Howerton, dressed in a bright orange outfit, and Pottenger, in black, used the ballet music Firebird. They began with a back inside death spiral with a variation in which she looks at her partner instead of away from him. They did a good double twist and lasso lift. Their throw double toe loop was solid, as was their side by side double axels, pair and solo spins.

"I wasn’t nervous. I really was having a good time. I told myself just to do it as if it was another show," said Howerton. They train at the Galleria in Dallas and take part in many shows there in front of the public. "At Christmas time the shows are almost every week," Pottenger explained.

Five of the nine judges gave this pair, who are trained by David Kirby, first place. One other thought they should be second, two others thought they should be third and one had the opinion they should rank only fifth.

For the last two years they have competed at Novice Level finishing seventh in 2000 and third last year. Pottenger has a younger brother, Chris, who competes in Intermediate Pairs. When I asked if there was any rivalty between the two brothers, Pottenger denied that that is the case, saying, "We are very supportive of each other." Howerton has older sisters but no one else in her family skates.

They both skated at the same rink and teamed up four years ago. He had been skating with another partner, Kristen Dean. Howerton did not have a previous partner.

Pottenger started skating at three because his mother was looking for any activity that would keep the super-energetic child busy. "She signed me up for everything – skiing, gym, swimming but all I wanted to do was go skating."

Howerton’s mom ran a daycare center and took all the children to watch the skating at the Galleria. "When I was five I saw a little girl skating and right away I knew that’s what I wanted to do," said Howerton.

The pair, who were second in the Midwestern Championships, aren’t worried that being in the lead will put extra pressure on them. "We just want to skate our personal bests and we aren’t going to let pressure affect that, said Pottenger.

Colette Appel and Lee S. Harris, who train with Bob Young and Kathy Collings in Newington, Connecticut, were second on of the twelve pairs and gained second place. They used the music "Children" by Robert Park. Instead of attempting the double axel as their solo jump and falling as did many competitors, Appel, who is 15, and Harris, 20, stuck with the double loop. That caution paid off.

The judges gave them two first places, three second places, a third, a fourth, a fifth and a ninth which might have reflected the fact that their throw double toe was low. They are competing in their first season together and are Eastern Junior champions.

They teamed together in the spring of 2000. Harris said, "Right from the beginning it felt great." His older brother and sister were figure skaters and he followed them to the rink when he was three and initially played hockey. She also followed her older sister to an ice rink when she was about four. Both have had one other partner.

In third place are Christie H. Baca of the Orange County Figure Skating Club, who is a 5’0" 17 year old, and Scott P. Smith of the Glacier Falls Figure Skating Club, a 5’6" 18 year old. Both fell on their double axels. The pair, who used music from Cirque du Soleil, have been the Pacific Coast champions for the past two years and were ninth in this event last year. They train at the Aliso Viejo rink with Roger Bass, Barbara Brown, John Nicks and Yvonne Littlefield-Nicks.

Their routine, choreographed to the music Dragonheart which she had used before, included a super throw double axel. "I like doing throws," Appel said. "Our highlight is our whole routine. Of course it’s physically demanding. But we never expected to win."

He is from Windsor, Ontario, and now that they have achieved this success they will concentrate on proceedings to get him a green card so he can eventually become a U.S. citizen in case they are able to climb all the way up the competitive ladder into the Olympic team.

He had competed in pairs at Novice level in Canada. She had won the US Intermediate Championship in 1998 with Adam Kaplan and they finished second in the 1999 US Novice Championship. They got together through the USFSA partner search Website in the spring of 2000.

Janice J. Mayne of the All Year Figure Skating Club and Josh Martin of the Los Angeles Figure Skating Club were second in the long which allowed them to claim the silver medals. Trained by Peter Oppegard, they were the only pair to do a triple twist. Oppegard remembers his injuries learning this move. "I also remember Peter Carruthers and his injuries, so we approach the move with great respect."

(Oppegard competed with Jill Watson. They were US champions and 1988 Olympic bronze medal winners. The Carruthers, Peter and Kitty, were US champions and 1984 Olympic silver medal winners.)

Tiffany Vise of the Broadmoor Skating Club and Laureano Ibarra of the Colorado Skating Club, who have only been skating together since April, were fourth in the short. They jump in opposite directions forming mirror images.

In the long he put his hand on the ice in their solo triple toe loops and messed up the solo triple salchow, and she fell on the throw triple loop, but their throw triple salchow was very nice. They were the only couple to try two solo triples.

Ibarra said, "It’s obvious we made mistakes but we picked ourselves up."

They gained third place in this section which gave them the bronze medals.