2005 U.S. Nationals

The Starlight Waltz is considered similar in rhythm and character to the Viennese Waltz and as with other waltzes, this dance is in ¾ time. Two sequences of the pattern are skated during a minute and ten seconds time period and its tempo has 58 measures of three beats a minute. This dance was first performed in London, England in 1963 and invented by Courtney Jones & Peri V. Horne. The ladies costumes were primarily Chiffon fabric with pinks and turquoise as the most popular colors of choice while nearly all the men wore black tuxedos.

Trina Pratt & Todd Giles who both skate for the Broadmoor Skating Club performed in the first group of six and were the team with the fastest speed. These 2005 Midwestern sectionals championships appear to be the couple to beat after the two compulsory dances. They had five first place ordinals for the Starlight Waltz and their scores ranged from 4.5 to 5.1 for technique and from 4.8 through 5.3 for timing and expression. "Skating at nationals has a different feel to it than other competitions so we really want to skate up to it this year. We improved to have a greater leg match this year," he said. They train with Patti Gottwein in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Kimmerly Lauten & Augie Hill both skate for the Stars FSC of Texas and placed second in this dance. Two California judges gave the team fifth place but they also had three first place ordinals, two second places and two third places in their scoring. They train with Warren Maxwell in Plano, Texas. Lauten & Hill skated this dance with good speed, flow and elegance. "We were really impressed with the crowd size for compulsories here. Portland seems to have done a great job of advertising this event," said Hill.

Hill and Jay Lilly of the 12^th place team ran into one another on the warm up but both competitors were fine and they both train at home at the same rink.

Maxwell said of the incident, "The beginning of a warm up is always the most dangerous as all the couples want to show their power and make a statement out there. Nobody wants to see anyone get hurt." Hill added, " We just got too close. We train with them so we are used to lots of couples on the ice in Plano. We both just said sorry and everything is fine."

Junior Dance competitor Brent Holdburg of the Stars FSC of Texas describes this waltz as very staccato where the lines can’t be held out as long as in some of the other waltzes so he declared this his least favorite waltz and he preferred performing the Cha Cha today. After the conclusion of this first dance round he & his partner, Caitlin Mallory of the St. Moritz ISC were in third place in the standings with just one first place ordinal and the rest in a range of second to fifth place ordinals. This team trains with 1992 Olympic champions Sergei Ponomarenko & Marina Klimova in San Jose, California and are nicely matched. They were strong skaters, particularly with their turns.

The first competitors for this first dance (Starlight Waltz) were the 2005 Eastern Sectional Champions Meghan McCullough of the SC of Boston & her partner Joel Dear who represents the Indiana World Skating Academy Figure Skating Club. They train in Boston with Tom Lescinski and this is their second season as Junior competitors (5^th at the 2004 championships.) They currently sit in fourth after the first dance, which they skated with nice flow but seemed a bit cautious.

Jane Summersett of the New England FSC & Elliot Pennington of the SC of Boston are currently fifth after this dance with four fifth place ordinals, one second place, a third, a fourth and 2 ninth place ordinals from judges John Millier of Atlanta, GA & Carol Wooley of Alvord, Texas. They train in Marlborough, Massachusetts with Iveta Ice and Dmitri Boundoukin. This team had nice flowing turns but at times their feet were farther apart than some of the other couples.

The Cha Cha Congelado was created by Bernard Ford, Kelly Johnson, Laurie Palmer & Steven Belanger and first performed in Richmond Hill, Ontario in 1989. This dance allowed individual interpretations to add the character of the Cha Cha to performances is permitted along as the steps, free leg positions, and dance positions are maintained. Both of these dances were used for sectional championship competition this season as well. This dance has a lot of step position changes within the dance, which include 2 fox trots and a kilian. The competitors added lots more colors and sparkle to the costumes although the guys still favored black shirts and pants.

In this dance Pratt & Giles again showed their power and speed, skating with strong unison to take every judge with a first place ordinal. They were faster than the other teams and effective in presenting this Latin dance. Their scores ranged from 5.0 to5.1 for technique and from 5.2 through 5.3 for timing and expression. "It was nice to see all those 5.0 scores on the scoreboard: I thought that was really cool," said Pratt.

"We were trying to show our strength and power here," added Giles. This couple had previously performed this compulsory at their Junior Grand Prix event this season in Budapest, Hungry. "I looked at what the other couples were doing, saw what I liked an that became part of our Cha Cha," explained Pratt.

For the Cha Cha, Mallory & Holdburg pulled up to second place, grabbing five-second place ordinals. They started off strong and had marks that ranged from 4.6 through 5.0 for technique and from 4.8 through 5.1 for timing and expression. "Our compulsories are usually are weakest event so we are very happy and are now set up well for the rest of the competition," said Holdburg. This team does want to see compulsories remain part of the sport but like it when just one compulsory dance is required. "I think they should still require one dance as it keeps up the good edges and good skating quality," he said.

Lauten & Hill dropped a spot to third place in the Cha Cha Congelado so these two teams are currently tied for second place going into the Original Dance. Maxwell their coach said, "This dance has so many different type of steps in a short time that it is not the dance for tall long lined couples." This team did give this dance some Latin flavor and skated with strong steps and nice turns. Their marks ranged from 4.5 to 4.9 for technique and from 4.7 to 5.0 for timing and expression. This couple prefers the waltz to the Cha Cha compulsory.

Lauten is Hill’s third partner in the past seven years and he declares Lauten a keeper. "I have talked to a lot of judges and trust what they say. They have told me that Kim is my best match body-wise and we get along very well", he said. His partner added, "Getting too tall for a previous partner happens a lot in dance. I also got too tall for my last partner."

McCullough & Dear along with Summersett & Pennington kept their same result placements from the first dance, as did all the other competitors beneath them in the standings. McCullough & Dear did snatch four-second place ordinals with their Cha Cha, to finish this segment close behind Lauten & Hill. Summersett & Pennington were competent but their dance could have had more of a Latin feel and McCullough & Dear could have used more speed at times.

Tomorrow Jan. 11 at 4:50 p.m. Junior Original Dance competition takes place at the Rose Garden. The leaders Pratt & Giles drew early in the skating order and skate as the 6^th team of the day (in the second group). McCullough & Dear will skate 5^th in the same group. All the other top competitors skate in the final group. Mallory & Holdburg skate 9^th, Summersett & Pennington skate 10^th and Lauten & Hill compete in the 11^th slot of a 12-team field. Maxwell predicts that any of the top 5 teams could be medal winners here in Portland.

Trina Pratt & Todd Giles became the 2005 Junior champions when the Free Dance round concluded on Thursday evening at Memorial Coliseum.   Their elegant and dramatic "Romeo and Juliet" dance took 8 of the 9 ordinals and their marks ranged from 5.1 to 5.5 for technical merit.  Their presentation scores varied from 5.1 to 5.6.   They skated with power and assurance and are the fastest team here.   "Giles said of their gold medal, "It's awesome. It is what you work for all year and it feels great."

Giles said of their performance today, "I was pretty nervous going into it as I wanted to skate my best and put it all out there." Pratt added, "We were more prepared for this competition than we have been for any other."

This team appreciates the support they have had from their association. Pratt said, "Thank you to U.S. Figure Skating because they have done so much to help us.  What other country has this kind of program for their skaters?"

Another junior team that likely would have given them a run for the title here, Meryl Davis & Charlie White of Detroit was not able to compete here due to White's previous leg injury.   He broke his leg while playing hockey in 2004 and the U.S. did not give out medical byes this season for regional/sectionals.  White has since recovered and is here in Portland.

The 2005 Junior Dance silver medalists Caitlin Mallory & Brent Holdburg did snatch one first place ordinal from the leaders for their "Scheherazade" free dance.  Their other ordinals were seconds except for one lone third place.  Mallory said of their silver medal, "I am really happy and I didn't expect it."   Their marks ranged from 5.0 through 5.3 for technical merit and from 5.2 through 5.6 for technical expression.  They had excellent flow throughout their free dance and one of their strengths is their multilevel lifts.

Her partner added, "It has been a long year but a good year.  Last year I was 11th (2004 Junior Dance in Atlanta) and now we have moved to 2nd.  We have improved tremendously and I am thankful for everything that has happened this year."  This team is already looking ahead to next season.  He said, "Now we will work on getting stronger and faster." 

Kimmerly Lauten & Augie Hill saved their bronze medal by their earlier second place finish in the first compulsory, the Starlight Waltz.   Without that this team would have dropped to fourth place after their Free Dance to "Masquerade Waltz"  They struggled with some of their program elements and did not have smooth flow in this performance.
They had a very effective lift where she is upside down and his hands are momentarily free.

Their twizzles had problems and they had an off night.   Hill said, "It wasn't our best performance.  I was a little affected by my asthma and was having some trouble breathing. Technically it was a little sloppy for us."  His partner was more optimistic. 
"I am just excited. I haven't been to nationals for the past two years.  We have come a long way in the past six months since I moved (to Texas) from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania," she said.   This team had a 9/4ths majority in this Free Dance.

Meghan McCullough & Joel Dear placed third in the Free Dance round with their Arabian styled program to "Harem".  This team had one-second-place ordinal, five third place ordinals, and three fourths for a 6/3 majority.

The junior team for the 2005 World Junior championships will be selected Saturday night and announced on Sunday morning.  The competition takes place the first week of March in Kitchener, Ontario.   Some senior competitors here in Portland are also age eligible for that international competition.

Compulsory Dance 1

Compulsory Dance 2

Original Dance

Free Dance