2006 U.S. Nationals

The Reeds, who, last year, were a disappointed fifth in sectionals and so, marginally, failed to make Novice Nationals, overtook another brother and sister team, the Hubbells, to grasp the gold. On Sunday, both they and the Hubbells received the same marks on the first compulsory although that tie was broken on the technical score, just as it used to be under the old system. After the Starlight Waltz they were only a fraction, 0.29 points, behind the Hubbells who led. But the Reeds had not dreamed of actually winning, because the free was their main rivals’ strong point.

"I didn’t give it any thought at all. It was all up to the judges," said Cathy, who is two years older than her 16 year old brother, Chris. He was just besides himself with delight. "This is our first nationals, and this is the best memory of my life," he said with a huge grin. They finished 1.39 ahead of the Hubbells.

The Reeds will repeat their free dance, in which they interprete Concerto de Aranjuez, for their exhibition at the Savvis Arena on Sunday. They wear intense black velvet outfits with cutouts. They are not worried about the lack of practice time leading up to that opportunity because, says Cathy, "We know we can do it. We’ve done it so many times."

The routine begins with a vocal section to which they executed a Level 3 closed circular footwork which gained a Grade of Execution of +1.43. That was followed by a straight line Level 4 lift for which they received a positive but lesser GoE of 0.43. None of their subsequent four elements got less than Level 4 and all were positive GoE’s.

Their program components scores were 0.80 less than the Hubbells but they were 2.48 points ahead on the technical scores. "We couldn’t have skated better," agreed Cathy.

They are now looking forward to the novice seminar in which they will get to trial judge the junior original. Cathy explained. "We will move into the official hotel in St. Louis (from the Novice one out in St. Charles near the airport). We will learn how to respond to the media, and be told about nutrition and exercise."

The Hubbells could not help but be disappointed. Their overnight minuscule lead had mushroomed into a 1.39 point deficit mainly because of their flubbed third move, the combination spin. They were given only a Level 1 and a negative 0.64 GoE. They received Level 4’s for four moves including their curve lift in which she is lying on her back on her brother, and their straight line lift in which both of them are in back shoot-the-duck positions with their bodies almost horizontal to the ice.

"We have done the curve lift before and people called it a Romeo & Juliet, I guess because it looks as if we’ve both died," said Madison. Also bringing their score slightly down was a Level 2 for their closed circular step sequence.

Their 2005 fifth place in Novices in Portland put pressure on the Hubbells to medal this time, and that did not help.

The blonde Madison has quite the air of a diva which definitely enhanced their Tango medley free. The routine provided them with a great opportunity to show off and reach out to the audience. But you can’t win with one element messed up out of a total of six. "The mistake cost us," Madison freely admits, "but we’re still proud of what we did and of the silver. We’ll live to fight another time."

Keiffer, her brother, who will be 16 on Sunday, said they were looking forward to being juniors next year and doing an original which does not form part of novice competition. The rhythm for next season’s original is Tango. It’s because they like this rhythm so much that they chose a Tango for the theme of their free this year.

"We won’t adapt it. That would be too hard. The original is half a minute shorter. We are looking forward to putting a new routine together and working on it. It’s a new beginning," Madison explained. She also said she particular likes "the stops" aspect of a Tango.

Tomarchio & Sinchak were third. They lay 4.77 points behind the then second placed Reeds after the compulsories and finished up a significant 6.22 marks below the Hubbells.

Their Carmen, however, had an intensity that was extremely enjoyable and, although their closed circular footwork was slowish, it matched the music perfectly. None of their moves had negative GoE’s. Four moves were Level 4 and the two others, the spin and the closed circular footwork, Level 2.

"We’ve just thrilled to be here at our first Nationals," said Sinchak. The duo had choregraphed their routine before the world champions, Tatiana Navka & Roman Kostomarov, revealed to the public that they had chosen this music.

They have now seen the Russians’ rendition but aren’t intimidated by it at all. "I feel that from an interpretation point of view, from the choreography of how we tell the love story and then the fight and death, that ours is better. I learned how to die properly," said Tomarchio. They have both seen the ballet and Tomarchio has also seen a video of the opera sung in French but with English sub-titles.

When asked, how Sinchak could project the intensity of Don Jose, who kills his love because her heart has been stolen by another, Sinchak explained he’d had his car stolen, and he felt pretty violent about that.

In fourth place were Michelle Pennington, 16, & Brad Coulter, who turned 17 on January 2. They were 2.68 behind Tomarchio & Sinchak after the compulsories but a massive 7.68 behind at the event’s conclusion. Dressed in red, black and gold, they began with a Tango followed by music from Cirque du Soleil, which seemed somewhat dull and not very audience appealing. They finished 2.81 ahead of Wingle & Devereaux.

Pennington & Coulter are trained by Elena Grushina & Ruslan Goncharov along with Evgini Neveroski. They haven’t yet thought about whether they will stay at novice level or advance to juniors for next season. They were thrilled to be wearing costumes made for their instructors who are the world’s third ranked ice dancers, Ukrainians who have lived in the United States for over a decade. Quite a bit of alteration had to be made to adjust the fit.

2.81 points behind Pennington & Coulter, climbing up from seventh place after the initial round to fifth overall, were the Pacific Coast champions, Shannon Wingle, 15, & Ryan Devereaux, 16, who train with Igor Shpilband. They chose Celtic Medley, containing lively Irish fiddle music with a slow middle section. She wore a red backless dress with gold on the bodice and sleeves. He was in a white shirt and black pants. Her long, very slim legs helped create some nice lines.

Katie Wyble, who turned 16 today, & Chad Reinhold, 17, pupils of Bob Mock and Barb Gahagen, in Delmont, PA, gave a refreshing performance to a Swing & Blues number to music from the movie, The Mask. They lay fifth but dropped to sixth overall 1.51 points behind Wingle & Devereaux.

2005 U.S. intermediate champions, Piper Gilles, who will turn 14 on January 16, & Timothy McKernan, 16, who were sixth after the compulsories, finished seventh overall, an annoying 0.02 behind Wyble & Reinhold. They gave an amusing interpretation of music from the soundtrack of Triplets of Belleville. It opened with a dipperty-do start, followed by a French Blues-y middle and a drum energetic conclusion. (Yes, she’s one of Todd Gilles, the senior ice dancer’s younger twin sisters.)

Isabella Cannuscio, who was 15 on December 29, & Zachary Varraux, 17, are taught by the Ludingtons and Brian Helgenberg at the University of Delaware. They chose Once Upon a Time in Mexico. She wore a low cut, knee-length suitably Mexican looking dress. I found his matador jacket a little distracting. It was open in the front and had a split in the back. Their final frenetically fast move, a rotational lift, was impressive. They stayed eighth increasing their lead over Hauser & Herring substantially from 0.13 to 3.04.

Alexis Hauser, who turned 16 on December 27, & Kyle Herring, 16, gave a spirited performance to Russian Folk Dance, which seemed to be a tribute to Angelika Krylova and Oleg Ovsinnikov’s routine from the 1996 season. They are pupils of the relatively new professionals Christie Moxley and Sasha Kirsanov. They stayed ninth

Rachel Tibbetts, 14, & Eric Reinhart, 17, pupils of Tiffany Hyden-Dombeck, presented an ambitious program starting with a one-handed rotational lift and a very low pairs spin. They were dressed in deep red reflecting the somber nature of their chanting Furioso music by Paul Schwartz. They finished 10^th, increasing their lead over Deutch & Lorella from 1.72 up to a significant 4.43.

Genevieve Deutch, 15, & Alexander Lorello, 18, pupils of Gennady Karponosov, got the event off to a good start performing a pleasant number to Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Their outfits had free-flowing chiffon which gave a swirling feel to their movements. They remained 11^th increasing their lead slightly to 1.07 over Olson & Zuerlein.

Anastasia Olson, 13, & Greg Zuerlein, 17, who train in Canton and Bloomfield Hills in MI, presented a Russian Gypsy number in elaborate, authentic looking mostly red and purple outfits with tassels and embroidery and a knee length skirt for her. They stayed 12^th.

Technical Specialist for the event was April Sargent with Hal Marron her assistant.