2001 U.S. Figure Skating Championships

Junior Ladies Event

Standings

Notes after the long program.

by Sandra Stevenson

Joan Cristobal began her long, which was set to Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3, with a lovely triple Salchow. However her next triple, the toe loop, was low. She followed with a double Axel to double toe, a triple Salchow to double toe and a second double Axel. It was a flowing, mature, enjoyable performance. "I felt comfortable and relaxed. Because of my knees (the knock-knee problem) I have to think a lot about staying over my toe otherwise my knee goes out," Cristobal said. "I'll have to wear (the knee brace) forever now. Seeing my marks I got really excited. I thought, 'Oh my God! I did it! I reached my goal.'" The marks included one 5.4 in the first set but also a 4.5. There was a 5.4 from a different judge in the second set which went down to 4.9.

Cristobal plans to be a psychologist working with disturbed children. "I'm fascinated with what goes on in a person's mind," Cristobal said. She describes herself as a "worrier and workaholic" wanting everything to be perfect. Coach Peeks said, " One thing that Joan has improved on (since coming fifth in the U.S. Novice championships last year) is her mental focus. Last year she wasn't focussed and centered. She's completely different this year. She's able to make a mistake and come back - to keep her head together through a long wait in the short program. I'm really proud of her." One thing she must focus on now is getting more difficulty into her routine.

Cristobal was marginally second in the free to Alissa Czisny who climbed to second overall from fifth place after walking out of her double Axel and doing a single toe loop to double toe loop for her combination in the short. Both Cristobal and Czisny, who used music from the Faust ballet and attempted a triple Lutz, gained four first place votes. However, Czisny was also given three seconds and two thirds making a majority of seven seconds or better, Cristobal had only two seconds along with two thirds and a fourth. That added up to a majority of six seconds or better.

Alissa Czisny is twelve minutes older and two inches shorter than her fraternal twin Amber, who is 5'3". Amber had been fourth after the short but dropped to fifth overall after taking sixth place in the free. I asked Alissa how it felt to compete against your sister. "We've highly competitive but not in a mean way," she said. "Sometimes one is ahead, sometimes the other." Amber revealed, "Our personalities are very different. Alissa's always very nice, a bookworm. I'm more outgoing." Their mother, whom they say is a great spinner but never liked competition, put them on ice when they were two. She home schools the two and drives them four times a week from their home in Bowling Green, Ohio, to St. Clair Shores in Michigan where they are taught by Julianne Berlin. They do three hours on ice training and two hours off ice with a strong emphasis on ballet on each of the four days.

Apart from last year when Alissa was ninth in Midwest juniors and Amber was fifth in Novice Midwests, the two have competed at the same level. In 1999 Amber but not Alissa made it to Nationals at Novice level finishing 12th. "In hindsight," said coach Berlin, "Perhaps that was a mistake to have them at different levels last year. We have to decide now what to do about next year." In reply to the question, "What did you do to effect the advance in Alissa skill in the last year?", Berlin replied, "The biggest change in Alissa from last year to this year was she was able to get the jumps clean. We did six months of falling and videotaping and we got the jumps clean. They were pretty much a half-turn cheated. That was a big step for her. And, to keep working on her second mark, we worked on her fluidity, her arms, her interpretation of the music, which she's starting to develop now."

Lindsey Weber, who has had a very injury prone career, suffering back problems a couple of years ago and enduring a stress fracture last October, fell on her first jump a triple flip but sprang back with an attractive combination of triple toe loop to double toe loop to double loop. After a double Axel, she fell on her triple Lutz. Gracefully interpreting her music "Yellow River" Weber then presented a triple Salchow to double toe, a double loop and a second triple Salchow. The judges gave Weber three second place votes, four third places and two fourths. Third place in the free put her third overall. Weber said, "When I started I was a little disappointed I missed my triple flip but I felt like I picked up my program strong and I pushed through the whole thing. I feel pretty confident with my skating. Because of the stress fracture I didn't have that much time to get ready, but I really made the time I had count. I reached my goal here by being on the podium."

Colette Irving received one first place vote for her Swan Lake free, which she drew to perform last. Her fourth place in this section dropped her one slot to fourth overall.

Notes after the short program.

by Sandra Stevenson

Lindsey Weber drew to skate first and set a standard that no one equaled until the last of the 13 competitors, Joan Cristobal, took the ice. The blonde 5'5" Weber, who turned 16 on New Year's Day, gave a delightful showing which included a triple flip and a triple Salchow to double toe loop. Wearing a tie-dyed mauve outfit and skating to "Seasons" music, Weber, who is trained by Mitch Moyer and Yuka Sato in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, gained marks that almost gave her first place. She was awarded three first place votes, two seconds, three thirds and a fourth. Weber, who has been competing at Junior level for several years and was eighth nationally in 2000 and sixth in 1998, was only one-and-a half years old when she took to the ice. She absolutely refused to stay with babysitters when her mother tried to leave their home to teach skating lessons, and insisted on tagging along. The Weber family are addicted to ice. Weber's grandmother also teaches skating and her brother plays ice hockey. Cristobal topped Weber's marks by gaining four first places, three seconds, a third and a fourth. She is an extremely graceful skater from San Jose who interpreted the music "Life is Beautiful", a "so-sad" movie which she enjoyed. Skating in periwinkle blue, the 5'2" Cristobal executed a triple Salchow to double toe, double axel and double flip, all with wonderfully soft landings.

Cristobal said, "It's important to skate from the heart, be flowing and not deliberate. I try to keep my back up and feel comfortable over my feet." I asked about her bandaged right knee. It's not caused by an injury. "I wear a leg brace. I was naturally knock knee-d. Really bad! After skating, it got worse. This was causing a problem with the stress of landings, so the brace compensates." Cristobal turned 15 two days before competing in the short. Both her parents are Filipino but she was born in San Jose. She first started skating on rollers after a cousin gave her a pair of skates. They had a great deal of fun whipping along the sidewalks. She changed to ice when she was 7 because of the weather. "It was a summer day and really, really hot. We went to a mall and saw this rink with a little boy tearing around and I wanted to try that, too." She began taking lessons with Laura Galindo, who, along with Kevin Peeks and John Brancato, is still part of her coaching team today although Galindo spends less time in the rink now she has two very young children. Cristobal says she was very inspired by Galindo's brother, Rudy, who won the 1996 US championship in her hometown.

The competitors had a choice of doing a triple or double flip out of footwork in the short program and most stuck with the easier version. Colette Irving from the SC of Boston tried the triple flip but fell. Dressed in ice blue, she aced the rest of the program which included a triple toe to double toe combination and received one first place, two seconds, four thirds and two fourths to gain third place. The 5'4" Irving, who is trained by Evy and Mary Scotvold, also had a birthday a few days prior to the event, turning 16 on January 14. Lying fourth and fifth are the Czisny 13 year old twins from Bowling Green, Illinois. Amber is fourth and Alissa fifth. The most ambitious program was presented by Joanna Glick of the SC of New York. She was the only competitor to try a triple lutz, which was going to be her combination, but she fell. She also two footed her triple flip and lies buried in tenth place.

Short Program

Free Skating

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