2004 U.S. Nationals

Junior Ladies

by Maggie Doyle

The junior ladies short programs took place at Gwinnett Center on Thursday afternoon and their final round will be Saturday morning at Philips Arena for this thirteen ladies field.  First year junior competitors Katie Taylor and Kimberly Meissner again faced off after medaling at last year's novice championships and were the only two competitors to attempt and land triple flips instead of double flips.

Taylor of the Texas Gulf Coast FSC who trains in Houston and Sugarland, Texas with Jana Vackar-Conter and B.L. Wylie took a convincing lead with nine first place ordinals.  She will skate twelfth for the final free skating round.   She changed her music during the season but this program suited her well. "I had Spanish music at the beginning of the year, but I have always wanted to skate to an Irish or Russian piece of music. My coach found this Irish music and I really liked it," she explained.  She sparkled and entertained while including the more difficult elements.

Taylor came into this competition as the 2004 Midwestern Sectional champion and competed in two JGP events, medaling in Slovakia with the silver.   This is this fourteen-year-old first year at the junior level and she won the silver medal for Novice ladies at the 2003 U. S. Championships.   She landed her triple Lutz but two-footed and under rotated her double toe jump in her combination. "I had to hold on to the (Lutz) landing and went on to the toe as fast as I could," she explained.

Meissner of the Univ. of Delaware FSC trains in Newark, Delaware with Pamela Gregory and Tracey Poletis.   Meissner will be the final competitor for the Saturday morning Junior Ladies free skating final at Philip's Arena.  This fourteen-year-old earned seven-second place ordinals, one-third placement and a fourth with her "Sand and Water" short program.  After her medal successes on the JGP circuit this season, Meissner received a bye from sectionals to compete in the Junior Grand Prix final, where she placed fifth.  This is her first year at junior level as she is the 2003 national novice ladies champion.
"It was a lot of hard work but it is more focused work this year," Meissner said.  Her programs were choreographed by Gregory.  Meissner fell on her opening triple Lutz combination but skated the rest of her elements well.   She said regarding her Lutz, "I got a little back and rushed a little but I am still pleased with how I skated."

Julian Burns of the Capital City FSC skates 11th in the skating order for the final took one second place ordinal, seven thirds, and one six place ordinal from the second judge, Roger Glenn of Appleton, WI. Burns is the 2004 Pacific Coast Sectional champion and she skated to "Clair de Lune."  This sixteen-year-old trains in California with Lynn Smith and her choreographers are Justin Dillon and Renee Roca.  This is her first trip to the national championships but she previously qualified in novice. "For 2002 novice championships, I qualified but broke my arm and had to withdraw," Burns said. "About three days before I was supposed to leave I just tripped while I was stroking to warm up. I put out my arm to brace myself because I was sliding into the wall and it just snapped."   She looks at the mishap in a positive way now.  She added, "I think the break actually helped me. I had to take a month and a half off. I just had to start over again and I had to get my jumps back. I was more motivated."  Her combination was a triple loop - double toe.

Shanell Noji of the All Year FSC currently sits in fourth place and will be the first skater in the final warm-up group.   This fifteen-year-old also took one-second-place ordinal; four fourth places, one fifth, and three six place ordinals.  John Nicks choreographed her short program to music from the soundtrack, "Hawaii".  He coaches her with Sondra Holmes.  Noji was the 2004 Pacific coast silver medallist and finished 7th at the junior level at the 2003 U.S. Figure Skating Championships.   This competitor has quick spins and turns quickly in the air for her jumps.  Her double Axel was big but her combination jump was less difficult (triple toe loop - double toe loop).

Fourteen year olds, Kimberly Meissner of Univ. of Delaware FSC and Katy Taylor of the Texas Gulf Coast FSC share the same month and year for birthdays.  Meissner won gold last year in Novice Ladies and this year is the 2004 Junior Ladies champion.  Taylor also took home the silver medal in Novice ladies and is now the 2004 Junior Ladies silver medallist.  Both competitors plan to move up to the senior ladies ranks for 2005, where their very friendly rivalry should continue.  Both ladies medaled on the Junior Grand Prix circuit this season, also gaining some valuable international recognition and experience.

Meissner's program to "Pines of Rome" included two triple Lutzes including one with a triple toe loop jump, and four other triples.  She skated with grace and style and earned marks ranging from 5.3 through 5.5 for technical merit and 5.3 through 5.5 for presentation.  She took home every first place ordinal.  When asked to compare her novice and junior titles, she responded, "This one means more because I'm one level below senior and it helps me feel a lot better going into seniors." 

She trains with Pam Gregory in Newark, Delaware.  She had only one error in her free skating program. "My only mistake was the last triple Salchow." Meissner said. "I popped it, and I was a little disappointed with that. My overall performance was pretty good so I didn't really worry about it."

Taylor included a second triple Lutz in the final five seconds of her program.  When asked how that she was able to do that, she responded, "Practice. Endurance. Back-to-back programs. Stroking a lot."  She received nine-second place ordinals and marks ranging from 5.1 through 5.3 for technical merit and from 5.0 through 5.4 for presentation.

She trains in Sugarland, Texas with Jana Vackar - Conter, who also choreographed her "American Medley" free skate.  Taylor said of her routine, "Some things were a little shaky (two jump landings) but I think this was definitely my best performance."

The three junior ladies medalists giggled when a reporter asked if they would be medaling in 2005. "OK," Taylor said with a giggle.  Meissner then added with a laugh, "Yeah, that's fine."  When asked what it would take to win, she said a quad with a smile.  Taylor added," I don't think we have to have it (quad) but it would definitely help. More artistry and jumps would help, too."

Neither has yet tackled that jump yet but Taylor works on the triple Axel on the harness.
Taylor does not include the triple toe loop in her programs because she taught herself that jump with a friend while Conter was out of time and they have had difficulty with correcting technique problems for that jump.

Brianna Perry of the Colonial FSC, the 2004 Junior Ladies bronze medallist earned eight third place ordinals and a fifth place ordinal from Glenace Cohen of Castle Rock, Colorado.   She is the 2004 Eastern Sectionals champion and trains with Evy and Mary Scotvold.  Her program to music from Cirque de Soliel was choreographed by Mary Wanamaker.  Her marks ranged from 4.6 through 4.9 for technical merit and from 4.7 through 5.1 for presentation.

This fifteen year old is currently undecided on her competitive level for next season.  She landed all her jumps except for the triple loop.  Perry said, "During my slow piece I went to do a triple loop. I landed it in warm-up so I was a little upset I fell on it. It was good all week. I felt pretty good about my performance but it definitely could have been better. It could always be better, something to work on."  She skates with a graceful lightness

Erin Reed of the Wasatch FSC pulled up to fourth place in the free skate and fourth overall for the pewter medal with her program to music from the "Road to Perdition" soundtrack and Vanessa Mae's "Devil's Trill." She had been sixth in the short program.
She received on third place ordinal, six fourth placements and two fifth place ordinals to easily take fourth place in the free skating.  Her marks ranged from 4.6 through 4.9 for technical merit and 4.7 to 5.1 for presentation.

Shanell Noji of All Year FSC also skated to music from soundtracks, utilizing "Titanic" and "Legends of the Fall."  She dropped from fourth place to fifth in the free skate and overall after falling on her triple Lutz attempt.  She and Reed both had combined factored placements of 7.0 from combining both programs but the pewter medal went to Reed for her stronger free skate.  Noji now trains with John Nicks. In this performance Noji didn't not hold out her moves on her skating elements for maximum effect but instead seemed to rush from one to the next.

In third place after the short program, Julian Burns of the Capital City FSC struggled with her jumps and slipped to sixth in the free skate and sixth overall with her "Spanish Rhapsody" free skate. 

Short Program

Jessica Houston

Free Skating

Jessica Houston