2001 U.S. Figure Skating Championships

Junior Men

Standings

Notes after the long program.

by Alexandra Stevenson

Parker Pennington advanced to win the title pushing Benjemin Miller down to second and Michael Villarreal down to third.

Pennington, who used the music Portrait of Mark Twain, said, "Today I was just going into the long program thinking I wanted to skate the best performance that I'm capable of. "I'm so happy to skate the program like that and afterwards to find out that I won, it was just such a thrill." "It's a very tough group. "For everyone to go out and skate as well as they did with this much pressure at nationals - I think it's just great. I think that shows how wonderful these people are that I' skating with. "I wanted to win so much last year in Cleveland because all my friends were there (since it was his hometown). I think this year having it in Boston eased the pressure a lot. I wanted to skate the best program I could and be happy no matter what place I got."

Miller, who performed to a Latin medley, said, "I opened my program with my triple Lutz-triple toe, and the first time I landed it in competition was Wednesday in the short program. I landed it again so I was very excited about that. This is the best I've ever skated at a competition."  Asked why how he has managed to get to this level, Miller said, "I've always thought that ninety percent of success is just showing up."

Despite dropping a place, Villarreal, who skated to Gettysburg, was upbeat. "I wish everyone would skate clean. I feel bad about the kids who didn't."

All three medal winners have been working on their triple Axels but did not try one in their programs. Parker explained, "I've been working on triple Axels for years now. I land them clean but it's too big a risk. The quad I've tried once or twice but I almost broke my leg."  Miller said, "I landed my first triple axel in April."   And said Villarreal, "I plan to work on a triple Axel a little before the next Nationals."

Shaun Rogers, a 15 year old who trains in Newark, Delaware, with Pamela Gregory, was a crowd favorite. His free skate to Rodeo music brought him up a place to fourth overtaking Rusty Fein.

Notes after the short program.

by Alexandra Stevenson

Benjamin Miller, a 17 year old from St. Paul, Minnesota, won the short program section with seven first place votes. The other two judges divided their first place votes not, as might be expected, to Michael Villarreal of the Arctic Blades FSC, who was second, but to Parker Pennington, who lies third, and Rusty Fein, who was fourth. Miller, who finished third in the 2000 U.S. Junior championships in his first year at this level, used music from the Firebird. He was inspired to start skating when he was five after watching Brian Boitano win the 1988 Winter Olympics on the television. Villarreal, who drew to skate the short first of the twelve qualifiers, was sixth in this event last year which was also his first year of being a junior. He is a 14 year old from Long Beach, CA. His music was Dracula. Pennington, who is 16 and began skating when he was 3, was last year's runnerup and gained the bronze medal in 1999. He was the U.S. Novice Champion in 1998 and has competed in quite a few international events. He is taught by Carol Heiss in Cleveland. His music was the Festival Overture.

Free Skating

Short Program

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