2002 U.S. Nationals

Novice Ladies

by Marcia Burchstead

None of the ladies attempted Lutz jumps opting instead for the much easier toe loops and Salchows for their combination.

The placements were all over the board but Danielle Kahle, age 12, squeaked into first with one first place vote but a majority of seconds. Her combination was triple toe loop/double toe loop but she did have trouble with the layback spin confessing afterwards that the lights in the arena got in her eyes and momentarily disoriented her.

Three other women received first places including Jillian Asby who also had two 10th places and only finished seventh overall.

Kahle trains in Simi Valley, Calif. and like Sarah Hughes comes from a large family with three brothers, all involved with baseball and basketball and a younger sister (Savannah) who is very much into tennis. To build up her stamina she walks uphill with her mother a former long jumper.

Perky and energetic, her coach said they select music to fit her personality. She skated to "Saber Dance," in the short and will use "Mack and Mabel" the music associated with ice dancers Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean for the free skate.

Her goal this season was to qualify for nationals and she was very excited to be here.

Lisa Dannemiller, 14^th at the 2001 Nationals, received four firsts and placing second overall skated with good speed and graceful presentation and a layback worthy of praise from perennial critic, Dick Button.

Last year she had been hindered in her training by a broken foot and arrived at Nationals, "unprepared.

"Today was the best I have skated in competition all year," she said.

Coming from Ann Arbor, Michigan she is especially enjoying the sunny and warm southern California weather.

The 2001 Intermediate Ladies champion, Natalie Mecher claimed three firsts and third overall in the short program utilizing a triple Salchow/double toe loop for her combination.

Mecher began skating at the age of three tagging along with her older sister who now competes in ice dance.

Anna Peng, runner-up to Mecher last year, placed fourth but demonstrated the best sit spin of the day with good speed and posture. Her jump combination lacked flow.

The omission of a Lutz jump in the program did not seem to faze the judging panel. In all she landed 3 double Axels one with a 2-toe loop tagged on, 3 triples (2 toe loop and 1 Salchow) and double flip and loop. She kept her layback spin centered and under control and demonstrated good flow and ice coverage.

She plans to skate to "Walking on Sunshine," at Sunday’s exhibition. Skating aficionados may recall Tara Lipinski previously over utilized that piece of music. Kahle, like Lipinski has an infectious joy and spunkiness to her skating and really sold the program to the audience.

According to her coach Nadine Graziano (no relation to Rocky), "Danielle is your typical 12 year old All-American girl, she is very humble but I feel she is one to watch. She has charisma and confidence."

Graziano said Kahle has been working on the triple Lutz, loop and flip jumps but, "we left those out, we didn’t want to push the jumps." They did add a 2 toe loop to the 3 Salchow just a few weeks before the event.

Kahle planned to celebrate her victory by, "watching Senior Ladies and seeing how everyone else does."

She is scheduled to take her Junior Freestyle test on February 3 in Oxnard, Calif.

Katherine Hadford made the biggest jump of the competition on paper at least coming back from ninth in the short to second in the free to capture the pewter medal for fourth. She skated to the "Black Swan Pas de Deux, " from "Swan Lake." Despite a fall on the triple Salchow attempt near the end of the program she had demonstrated some beautiful spins, and interconnecting moves including spirals, an Ina Bauer, spread eagle and Charlotte. Her most difficult combination was a 3 Salchow/2 toe loop/2 loop.

Erica Archambault fell on all four triple attempts on dropping out of contention to 10^th overall.

Lisa Dannemiller, briefly quit the sport after placing 14^th in last years championships but mentally revitalized by the training break she came back and wound up with the bronze medal this year. Performing to music from "Evita," she had drawn to skate after Kahle and her speed suffered in comparison. She did manage to stay on her feet for the entire program an accomplishment not many of the ladies could achieve and landed 2 triples to keep her on the podium.

"Last year was not a good one for me, a few weeks before nationals I fractured my foot, it was actually a stress fracture, and I was off-ice and not really prepared and it was a really bad skate for me. This year I worked really hard and I have a whole new outlook, I skate for me and not for anyone else," she said.

"The time away (3 weeks) helped me to see that I really loved and missed skating," she explained.

"I’ve been working on my strength and staying fit a lot this year, I have a new view of skating and it’s totally better this year. I’m going to work hard and get the other triples so I can be competitive next year," she said

"I was happy with the way I skated and I didn’t even want the marks to go up," she added.

Natalie Mercer with a third in the short and free but moved up to second overall. Her entry into the Salchow is unusual taking a big, wide curve before swinging the free leg around. She also plans to make the move up to the junior level next season. Her goal is to get all her triples as a junior.

Short Program

Free Skting