1996 Pacific Coast Championships - Senior Events

12 December - 16 December 1995

 


Senior Ladies
Senior Men
Senior Pairs
Senior Dance
 

SENIOR LADIES

     SP  FS   Skater
  1. 1 1 Sydne Vogel
  2. 2 2 Angela Nikodinov
  3. 4 3 Amber Corwin
  4. 3 4 Karen Kwan
  5. 5 5 Anika Ryan
  6. 12 6 Angela Meduna
  7. 10 7 Kristyn Evans
  8. 8 8 Jennifer Verili
  9. 6 9 Jacqie Turner
  10. 7 11 Joanna Ng
  11. 9 12 Alexandra Kaye
  12. 14 10 Lynne Petta
  13. 13 13 Amber Martin
  14. 11 14 Tonya Zuehlke

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
  1. 1 1 Rudy Galindo
  2. 4 2 John Bevan
  3. 3 3 John Baldwin Jr.
  4. 2 4 Trifun Zivanovic
  5. 5 5 Shawn Ditmar
  6. 6 6 Glenn Armstrong

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
  1. 1 1 Stiegler/Zimmerman IV
  2. 2 2 Baron/Alexander
  3. 3 3 Perry/Dulebohn
  4. 4 4 Piepenbrink/Castaneda

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
  1. 1 1 1 1 Callahan/Daw
  2. 2 4 2 2 Kuchiki/Smull
  3. 3 2 3 3 Buhl/DiBella
  4. 4 3 4 4 Carr/Kamarov
  5. 5 5 5 5 Matthews/Durango
  6. 6 6 6 6 Ponte/Frey

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.


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