2002 U.S. Nationals

Judge Number six, Shirley Sherman of Glenview, Illinois, reserved her first place for Melissa B. Ralph of the Detroit Skating Club and Ryan Shea O’Meara of the Coyotes Skating Club of Arizona and put Goodwin and Obzansky third.

Ralph and O’Meara’s other placings consisted of three third place votes, two fourths, a fifth and two sixths which meant they started this championship in fourth place. Ralph and O’Meara were disappointed with their performance. "We knew we didn’t skate our best," said Ralph.

Kirsten B. Frisch and Brent Bommentre of the Wissahickon Skating Club were third of the twelve couples. Obviously this was going to be a close and exciting battle.

QUICKSTEP: Galler-Rabinowitz and Mitchell, who were the 2000 Novice champions and were fifth in this event last year, gained five first place votes for their accurate Quickstep and so maintained their lead. Goodwin and Obzansky again gained four firsts but this time the other five judges all placed them second.

Third, fourth and fifth (Cheryl L. Russell and Kenny L. Metzger of the Peninsula Skating Club) maintained the positions they gained in the Viennese but sixth, seventh and eighth showed movement after the Quickstep.

Flo A. Steed of the Texas Gulf Coast Figure Skating Club and Augie Hill of the Loan Star Figure Skating Club were only eighth on the Quickstep but were sixth in every other section. Victoria R. Devins and Kevin B. O’Keefe of The Skating Club of Boston were seventh in the Viennese, eighth in the Quickstep and seven in the other two sections and overall.

Christine Victoria Zepeda and Nicholas R. Hart of the Dallas Figure Skating Club were sixth in the Viennese, seventh in the Quickstep and then eighth in the next two sections and overall.

Laura E. Smith and her brother Andrew from the Los Angeles Figure Skating Club were ninth throughout. Lindsay C. Evans of the Colorado Skating Club and Trevor Stanton Bird of the Dallas Figure Skating Club were eleventh in the Viennese and twelfth in the Quickstep but tenth in the original and free and finished up tenth overall.

Mitchell, a 5’7" 19 year old, explained, "I had thought it was all focused in the hand movements but I learned it is the eye contact. It’s seduction. You are almost challenging each other which was fun."

Galler-Rabinowitz, who was eleven days short of her sixteenth birthday, added, "It was a lot of hard work. Our coaches are good at picking out our weaknesses. Last year I was one of the youngest so my level of maturity has changed. You not only have to look at each other, you have bring the audience in as well."

Their showing was smooth and very polished. I particularly liked their solo straight line step sequence in which they kept changing sides over which added enormously to the technical difficulty.

They won this section because they were given five first places. They also received three seconds and a third from the seventh judge, Anthony Bardin of Chatsworth, California, who thought Ralph and O’Meary worthy of second place.

Goodwin, who is 19, and Obzansky, who turned 18 in December, gained the other four first places, four seconds and a third, given by the third judge Susan Keogh of Greenwich, Connecticut, who also thought Ralph and O’Meara were second best. Goodwin and Obzansky are trained by Jerry Santoferrara and Yovanny Dunango and their choreography was done by Anjelika Krylova.

"I really look up to her (Krylova)," said Goodwin. "It’s been a good experience working with her. At first it was really hard but as the season went on, we developed more and more."

"We did a lot of research to see how Flamenco dancers move," said Santoferrara. "We got all the videos we could and worked with a ballroom coach, Charles Hoefgen."

In addition to the two seconds, Ralph and O’Meara gained five thirds and two fourths. O’Meara gave a particularly exuberant performance.

Six judges gave their first place in the free to Ralph and O’Meara who performed to Ukrainian folk music. Another judge thought it second best, and two believed it should be ranked third. They had fallen into the barrier during warmup but Ralph said, "It didn’t bother us. We never do that. We just put it behind us. The free is our favorite section."

They were given a story to think about as they skated. O’Meara explained, "It’s flirty. She’s trying to attract me." They have been a little disappointed with this season because they hoped to do some junior grand prixs but because of the international situation, the USFSA canceled their skaters’ participation in these foreign competitions.

Ralph and O’Meara are trained by Igor Shpilband, Marina Zoueva and Natalia Annenko. They were fourth last year in their first season together. In 2000, he also finished fourth with his previous partner, Lia Nitake. Ralph previously skated singles and pairs before deciding to focus on ice dance.

Galler-Rabinowitz and Mitchell’s free is to Prokofiev’s Cinderella. "Our coaches said, ‘You are Cinderella. You are the Prince.’", explained Galler-Rabinowitz. "We feel we did a very good performance. I think the longevity (of our partnership) has a lot to do with it. And we both feel the music."

They both have extensive musical training and Galler-Rabinowitz and her two younger sisters could be seen in the lobby of the Biltmore Hotel practicing on their grand piano. Both are very committed to their schooling which, Mitchell explained, means that to fit everything in, "we have to maximize every minute on the ice, make every moment count."