SENIOR LADIES
SP FS Skater
Notes on the Long Program
Vogel was class act here, skating to Le Miz with good speed, good expression, and strong
jumps. Since winning the Junior title last year Vogel has aquired a new 'do, a new look,
choreography, and command of all the triples through triple Lutz. She attempted six
triples, falling only on a triple toe at the end of the program. She should do well at
Nationals next month. Nikodinov skated a traditional program with good speed and some nice
edges, but weak connecting moves. She skated a nearly clean program landing triple toe and
triple Salchow. Her only error was a hand down on triple flip in a triple flip-double toe
combination. Corwin moved up one place from the short program. She skated with strength,
good speed and fair expression, but put a distracting, and repetitive, double toe on the
back of nearly every jump in her program. She landed triple toe, Salchow, and Lutz, and a
triple toe-triple toe combination. A triple flip was slightly two footed, and she stepped
out of a second triple Salchow. On triple loop she put her hand down, and then fell. Kwan
dropped one spot from the short program to finish in fourth place. Her long is an
attractive, interesting program that was well presented but lacked difficulty. She
attempted two triple toes, two triple Salchows, and a triple loop, but landed only one of
the Salchows, cheating or putting a hand down on the other jumps.
Notes on Short Program:
Vogel outclassed this field with triple Lutz-double toe, triple flip, and double axel. She
skated with speed, strong jumps, and personality. Nikodinov skated a meticulous program
with triple flip-double toe, triple toe, double axel, and some nice spin positions. Kwan
landed triple toe-double toe and the double axel, but stepped out of triple Salchow. Her
program was a beauty to behold - very expressive and dramatic. Corwin skated a clean
program, squeezing out a triple Lutz-double toe, and landing triple toe and the double
axel. She skated with good speed, nice spins and good expression of the music. The
remainder of the field has its work cut out to crack the top four.
SENIOR MEN
SP FS Skater
Notes on Long Program:
Galindo was totally in command of this event, and if judged on their own merit these
programs could put him in the top five at Nationals. He skated with good speed, strong
jumps, and nice spin positions. His only significant weakness was a tendancy to reach for
the ice a little on some of his jumps and some of his landing edges could have been a
little stronger. He started off with a fine triple axel-triple toe and went on to land
four other triples. His spins were all well done and the connecting moves were interesting
and appropriate to the music. Bevan's long was much stronger than his short. He opened
with triple axel and landed four other triples. He succeeded with triple lutz-double toe,
but put his hand down an a second triple lutz - his only major error. He skated with
energy and fair speed. For the most part he had strong jumps and well done spins, but the
connecting moves were limited and the program dragged in a few places. Baldwin skated an
inconsistent program with speed and strength but also with several errors. He opened up
with triple axel and attempted six additional triples, landing four. The spins were
competently done but were mostly done in the camel position and not sustained particularly
long. Connecting moves were virtually non-existent. Zivonovic opened with triple flip and
then attempted triple axel, putting both hands down and then falling. He went on to land
four additional triples. Skating to Phantom again this year, his program had fair
expression with some nice edges and connecting moves, but also a few awkward positions.
His footwork was fast and agile, but also a bit exaggerated and wild in places. Ditmar and
Armstrong fought the good fight, but were outgunned.
Notes on Short Program:
Galindo skated a very elegant, stylish program to Pachelbel's Canon, landing triple
axel-double toe, triple flip, and double axel. Zivanovic skated to Star Wars with the
strongest jumps of the field, landing a strong triple axel-double toe, triple flip, and
double axel. Baldwin skated to the William Tell overture, as background music - his
expression of the music: double minus. He landed triple axel-double toe and double axel,
but fell on triple Lutz. Bevan skated to 40's big band music. He barely eked out triple
axel-double toe, and landed triple flip and the double axel. The remaining two skaters
were totally out-classed. Shawn Ditmar landed double Lutz, two footed a double Lutz in a
double Lutz-double toe combination, and hung onto a wild landing edge in the double axel.
Armstrong two footed triple Lutz, fell on triple loop-double toe (the double toe was also
two footed), and fell on the double axel.
SENIOR PAIRS
SP FS Skater
Notes on Long Program:
Stiegler and Zimmerman's long program is a romantic, dramatic, and weird affair - with two
endings for the price of one! After a slow start, they are begining to hit their stride,
with Zimmerman showing a striking presence on the ice. Their program included a decent
triple twist, a nice throw triple Salchow, side-by-side double axels, and well
synchronized camel spins. An attempt at throw triple toe crashed, and their jumps tended
to be a little on the ragged side. In addition to the twist, their lifts included lasso to
a one arm hold to a twist out, and a back platter. Baron and Alexander's program was more
traditional, with a strong classical line. The program potentially is a good one, but
their timing was off throughout this performance. Triple twist and throw triple Salchow
were successful, but Baron two footed her triple toe and Alexander fell on his double
axel, and on a double flip as well. Unison was excellent in side-by-side sit spins, but
off elsewhere. Perry and Dulebohn skated to music from Gone with the Wind with fair speed
and good expression. Their triple twist was small, but clean. Perry put her hand down on
throw triple Salchow, while throw double loop was well done. Side-by-side jumps included a
double axel-double toe sequence, single axels, and double flips. Lifts included a lasso, a
swan to 1 arm star with a flip out, and a lido. Piepenbrink and Castaneda skated a program
consisting of stroking and tricks, with little connecting content. Castaneda is recovering
from an injured left arm and compensated by lifting primarily with his right. In addition
to their signature one arm press they have added a one arm star. Aside from strong lifts,
their spins were slow, and their unison was off at time
Notes on Short Program:
Stiegler and Zimmerman skated a fast, clean program, which is a bizarre tango number. The
program included lasso (to a 1 arm hold, with a twist-out), double axels, split double
twist, and FI-death spiral. Unison was good and the death spiral was very well done. Baron
and Alexander skated a nearly clean, more conventional program, with good speed. Their
program included triple toe's (Baron slightly two footing her's), a helicopter, split
double twist, and FI-death spiral. Their pair spin and death spiral were both well done.
Perry and Dulebohn skated a fast, clean program with some nice edge work. Their program
included double axels, lasso (to a 1 arm hold), double twist (of middling quality), and
BO-death spiral. Unison in their side-by-side spin was excellent. Piepenbrink and
Castaneda skated a competent but unimpressive program with moderate speed. They began with
BI-death spiral, followed with double loops, 1 arm press (to swan, with a flip-out), and
double twist. Their spins were undistinguished and slow. Purdy and Johnson skated in slow
motion, and missed their side-by-side jumps. Their program included double twist, attempt
at double axels (he fell, she did a single), swan to a star, and FI-death spiral. Their
spins were slow and unison was weak.
SENIOR DANCE
C1 C2 OD FD Skater
Notes on the Free Dance
Callahan and Daw skated to jazz and big band tunes with fair speed, good extension and
unison, nice edges, and good expression of the music. Kuchiki and Snull skated to latin
rhythms. Their program was lively with nice expresison of the music, but consisted mostly
of side-by-side skating and a great deal of skating on straight lines. Buhl and DiBella
also used latin rhythms in their free dance. They skated fairly close with steps of
middling difficulty, but were a bit on the slow side, with fair expression of the music.
Carr and Komarov used music from Fiddler on the Roof and other violin themes. Their
expression of the music and rhythms was better than average, but most of the skating was
done side-by-side, and not very close at that. Komarov did a lot of two-footed skating,
and Carr briefly fell once in the program
Notes:
We did not get to see the OD - sorry!
First compulsory dance was the Westminster Waltz, the second was the Silver Samba. Smull took a dive on the Silver Samba and a considerable interruption resulted in order to get back on pattern. The fall may have been a result of sequins on the ice, but it was not clear and the team received a substantial deduction.