2000 U.S. Figure Skating Championships

Junior Men

Final Standings

        J1:  Joseph Driano
        J2:  Tamie Campbell
        J3:  Judith Reiner
        J4:  Linda Lever
        J5:  Paula Ziegler
        J6:  Beth Graham
        J7:  Anne Cammett
        J8:  Kathhaleen Kelly Cutone
        J9: Steve Winkler

Notes after the long program.

The junior men's short program was as hard fought as the short program.   Four skaters received first place ordinals, and again no one received a majority of firsts.  The top three skaters in the long all had a majority of seconds and the difference between first and second place came down to one place from one judge.

Evan Lysacek, who placed fifth in the short program, was the surprise winner of the long program and the event.  Skating to "Romeo and Juliet" he landed five triples and attempted the triple-triple combination of Lutz with toe loop, but fell on the second jump.  It was the only major error in the program.  He had good jumps and quick spins.

Parker Pennington moved up to second in the long program, trailing Lysacek by one ordinal from one judge.  He landed six triples, including his first triple Axel in competition, though not as cleanly as Lysacek.  He fell on a solo triple Lutz and had mediocre landings on three of his six triples.  Skating to "Riverdance"  his expression was good and his spins were decent but fairly simple.  Although he landed the most difficult jump of the group Lysacek had the edge in overall quality of the skating and most well rounded program.

Benjamin Miller dropped one place from the short program to end up third in the long and third overall.  He landed four triples, a Lutz, loop, Salchow, and toe loop.  The toe loop was in combination with a double toe loop, and the loop was in combination with a double loop which he stepped out of.  He also put a hand down on triple flip and stepped out of a triple toe loop which was thrown in combination with a double toe loop.  His music began with "Put'n on the Ritz" and then degenerated into God only knows what.  His expression was lively in character with the music, but overall the program seemed trite.

Daniel Lee also dropped one place from the short to place fourth in the long and third overall.  He landed five triples, but two of them were marginal.   These consisted of flip, loop, Salchow, and two toe loops (one in combination with a double toe loop).  He fell on triple Lutz, and Salchow, and on a double Axel.   Overall, his jumps were only solid through triple loop.  His spins were adequate and he skated with fair speed and expression.

The last skater to compete in the event was Johnny Weir who placed first in the short program.  He opened decent enough with a double Axel and a triple Lutz - double toe loop combination, but then he got into trouble.  He fell on triple Axel, singled a flip, fell on triple loop,  and singled an Axel.  Towards the end he started to pull thing together again landing a triple flip and a triple Salchow with steps into a double toe loop sequence.  It was too little too late, though, and he was placed fifth in the long program. One judge, however, placed him first, and that proved to be a critical mark for the event.

Prior to Weir skating Pennington was ahead of  Lysacek with seven seconds vs. six seconds.  By placing Weir first, one of Pennington's seconds became a third giving both he and Lysacek six seconds.  With three first place ordinals to Pennington's two Lysacek moved ahead of Pennington to take first place in the long program.  In addition, Lysacek was third in the overall standings (behind Pennington and Miller) prior to Weir skating.  By moving ahead of Pennington in the long program his total factored place decreased by one while Pennington's increased by one pushing Lysacek ahead of both Pennington and Miller to win the event.  With his fifth place finish in the long program Weir dropped to fifth place overall.

Notes after the short program.

The junior men's short program was a battle with three skaters getting first place ordinals and none of them a majority.  The results for the top three places was decided for all three skaters by a majority of seconds.

The short program was won by Johnny Weir who received four first place and three second place ordinals.  He skated a paso doble with god speed and expression.   He landed a strong double Axel and a solo triple Lutz, but on his combination he fell on the first jump, and attempt at triple Axel.  His spins and step sequences were all well done and his flying sit was huge but wild.

Second and third place proved particularly close with both skaters receiving five ordinals of first or better, with Benjamin Miller receiving four first place ordinals.  Miller took second place on the ordinals of the majority tie breaker.  He skated to "Speedway" with fair expression.  His double Axel was clean but small and on triple Lutz he put a hand down.  He landed triple flip - double toe loop but both landing edges were a bit weak.  His spins were better than average for this level.

Following closely behind in third place was Daniel Lee.  Skating to a piece of Latin guitar music, he gave a performance that captured the character of the music and was skated with good speed.  His only major error was in the solo Lutz which was two footed and cheated.   If this was an attempt at a triple it wasn't even close.  His combination jump was much better, though, landing triple flip - double toe loop.  The flying sit spin was well done and the remaining two spins were of decent quality.

Placing fourth was Parker Pennington, a hometown favorite.  He received one first place ordinal, but the remainder of his marks were in the range of   third through fifth.  Skating to "All that Jazz" with fair expression his best elements were the double Axel and the camel spin combination.  He landed a triple Lutz but fell on triple flip and omitted the second jump of the combination.  The flying sit was clean but the position was weak.

Free Skating

Short Program

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