slow scrapey spin.

Wesley Campbell
I vow to thee, my country. Slide spiral. Axel. ltz? popped sal. ltz-loop. ltz. flip. hand down on sal. An assorment of good clean jumps. Just no sal.

Mauro Bruni
Tano lutz-toe-loop. axel. 2sal. waltz (popped axel). 3toe-3toe. axel. slow camel.

David Cochran-Yu
Epic classical piano.fell on 3 sal.-2toe. skid into a jump? lutz-toe. camel slow.flip. 2axel-2toe (hung on to landing - came to stop).Lutz. Loop.

Traighe Rouse
Billions of cheated wrapped jumps. Only clean ones were 2lutz. cool positions in spins & great style.

Duston Brimsmade
Laurence of Arabia. axel. 3toe-2toe. axel? toe. flip-toe. slow spin.sal (hand down) loop. Seemed to not be one with the spirit of the choreography.

Adam Aronowitz
popped axel. ltz-toe. loop. down on flip. 3 sal-2toe (wild landing)axel. Nice camel. 3 toe-2toe. fast combo spin.

Dennis Phan
Zorro. lutz. axel-toe.sal.S.E. fall (I don't know what I meant either).sal-toe. loop. axel. lutz. nice combo spin. ended late.

Christopher Toland
Lutz-toe. 3 sal. axel. 3 toe. popped axel. lutz. toe. strong program

Shaun Rogers.
On The Town. 3 Toe - landed forward. popped lutz. fell on sal. axel. Noisey footwork. lutz. slow spin. sal. nice sit spin. toe. barrell rolls into flying spin. Looked tired throughout.

Novice Pairs Free

Clark & Shvetsay
Ltz. Loop. toes didn't work - she put hand down. Throw sal. 2 twist. death spiral seemed like the edge wouldn't catch. lofts slow Throw toe??? footwork rough.

Ainsworth & Abrahams
She 2 footed sxs axel. throw sal. throw axel to sxs toes. axel, 1/2 loop, toe. Platter to star lift. nice footwork. sxs spin off.

Nielson & Chrisman
Paint it Black. sxs toe. throw loop. a few other moves I missed noting. There was much wondering if he was ill. They just didn't look right - hesitant & out of synch, but nice moments.

Mew & Gray
Romeo & Juliet ( the movie). Throw...? twist. Footwork much faster that music. Nice death spiral. Good line & speed. toe-toe didn't work right - couldn't tell what part failed, just not right, then butterflies were out of synch into the sxs spin (off as well. throw sal.

Damron-Brown & Lefthris
I am told she took a hard fall in yesterdays practice (was taken to the hospital). They skated fine this evening. Swan lake.Lutz. 2 twist. throw sal.2 big lifts. the beginning had a 3 jump sequence. He 2 footed his last jump.

Hoffstadter & Vriner
Guys & Dolls. She popped lutz. Lift to flip dismount. death spiral. fall on throw sal. 2 twist (with tano hand). fall throw sal. which went to sxs spins. so - she waited & he spun.

Howerton & Pottenger
Jungle music. His lace broke & they had to reskate after another pair. Throw sal (huge). Throw loop. Death spiral. Star lift down early (clean). Toe. lutz. flip. toe.

Heelan & Leser.
3 big lifts. big 3 twist. fall on throw sal. death spiral. sequence of 3 toe loops. throw loop. sxs spin off at end.

Hartunian & Forbes
Notes are sparse on this pair as I was taking extra photos. Their program was strong and pretty, but they had technical problems. popped throw loop. fall on set down of lift. sxs spins off. lutz. ended after music.

Roth & McPherson
Big twist. she put hand down on sxs jumps. Lutz. Toe. throw loop. Throw sl. 2 nice clean lifts.an impressive program.

Blakinger & Ladwig
2 twist.. she down on axel. slow spin. lutz-toe (she had troubel on this as well). throw sal.  platter lift (slow). sxs spins off. one hand lift. throw sal.

Goto & Smith
I was in a coma by this time. they had a very good skate. axel. sxs jumps. 2 throws. Lutz.

Novice Ladies Free

Joelle Forte
3 sl-2 toe. axel-toe. Toe-toe. 3 sal. ltz. ltz.

Lisa Horstman
flip-toe. axel. 3 toe. ina bauer onto lunge into spiral. Loop. Flip. lutz. loop. axel. lutz.

Brianna Weissman
HUGE 2 axel. fell on 3 sal. 2 foot 3 toe. loop. 2 axel-2 toe. lutz-toe. flip. toe.

Samantha Mohr
Hand down on axel. 3 sl-2toe. down on loop. down on sal. down on axel. lutz.

Kailee Watson
flip.fall on 3 sal. ltz. loop. great spins. axel-toe. 3 sal - 3 toe. lutz-loop.

Lanique Ruffin
axel-toe. lutz-toe. 2 sal. succesful jump ( I missed it). step out of axel. lutz. flip. toe.

Theresa Antinori
2 foot axel-toe. fall on sal. loop-loop. flip-toe. ltz. down on 3 toe. axel.

Colette Irving
axel. 3 toe-2toe. 3sal. 2 foot flip. 3 toe. axel. Lands forward on toe in axel.

Amy Bobrick
axel. loop- loop (2 footed).3 sal (squeaked) ltz-loop. 2 foot loop. toe. axel. 2 foot flip. spin petered out.

Tiffany Vise
Loop- Loop (cheated) sal-toe (likewise). Flip. Lutz. sal (wrap). flip. popped axel. lutz.

Louann Donovan
Chicago. sal. 3 toe-3toe. lost edge on axel. lutz-toe. loop. down on sal.

Joan Cristobal
sal. axel-toe. 2 footed 3 toe. 2 footed sal-toe. loop. 2 footed sal. 2 foot lutz. toe.

2/8/00

Sorry - was up late watching Sr. pairs & have little time this am - just some short summaries on what happened yesterday. I have detailed note if you are desperate to know what a certain skater did. Sigh. I had the best intentions...

Sr. Compulsary Dance
Silverstein & Pekarek did much better in the quickstep than the Yankk Polka. Their Polka looked a little tight & small. Still better than everyone else, but...Handra & Sinek really suprised me. Either they have improved a lot this season or I have a mental block for them from last year. They laid down two solid dances. Lang & Tchernychev belong at some other competition. They are so way better than everyone else. Amazing speed deep edges etc...The only extreme wierdness in judging was for Newman & Boundikin. As you may know, they fell in the Yankee Polka. But, even if one were to discount that, I thought this dance was awful (for them). They were out of synch in parts - their extensions don't match. They crossed way over the center of the rink on the turny spinny part. Their quickstep was sooo much better than this. But I still feel they are 2-3 places too high. Their speed buys them a lot, especially in this field, but I thought Beckerdite & Healy at least should have been ahead of them on the first dance. B&H were tooo small and slow on the quickstep.Katz & Serkov were shakey on the deep edges, but they didn't fall and had decent speed. Fraser & Nichols were very hesitant & cautious. So, The Boundikin thing isn't so far off given the field I suppose. Sigh, U.S. Dance.

Junior Pairs Short Program

Ganabas are Seniors who haven't tested. He fell on Footwork & it just didn't matter. They wer so fast & strong. Geesh.Kalesavich & Parchem had good speed & very nice presentation. He was a little wild on the lutz, but clean. Twist was nice and clean. The Sierks benifitted form the draw. i believe that seen back to back Waldstein & Lucash would have been ahead of them.  W&L had  solid elements (2 twist, 2 lutz) and good speed & presentation. The Sierks  bobbeled on the spiral & her lutz was wrapped, their pair spin was also a little off. But the Sierks may have been faster...Morgan & Cogley had a lutz that he popped open, but their Shindler's list program was sooo beautifully done. Anselmi & Adler were geat in the elements - had the best lutz, but they were skating & spinning slooooowly. The rest had assorted missed or compromised elements. This was a much better field than I expected. Only a few pairs looked truely lost.

Senior Ladies Practice - Free.

Most big guns not here. Only news is that Deanna Stellatto just rocked the place. She is really a wonderful all arond skater. Fast, good line & expression. Solid assortment of jumps -here is the long program list as best I could tell: 3lutz-3toe. 3 toe. 2axel. 2 axel. 3 toe. 2toe. 3 loop. 3 sal. 3 flip. 2 lutz (porbably going for 3). The axel come right after each other. The loop looked like it was a problem sometimes, but most else went consistantly smoothly. Like we needed another name in hot contention for this podium. Can't we loan Canada some ladies???? I was pleased to see Andrea Gardiner looking fit. She landed a nice assortment of jump & is in the thick of the middle of the pack. Sarah had a fine run-through, but on this day Deanna looked better. Although Sarah did do a sal-loop (?? I didn't write it down - may have been Loop loop) as a triple-triple in practice, but not the run-through. Susan Ng was beautiful, but not landing much. Heidi Pakala is a strong skater with some solid triples. She is tall & uses her line well. But she doesn't have enough triples to be in the top group. Elizabeth Kwon is landing a lot of triples but they were mostly cheated, wrapped or two-footed. The other girls who were here (Andrea Aggeler, Kim Kilby, Katie Lee,Brittney McConn, Stephanie Roth) all had varyig degrees of serious trouble in their run-throughs or just simply don't have the required jumps. Lots of beautiful skating though!

Jr. Ladies Short Program

I am a little unclear on the judging in this event. Not sure what was being rewarded as the results don't show a trend I could see. maybe I am misidentifing a key jump....

Lisa Nesuda did a beautiful program. Speed ,flow , presentation. spins - the works. 2 Lutz. SINGLE axel. 3 sal-2loop.
Ann Patrice McDonough - nice perky piece. fell on first jump of combo. from her placement I have to assume it was a triple lutz or flip & they have seen her succeed in practice. double axel. 2 lutz as solo jump.
Jordana Blesa. I know she was attempting the triple lutz - not as her combo. She fell hard. For some reason i did not note the rest of the program - film loading??
Dirke O'Brien Baker - Strong fast skater with a very well done program. But she did a solo lutz that I thought was a double. A 2 footed 3toe-2 toe combo  2 axel
Kathryn Orscher - 3toe-2toe. 2 lutz. 2 axel
Kim Ryan -2 footed 3 toe-2toe. forward on 2 axel.
Midori Williams - 3 sal-2 toe. 2 axel. lutz
Joanna Glick -Lutz. 3? Flip (cheated)-2loop. 2 axel. one judge had her first. So I am not sure what that combo was.
Lindsey Weber - 3 toe-2toe. 2 axel. lutz.
Beatrisa Liang - 3 flip-2toe. fell on 2 axel. 2 lutz.
Kimberly Olsen-Wheeler -1 axel. a solo toe jump. skated very slowly.
Felicia Beck -2 axel. Down on lutz. down on flip.

Senior Pairs Practice.
Note - this was a very late practice - that may account for the generally bad showing. Or at least some of it,

Scott & Duhlebohn hd a bad run-through. She popped sxs jump (3 toe) he may have doubled it. She fell hard on the throw 3 sal. They worked the throw a lot & have a little success. I only saw the toes succeed once.

The Steiglers didn't do a complete runthrough. they did the Lift & the throw 3 sal. Both brilliantly. Looks like the sxs 3 toe is their weak link. Don't think I saw him make one in the practice. all else looked very competitive.

Gaynor & Delago could not land the sxs 3 sals. Their lift didn't go up.

Spielberg & Joright must have had an espresso. They really rocked. very fast and strong and well done. But their content is a little light for this field. Throw 3 sal (she 2 footed). Side by side 2 axel. Great lift & twist.

Magaraian & Guzman would have been on the podium if this were the competition. sxs 3 toe (the choreography is such that I suspect she may have trouble with this jump. She may even have doubled it, but I was watching him). Slight hand down on a HUGE throw 3 sal. Great twist. Amazing lift with a more amazing dismount. this is one strong young man. and one fearless lady!

Quigley & Cording looked pretty good too. The run-through fell apart for them, but the elements seemed ot be there in the rest of the practice. Throw 3 sal. sxs 3 toe.

Vlandis & Peterson seem to be working on a throw toe loop. Most success they had was 2 or three two foot very forward landings. Their twist was rough in the run through. And she missed the sxs jump. He may have doubled.

Everyone else has a critical element that clearly isn't there for them.

Oh - Ina & Zimmermean were clearly the winners - His 3toe missed a couple of times in practice, but was there often enough & in the run-through. Fast & secure & all that.(I do like them - just assume this is a forgone conclusion).
 

2/9/00 Report

My camera died during the second flight of Sr. pairs. I was so sad. I bought a new body this am & I am back in business. But I didn't get to take photos of the medalists at all (of of the team who I know personally & "help"). Sigh. Oh well. A short summary before I am off to the rink again.

Sr. Ladies Practice (Short Program)

Stacey Pensgen looks a little less sure of herself than the top of the field. Some very solid jumps, but the skating is less aggressive than Deanna or Michelle or Angela. Sarah Hughes is a little behind them in this "sureness" factor, but ahead of Stacey. Sara Wheat is a little behind Stacey. Oddly enough, Heidi Pakkala looks very good on the ice. Stong, extended, serene. Kind of the same feel as Dorothy (current Dororthy). Not enough technical content to be a contender, but a real joy to watch. Well choreographed too. Just a very nice overall package. My "discovery" for this year.

Anyway,

Michelle was solid. 3lutz-2toe. 3 toe. 2 axel. Charlotte seems to be even more in the split position. worked the flip a lot, looks like she is ready to swap it in as the solo triple.
Angela had a bad runthrough. Only the axel worked. Landed lots outside of the runthrough. Had trouble with the loop throughout.
Brittney McConn did a 3 loop as the solo jump. I missed her combo cuz I was stopping someone fom taking flash photos ("even during practice?", he asked...like they are less injured when they fall in practice???).
Sara Wheat ws working the 3 loop-3 loop combo with onely one successful. In runthrough fell on 3 flip cus she held the 3 turn too long & wrapped the pick around. It must be her combo cuz the solo was a 3 toe.
Sarah Hughes  did 3 lutz-2 toe & a slightly 2 footed 3 flip.
Susan Ng was mesmerizing but not landing. Our countries' Lucinda Ruh? (This, by the way, is a compliment!)
Elizabeth Kwon did a wrapped 3 lutz-2 loop. a solo 3 toe. Jump technique looked a little off on all.
Sasha Cohen had a impressive runthrough. 3 lutz-2 toe 3 flip. all the amazing expression, speed, extension etc... She is in the thick opf it. Her jumps may not have a lot of height, but as far as I can see she is not wrapping or cheating or two footing & that puts her in a good position.
Amber had a weak runthrough. singeled the axel.Looked tired.
Andrea Gardiner did a nice 2 axel with a good long landing edge. and a 3 flip. Her combo was in a croner I could not see. Kitty Caruthers is one of her coaches...
Andrea Aggeler fell on her lutz (pick leg waaaay to high). Rough landing on 3 toe. 2 axel was forward.
Kimberly Kilby, Katie Lee & Jennifer Kirk all look like they are busy working their wasy into the feel of being Sr. ladies. Jennifer Kirk was very expressive, but her music was oddly edited (Selection from Evitia) and I felt it was overpowering for her. Katie Lee has a nice big 3 teo-2toe.
Naomi landed the 3 lutz-2 toe with no problem.She bobbled the entrance to a spin and had a slight 2 foot on her 3 flip.
Cohen Duncan popped a toe & landed a wild sal.

Junior Men SP

Wier - fell on 3 axel? (took off under my nose- I assume this was the combo) 3 lutz. 2 axel.
Miller - hnd down on 3 lutz. 3 flip-3 toe (near boards) 2 axel.
Lee -3 flip-2 toe. step out of 3 lutz. 2 axel.
Pennington - fell on 3 toe (was a combo with 3 toe in warm up). 3 lutz. 2 axel.
Lysacek - step out/fall on 3 flip. 2 footed 3 lutz. 2 axel.
Villarreal - 3 toe-2 toe (that must be why he is this far down). 3 turn on end of 2 axel (also a problem here) Tano lutz (was this a triple - very fast if so).
Glynn - 3 sal - 2 toe. lutz(unsure of revolutions). 2 axel
Sasaki - 2 foot 3 flip - 2 toe. 3 toe. 2 axel.
Ehre - 3 toe-popped toe. down on lutz. 2 axel.
Wilson - 2 foot axel-toe. singled lutz? popped another axel.
Heffron - step out of lutz fell on 3 toe-2 toe. 2 axel.
Murphy -  3 flip(in hindsight - this maybe a toe wally)-2 toe 3 toe. 2 axel.

Sr OD
Silverstien & Pekerak were faster than Lang & Tchernychev & Naomi bobbled two turns - lost edge and scraped a long gash in the ice. Two judges marked "the kids" first. Handra & Sinek deserve the placement - Oleg & Debbie look like they may have lost too much training time this year - I don't see an improvement over last year & Handra & Sinek are MUCh better than they were last year. On the other hand, I think Woodman & Peal look better than the scores they are getting. They have improved a lot since last year. I have not once thought Yang & Lang looked better that W&P & Beckerdite 7 Healy had great moves in their OD - really cool choreography that was a joy to watch. But it was all one speed & it was very. very. very. slow. Very.
Katz & Serkov's program seemed simple & they had a couple of bobbles. I wish I could figure out the Woodman & Peal thing. Oh well.
For what it is worth - there was one team here in which the man did nothing but 3 turns. Seriously. Some of them were back 3's  - most were forward  the footwork rules make this really noticable.

Gotta run to Junior Pairs - Will summarize Sr. pairs later - it was a rough skate for everyone (and my personal friends had a very tough time & my camera broke). Not a good event for your intrepid reporter.

Ok - Sr. Pairs
Ina & Zimmerman - as you al know by know she stepped out of the throw 3 sal. They landed the sxs 3 toes. People are muttering about John not being able to land an axel, so I assume he is missing it in practice. they were fast & all that jazz.
Scott & Dulebohn - She fell on the sxs 3 toes. The throw axel was fine.
Stieglers - She fell on sxs 3 toes. He doubled it & may have stepped out as well. She fell on the throw 3 sal. That'll get you 3rd. They also are fast 7 charming & have excellent extension & so on...
Spielberg & Joeright. What a joy this program was to watch. They did sxs 2 axels. Throw 3 sal (she had a hand down) They had nice speed, good line & a well set program. People are talking about them after this performance.
Magarian & Guzman - She fell on sxs 3 toes. Big disruption to program.  sxs spin was off. she was forward on the throw 3 sal, but it was clean. Twist was huge & lift very elaborate.
Vlandis & Peterson - Throw 3 sal -low, but she pulled it out. He fell on sxs 3 toe and she put her hand down. twist was lower than top couples. sxs spin was off.
Quigley & Cording - She stepped out of sxs 3 toe. Throw 3 sal fine. Twist was low. Lift had a rough ending.
Miller & Weiss - Lift was strong. He popped 3 toe - she 2 foot? Throw 3 sal was 2 footed. pair spin weak. Even with the problems, this pair made more of an impression on my than Quigley & Cording. better expression??
Hayes & Gillam - Throw 3 sal. sxs double toe? He lost camel position in side by side spin.
Wilson & Chapman - sxs double axels. throw 2 loop.
Gaynor & Delago - fell on throw 3 sal. well choreographed pairs falls on the sxs 3 sals they tried. messy pair spin. Death spiral had problem at the end,
Connally & Donovan - Fell on throw 3 sal. She doubled sxs 3 toe -  I do not know what he did - he had been landing 3 toes easily & he had no hand down or fall or step out of whatever he did. Lift ok.

2/10/00
Junior Pairs -
These notes are worse than usual. I got better by senior men - needed more food & coffee. The skater I am with helped some with the earlier skaters, then she had to go. I have particular trouble with identifing a throw loop.

Kalesavich & Parchem - Nice lyrical balletic skate. 3 twist was landed a little off - they struggled & saved it. Throw 3 sal. sxs 3 flip? - 2 toe. Nice inverted star lift. Throw loop. sxs 2 sal.
Ganaba & Ganaba - fast techno program with her death at the end- big 3 twist. Throw loop. sxs 3 flip? he popped sxs axel 7 she stepped out of it. throw loop (again? - maybe one is a sal). 3Toe-2 toe
Waldstein & Lucash - He two footed the sxs 2 axel. throw sal. throw loop - hand down& two foot.sxs sal. flip-toe combo
Sierk & Sierk - 3?twist was low. he missed sxs axel. sxs toe. 2 foot throw 2 axel??? Nice lift. Program was short on sxs jumps.
Gleeson & Hunt - very beautiful program. he down on sxs flip. throw 3 sal. She popped sxs 2 axel. throw loop.  she bobbled in a spiral (she was going to put her foot on his boot & missed). she popped sxs flip.
Anselmi & Adler - 3?twist fine. She bobbled fw. sxs lutz. throw 3 loop. sxs 2 toe. throw sal. sxs loop. sxs spin off - kick each other on exit. got off on footwork & ended early.
Morgan & Cogley - 2 twist. sxs 2axel - she 2 footed. She had a throw sal, but free toe pick caught & she went down. hand down on sxs 2 axel.Either one of both of them 2 footed a flip-toe combo. she fell on footwork. Ended late.
Rogeness & Rogeness - throw sal went wrong - wild landing- may have popped. sxs 2 toe. and again?. throw 2 sal. sxs 2 loop (he 2 footed) fell out of a pair spin. the program seemd to have 4 nice big lifts...And I thought the limit was 3?
Dean & Murphy - High twist that collided - saved. sxs 2 toe. throw azxel. sxs jump I missed. sxs 2 toe to another. throw toe.
Phibbs & Rasmussen twist collided, but safe. she fell on sxs sal. throw 2 loop. fell on throw sal. sxs 2 loop - 2 toe.
Kayland & Weiss - high 2 twist (horizontal).she fell on throw loop. he popped sxs 2 axel - she landed. throw triple? sxs 2 toe.
Treni & Schupp - Sloooooow. sxs 2 axel -2 toe - she fell. throw 2 sal. and another?
Floyd & Shelton - sxs jumps went wrong & I couldn't tell what they wer - maybe toe-toe? sxs 2 loop. throw 2 sal. sxs toe? Throw loop. nice death spiral. Pretty program to Civil War music.

Jr Ladies Free ( in order by their finish in the free, not their overall finish)

Ann Patrice McDonough - 3 lutz. 3 flip. 3 loop. 1 axel. step out of 3 toe. 2 sal. 2 lutz. 3 toe 2 axel.
Lisa Nesuda - 2 flip-3loop. 2 axel. 3 loop - 2 toe. 2 foot 3 lutz. 3 sal. 2 axel. Toe -loop-loop. Several more jumps. I gave up.
Beatrisa Liang - (she was 6 overall - 10 in short) - 3 flip. 3 lutz. 3 toe. 2 axel. fell on 3 loop.sal-toe. toe-loop
Kathryn Orscher - (Zorro #3 - There were thre ladies skating to Zoor roght after each other)3 toe-2 toe. 2 axel. ?loop. 3 sal. 1 lutz? 3 loop. fell on 3 flip. 2 axel two footed a litt messing around and a single toe loop. 2 flip-2 toe.
Dirke O'Brien Baker - (Zorro #1)3 toe-3toe. 2 flip? 2 sal. 2 axel. hand down on 3 flip?toe?. 2 axel-2 toe. 2 loop.
Jordana Blesa - (Zorro #2) fell on 3 lutz. 3 flip. 3 sal. popped sal and loop. 3 toe-2 toe. Step out of axel.
Kim Ryan - I loved this program - very innivative choreography. So welcome in this jumporama. 2 axel-2toe.3 toe - 2 footed. 3 sal. 3 loop. 2 bad falls & she slowed down & tightened up. 2 axel. 2 toe. 2 loop.
Lindsey Weber - 3 toe-2 toe. fell on flip.3sal-toe.2 axel. 2 toe-hand down.2 loop. wild 3 sal. 2 lutz-2toe.
Midori Williams - 2 sal. fell on flip.2 sal. 2 lutz. 2 axel. popped flip? axel?
Kimbrly - Olsen-Wheeler - down on 3 toe. (free leg swings very wide  wraps behind the skating foot to pick). 1 axel (edge flopped from outside to inside & back right before launch). fell on 3 sal. 2 lutz. Charlotte spiral. 2 loop. fell on 3 toe (same entrance). a jump I missed - axel?
Felicia Beck - 2axel-2 toe. wrapped 3 sal. 2 ft, flip. down on ??? 2 loop. Down on 3 toe. wrap 2 axel.
Joanna Glick - pop loop. 2 axel. 2 foot 3 toe. step out of 3 sal. I got sad & stoped making notes. Had to write a note on the bear I threw to her...

Sr Free Dance

Umm.. just a quick summary - Handra & Sinek's dance lost them the bronze. It was not nearly the quality that their fine OD had been. Too bad, cuz Koegel & Fediukov's was definitely beatable. Justin & Jamie seemed a tad slower today but their dance was mesmerizing. Peter Tchernychev fell out of a little spinny turny thing they were doing in their dance The papers are cfalling ti a twizzle, but it is much slower than what i think of as a twizzle. Otherwise I saw no real surprises. Their were several couples in which the man could in no way keep up with the woman. Lots of 2 footed skating & three turns. It got so it was real exciting when a man would actually do a rocker. Or a lunge. Oh - and this trend for using "new age foresty music" has made me live in fear of costumes made of gauzey browns and greens. Here are some descriptions of the music I noted: New age Jungle.Monks in the Jungle. Chamber Music Baboons. On the up side: Woodman & Peal had a great dance to some selection from Big Bad Voodoo Daddies. They tried to have her lift him but they fell. Aside from that little problem this was the dance in which I had the most fun. He looked like he had been to the Aren Nielson school for enjoying skating. What a joy to watch a dance in which no one looked like they wanted to bite the heads off mousies. Oh - Katz & Serkov did a nice big band type number too. And there was only one Arabian dance and one Greek dance. At least we seem to have conquered latin numbers by sticking them in the OD!!

Sr Men (in the order they skated - its faster for me & I have got to get to bed so i can get up & do this again!)

Ryan Bradley - 2 axel.  3 toe-3toe (2 footed). 3 lutz. A joy to watch.Stands up straight - jumps straight.
Trifun Zavinovic - 3 flip - 2 toe. 3 axel. 3 lutz.
Danny Clausen - fell on 3 axel. 3 toe-3 toe.hand down on 3 lutz.
Justin Dillon - fell on 3 axel. 3 lutz. 3 loop-3toe (swing around) Seemed really happy after this skate - so i was guessing he wasn't counting on that axel.)
Timothy Goebel - Step out of 4sal (may have 2 footed too). 3 axel - 3 toe. 2 axel.
Damon Allen - 3 axel. step out of 3 lutz-1toe. 3 flip.
Ryan Jahnke - 2 foot 3 axel. 3 flip-2toe. 3 lutz.
Derrick Delmore - down on 3 axel. 3 flip-2toe. pop lutz.
Jeff Merica- great posture. 3 axel. 3 or 2 lutz-2 toe. 2 toe?
Michael Weiss - 3 toe. 3 axel (forward onlanding) - 2 toe. 2 axel.
Kurt Fromknecht - 3 flip-2 toe. axel? (no note)
Don Baldwin - beautiful huge 3 axel - easily the best of the evening. bad fall w/ slide into boards on lutz. 3flip (step out)-2 toe.
Johnnie Bevan - 2 axel. 3 lutz-2toe.
John Baldwin Jr. - fell on 3 axel. 2 footed 3 flip - 1 toe. wide swing on 3 lutz.
Shepard Clark. Was clearly in pain in wrm up. I suspected he would withdraw. He attempted to skate. Fell on axel. landed 3 lutz. Did not look right. Did a nice spin & called it a day. Shook referree's hand. Took bow & lap around rink.Was crying. Got big ovation. I  am a sucker for Shep - This is just not my nationals!
Matthew Savoie - By skating & then taking so much time to exit, Shep's withdrawl didn't really effect Matt's start time by much. 3 axel. 3 flip-3 toe. 3 lutz.

My comments; I don't get why Michael is in first. We had quite an arguement about the toe loop - some folks in my section thought it was a quad. Since I don't have Dick here to straighten me out I will go with what I saw - A nice clean 3 toe. Versus Tim's almost clean quad. Tim would have taken the technical in all the other competitions I have seen. Especially since Michael only had a toe as his solo jump & had no triple triple combo (cuz the axel landing was so forward he could only do a double toe). They can dink around with the second score to reward quickness and straight backs if they want.

I am up a little early this morning so here is some misc:
A local reprter here is calling Matt an "Unknown". Sigh.
Oh they also say Shep hurt his back in a fall on a 3 axel. As far as I know Shep arrived in Cleveland with whatever his injury is - it does clearly involve his back. He has been practicing an awful lot of single jumps all week from what I have been told (I never did make a men's practice).
Skaters spotted in the hotel (non competitors): Scott Hamilton, Steven Cousins, Meno & Sand, Dan Hollander. Rocky Marvel. Mark Mitchell (he is here coaching) Peter Oppegard (likewise).
As of the end of the day I had shot 50 rolls of film. Sure hope you all need photos of Novice dancers!!!
My camera was actually broken. I replaced the body at 9:00 in the morning. So the only thing I missed were all of the pairs from Connally & Donovon on (about half the pairs). Not too bad a disaster.
The arena has given us no grief about cameras. They came by yesterday saying no digital cameras or camcordersI don't know why they are after the digital (I mean - I know why, but not what justification is being given - as this would seem to violate the concept that the USFSA wasn't going to change the rules if you'd alrady paid for the ticket. I assume someone got their photos on the net too fast?
Rumor has it that Cleveland would like a World Championships. This is a pretty decent set-up here. As long as I never have to sit in Winterhurst again (one of the reason I am not seeing many more practices - I can;t bear to set foot in the place again. I think they are a fine city to get the World's. Everyone has been really nice, and the fact that you can walk indoors to the arena from the Renaissance is way cool.
Tom Collin's party was last night in the hotel. Big rush of people dressed in black for the elevators after the mens short program.
My husband read me Christine Brennan's foolishness regard Tara and how likely is is she would have done a 3 axel if she had stayed eligable. Ha. hahahahhaha. I usually like this lady, but what has she been smoking???
I have tossed a good number of bears & gloves, but still have plenty left for the free skates to come.
By the way - for those of you out there in TV land - I am between the Keri sign & the ABC sign in the front row on the side that does not have judges. I almost always have a camera to my face or am making notes.
 

2/11/00 Report

I am setting this one up so I have less typing to do this evening. So for now it is just a skate order.

Junior Men - FS - In order skated

I was again having a hard time with jump ID this am. In particular I kept having to remind myself that not all jumps are triples. Consequently, some of these 2 should be 3s and vise versa. Sorry - as the week goes on I get blurrier & blurrier.
Unless I note otherwise, all the men skated to an epic dramatic soundtrack.

Joshua Murphy - 2 ltz - 2 toe. 2 sal. popped toe-2 toe. Nice spiral - good extension throughout. popped flip. enters jumps sloooowly. 2 lpp - 2 footed & hyand down. 2 lutz. 2 axel. 2 toe. 1 axel.
Jason Heffron - Didn't he used to be L. Jason Heffron?? 2 lutz. Wild swing on landing of 3 flip. 2 axel. 3 toe. sal...I swore there was only one revolution, but it could have been two - I had to switch to the monitor in mid jump. 2 lutz out of footwork. 2 lutz (fall). 2 axel. One final jump I completely missed due to looking at a noise in the audience.
Jordan Wilson - Had to reskate due to pant strap breaking. I will only list the jumps in the reskate. fell on 3 axel. step out of 3 flip.sal. way underrotated 3 loop. step out of flip. pop axel.
Victor Ehre III - VERY fast skater. Les Mis. 2 ft flip. 3 sal. 2 lutz.  3 sal(2?)-2 toe 2 ft flip.2 flip (3?). step out 2 axel. 2 axel-2toe. agressive & rotates fast (hence my extra difficulty in counting revolutions!)
    Note - In warm up for the following group David Glynn & Michael Villarreal had a run in. Michael fell & seemd to hurt knee,but recovered quickly.
Nicholas LaRouche -  Big Flip (I assume 3?) Wild swing on Lutz. fell on 3 flip.3? Lutz. 3 loop. Jumps were very high. toe loop.
David Glynn - pop lutz. 3 sal-2 toe. step out of 3 flip-2toe.3 loop. 2 sal. 3 flip or toe. 2 axel.
Michael Sasaki - 2axel - 2 toe. 3 toe-2toe.pop loop (I assume going for 3). Pop sal.great combo spin. 2 al. 3 toe. 2 axel.
Michael Villarreal -3 sal-2 toe.2 axel - couldn't see well, but it appeared to pop or single. Tano 2 lutz. wrapped 3 loop. 3 sal? 3sal? The last two seem improbable, perhaps he has long entrance to an axel????
Parker Pennington -Irish music (Lord of the Dance?)2 foot axel. (may have been trying for 3) 3 lutz with wild landing.
Evan Lysacek - Romeo & Juliet. 2 axel from almost a stand still. 3 lutz-2 toe (fell on toe).3 flip-step3 sal. 1/2 flip in each direction-2?loop. 3 flip 3 lutz. axel.
Benjamin Miller - Soft Shoe Music. The program is corny in a cute way. As far as I could tell you either love this & find it sweet or you think it is icky. 3 toe. 3 flip with swing. a triple I couldn't see - he stepped out of it then did a 2 toe. A loop-loop combo - I think 3-2.3 sal. Lutz-toe? This took off under my nose - I thought I was going to die. Couldn't see his feet cuz of the boards. 2 axel.
Daniel Lee - Voodoo Daddies Medley. This is more my style - A la Scott Davis.3 flip. fall on 3 lutz. down on 3 sal. 3 loop. 3 sal-2 toe. 3 sal. 3 sal. (Once again I find this hard to believe. I must be having a problem with the axel/sal entrance with him) 2 axel (caught heel and fell)
Johnny Weir - big 2 axel. 3 lutz-2 toe. fall on attempt at 3 axel. pop toe. bad fall on 3 loop. pop axel. 3 lutz. 3 sal-2toe. Johnny fell to 5th overall. Lysacek won, then pennington, Miller, Lee, weir, Villarreal, LaRouche, Glynn, Sasaki, Heffron, Ehhre, Murphy, Wilson. The standings shook & rattled after Johnny skated. So much for not flip-flopping! It had been Pennington, Miller, Lysacek, Lee, Villareal until Wier finished.

Junior Dance - OD - In order skated

This sounds mean & I do apologize, but some of these dances really went beyond my ability to find nice things to say. No question everyone is working hard. But the U.S. needs HELP in dance. Wow.

Munana & Goldner -Nice edges but slow. I liked this dance as well as the dances from the top 3.
Navarro & Shmalo - twizzles nice in footwork A lot of pushing with his toe in the rest.
Goodwin & Cockrum - 3 turns and rockers.. footwork was out of synch.
Baldwin & Fiz - very slow 3 turns.
Valentine & Kossack - Really nice edges. Seperated in footwork and a little off at the end of it.
Nussear & Forsyth - Amazing dance. better than most of the senior ODs. Intricate. fast. edgy. A cut above.
Young & Young - Some nice moves & fair edge work. slow in spots.
Mangiagli & Abrahams - slow & out of synch
Manon & Obzansky - far apart on Footwork - slow at end.
Hill & Traxler - Very nice expression. They really "feel" this dance. Slow. shallow edges. Missed ending pose.
Belbin & Agosto - They were ahead going into this but the dance was not up to their compulsaries. Little slow. A lot of arms and tummy shaking.
Nitake & O'Meara- very pretty dance. everyone in my section liked it. Need speed & he needs to match her extension. But really nicely matched couple.

Senior Ladies - SP - In order skated

Angela Nikodinov - 3 lutz-2 toe. 2 axel. 3 flip robbed. damn skating first. She should have been second.
Susan Ng- 2 footed 3 flip-2 toe. fall 3 sal. 2 axel. amazing upside down spiral.
Naomi Nari Nam - fell on solo 3 flip. 3 lutz - step & turn- 2 toe. I then show an axel and a failed 3 flip - she slipped off the pick.
Andrea Gardiner - 3 lutz-three turn- 2 toe.  2 axel. 2 footed 3 flip.
Jennifer Kirk - 3 lutz-2toe.  2 axel. down on 3 flip.
Sara Wheat - 3 flip-2 toe. 3 sal. 1 axel.
Brittney McConn - setp out of 3 lutz- wrapped 2 toe.3 loop. 2 axel.
Amber Corwin - no successful jumps (falls on lutz/loop/axel)
Heidi Pakkala - 3 lutz-2 toe. 1 axel 3 flip. argh.
Deanna Stellato - hand down on 3 lutz-2 toe. 3 flip. 2 foot 2 axel. very fast.
Kimberly Kilby - 2 footed wrapped 3 loutz-down. 3 flip down. popped axel.
Michelle Kwan - fell on solo 3 toe. 3lutz-2toe. 2 axel.
Stacey Pensgen - 3 lutz-2 toe. 3 flip. fall on footwork. 2 axel. Don't get why she is so low. I either miss identified a jump or she also shorted a spin. By my count she would be 3rd or 4th.
Andrea Aggeler - 3 flutz-spin-2toe. wrapped 2 footed 3 toe. 2 axel.
Cohen Duncan - 3 sal-2 toe gone wrong - both feet sort of flopped to the ice together. 2 footed 2 axel. I didn't write down the solo jump.
Sasha Cohen - 3 lutz-2toe. 2 axel. 3 flip
Sarah Hughes - 3 lutz-2toe (I actually show a flutz & a wrap/2 foot) 3 flip (also did not look clean to me) 2 axel. I would put her just slightly after Angela due to the fact that Angelas jumps were cleaner.
Elizabeth Kwon - down on lutz. 3 toe. 2 axel.
Katie Lee - 1 toe (pop) - 2 toe. down on 3 sal. down on 2 axel.
Stephanie Roth - 2 toe-3 toe. down on 3 sal. 2 axel nice.

Senior Pairs - FS -  In order skated

Wilson & Chapman - sxs 2 loop. back press lift - he caught heel but saved lift. throw 2 loop. sxs 2 axel. star lift. throw 2 sal. split jumps to sxs 2 toes.
Connally & Donovon - I was too busy taking photos. I know from their verbal reports they landed a sxs 2 axel a little out of synch and I remember a throw 2 loop and a sxs flip.
Hayes & Gillam - down on throw sal. sxs jumps (missed take-off). that he stepped out of. star lift. slow pair spin. another throw jump. 2toe-2 toe.
Gaynor & Delago - throw 3 sal. 3 twist (liitle collision). sxs 3 toe. back press lift. throw axel. star lift with flip out exit. sxs 3 toe.
Miller & Weiss - both missed sxs 3 toes. 2 twist. 2 footed throw 3 sal. sxs 1 axel. death spiral went wrong in exit. she wound up on her knees.
Magarian & Guzman - sxs 2 axel (she put her hand down). 3 twist.  sxs toes (she 2 - he 3). great lift with change of position & direction. throw 3 loop. sxs spin off. fall on throw 3 sal. 1 handed lift. Pair spin off. sxs 3? 2? toes.
Vlandis & Peterson - 2 twist. throw 3 loop 2 footed. sxs 3 toe. she 2 footed. sxs toe - she fell. sxs 2 axel ( she 3 footed). sxs 2 flip.
Quigley & Cording - sxs 3 toe. lift with flip dismount. throw loop (hand down). throw loop? fall. sxs sal (he fell 0 missed what she did.
Scott & Dulebohn - sxs 3 toes. little collision on twist. throw 2 axel. step out of throw 3 sal. sxs 2 axel. 3 toe-step-2toe.
Ina & Zimmerman - sxs 3 toe. 3 twist. sxs 2 axel-2toe. big one hand lift. throw 3 sal. sxs flips. throw 3 loop. star lift.
Speilberg & Joeright -sxs 2 axel. rough 3 twist - saved. 2 footed throw 3 sal. star lift with flip out. sxs 3 toe. lift didn't quite make it up. sxs 3 sal. throw 3 loop. 1 handed star lift.
Stiegler & Stiegler - sxs toes - she 3? - he 1 or 2. 3 twist with collision. hand down on throw 3 loop. sxs axel - she fell - he popped. sxs spin off & on.  down on throw 3 sal. sxs loop - she popped he?.