2000 U.S. Figure Skating Championships

Junior Ladies Event

Ladies - Final Standings

        J1:  Susan Johnson
        J2:  Kristin Amerson-Cutler
        J3:  Kirsten Novak
        J4:  Colette Nygren
        J5:  Gale Tanger
        J6:  Joan Burns
        J7:  Deborah Hagenauer
        J8:  William Smith
        J9: Margery Schleh

Notes after the long program.

The long program shuffled the deck in the junior ladies event with the top two skaters swapping places and little Beatrisa Liang moving up after a poor performance in the short.

Ann Patrice MacDonough took first place on a 6-3 split.  She skated last to the music "Malagena".  To my mind it wasn't at all as close as the split panel.   I thought she clearly kicked butt.  She landed triple Lutz, flip, loop, and toe loop.  For a sequence she executed Russian split followed by a tap and steps into triple flip.  She also landed double Axel, flip, and Salchow.  Her only significant error was popping a double Axel into a single.  Her spins were well done, and as in the short program she demonstrated flexibility in the spins and a spiral sequence.

Lisa Nesuda skated with good speed and nicely developed expression but the program was spoiled by errors in the jumps.  She landed only one triple in a triple loop - double loop combination.  Triple flip was two-footed and triple Salchow was cheated.   She landed two nice double Axels and a double flip as well as a double flip - double loop combination and a sequence into double Lutz - double loop.  An attempt at a solo loop was popped into a single.  Her spins were well executed but did not have the complexity of MacDonough's.

Third in the long was Beatrisa Liang, another up-and-coming jumping bean.  She had a difficult skate in the short program where she fell on double Axel and skated timidly with little power.  In the long, however, she skated with greater confidence landing triple Lutz, flip, and toe loop, along with a triple Salchow - double toe loop combination.  She also landed a solo double Axel and two sequences; the first a Russian split and steps into double loop and a split with steps into double Axel.   She fell on an attempt at triple loop.  Her spins were of decent quality for the junior level but her connecting moves were inconsistent; good in places, non-existent in others.  Because of her low placement in the short program she ended up out of the medals, in sixth place overall.

Jordans Blesa skated a program with several errors in her jumps dropping her to sixth place in the long and fifth overall.  This allowed Kathryn Orscher, who placed fifth in the short program, to move up to third overall with a fourth place finish in the long program.  Orscher had a decent skate in the long program landing three triples, a loop, Salchow, and a toe loop, the latter in combination with a double toe loop.  In addition she landed three other double jumps, but stepped out of two more.  Her spins were respectable but on the slow side.

Notes after the short program.

Each of the three ladies in the short program received at least one first place ordinal, but the majority of them (5) went to Lisa Nesuda.  Skating to music from "On Golden Pond"  she gave a lovely performance, making only one error - singling the required double Axel.  For her combination jump she landed triple loop - double toe loop.  Her spins were perhaps just a bit slow, but the positions and control were excellent and overall it was a job well done.

Ann Patrice McDonough placed second with a performance that included the only successful triple Lutz of the event.  On her combination jump she attempted triple flip - double toe loop but fell on the flip and then left out the toe loop.  Except for the flying sit - which had a weak jump - her spins were well done with the layback spin including the free foot held to the head position.  She also demonstrated her flexibility in the spiral sequence with a section incorporating a Biellmann position.

The only other lady to include a triple Lutz in her program was Jordana Blesa who fell in the attempt.  She landed a combination of triple toe loop - double toe loop which was well done, and a strong double Axel.  Her flying sit was also one of the best of the evening.  She gave a high quality performance but the fall in the solo jump and the lower difficulty in her combination made the difference in her placement, although she did receive one first place ordinal for her effort.

One other skater also received a first place ordinal, although that skater placed eighth.  The judge who gave that mark, however, also had the first place skater eighth and the tenth place skater second leaving one to wonder which competition that judge was watching.

Ladies - Free Skating

Ladies - Short Program

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