2000 U.S. Figure Skating Championships

Junior Pairs

Final Standings

        J1:  Richard Perez
        J2: Dorathy Jamison
        J3:  Joseph Inman
        J4:  Shannon Hunter
        J5:  Lorrie Parker
        J6:  Ron DeiCas
        J7:  Robert Rosenbluth
        J8:  Kimberly Heim
        J9: Larry Kriwanik

Notes after the long program.

In the long program the Ganabas were dethroned as champions and the Sierks dropped out of the top three.  The two newcomers moved up with Kalesavich & Parchem taking the gold, and Waldstein & Lucash moving up to the bronze.

Kalesavich & Parchem gave a performance that was well done, polished, and unambiguously the best of the day.  There only noteworthy error was a difficult set down on triple twist.  They landed throw triple salchow, throw triple loop, and four solo double jumps, including double Lutz (flutzed) - double toe loop.  There two death spirals were well done, especially the difficult back outside.  Overall they skated with speed and security.

Ganaba & Ganaba gave a dramatic performance to one of Peter Oppegard's interesting programs, but with several errors and an overall difficulty level that was too low they were outskated for the gold and ended up in second place.  They completed triple twist and two double throws, Salchow and loop.   On triple toe loop Sima doubled the jump and on double Axel she stepped out.  Their two death spirals were well done but consisted of the relatively easy forward inside and a back inside in the down position.  It was an artistic program but definitely not a champion caliber program.

Moving up to third from the short were Waldstein & Lucash.  The skated the program with fair expression and decent unison though overall there were some control problems.  On triple twist Jessica came up half a turn short, and the final star lift was a bit wild. A lasso to platter and another lasso lift, however, were well done.  Throw triple salchow was landed but throw double Axel was two footed and had a turn on the landing.  On double Axel Lucash stepped out, while both skaters landed double toe loop and a double flip - double toe loop sequence.  They included only one death spiral, the simple back inside in the down position.

Sierk & Sierk skated with good unison with nice lifts but had several errors and faded towards the end, which cost them a place.  On triple twist Megan hit Dustin's shoulder and she two footed throw double Axel.  Throw double Salchow was landed.  On double Axels Megan singled the jump while Dustin stepped out.  Both skaters landed triple flip.  Their side-by-side spin had good unison and their only death spiral, the difficult back outside, was well done.

Notes after the short program.

In the short program four teams stood out from among the rest, with the top three teams all getting at least one first place ordinal.  Two of those teams were medalists last year while the other two joined forces in the past year.

Hoping to repeat as junior champions, Sima & Amir Ganaba gave a strong performance up until the last element, a straight line sequence ending in the closing pose.  Half-way down the ice Amir fell and shortly thereafter Sima stumble as the team attempted to get back on track.  There twist lift, death spiral, overhead lift (star with change of position to one-arm star) and spiral sequence were all well done.   There pair quality and unison were also well above average.

Stephanie Kalesavich & Aaron Parchem placed second, but earned three first place ordinals in the process.  This is their first Nationals together and two days ago Kalesavich injured her shoulder during practice.  Their twist lift was the best of the group and the unison on their side-by-side spin was excellent.  On the negative side, Kalesavich had a delayed turn out of double Lutz and her death spiral entry was most unattractive.

Megan & Dustin Sierk, who placed third at the 1999 Nationals held that position here.  Their expression was better than average and they skated with good speed.  Their best element was the overhead lift - a star to one arm position with a twist out.  Their error were mostly minor with an adequate twist lift, a poor double Lutz from Megan, a stumble in the spiral sequence, and the butt-out entry of the death spiral.

The second new team making the top four here were Jessica Waldstein & Garrett Lucash, two lefties who appear to be well matched.  Skating first they had a nice twist lift and death spiral.  They skated with decent expression and good unison throughout, but could use more speed.

Free Skating

Short Program

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