2003 U.S. Nationals

Novice Ladies

by Lynn Rutherford

Novice Ladies US2003.jpg (41538 bytes)

 
Standings
Place Skater SP FS
1 Kimberly Meissner 1 1
2 Katy Taylor 4 2
3 Jessica Houston 3 3
4 Brianna Perry 2 6
5 Felicia Gostisbehere 7 4
6 Jessica Leatham 6 7
7 Natalie Malone 12 5
8 Lauren Hennessy 5 10
9 Katrina Karpowitsch 11 8
10 Stephanie Dal Porto 9 9
11 Tosha Hanford 8 11
12 Kimmi Jeffers 10 12

 

Short Program

 
Starting Order - Short Program
  1. Katy Taylor
  2. Tosha Hanford
  3. Brianna Perry
  4. Jessica Houston
  5. Stephanie Dal Porto
  6. Felicia Gostisbehere
  7. Natalie Malone
  8. Kimmi Jeffers
  9. Katrina Karpowitsch
  10. Jessica Leatham
  11. Lauren Hennessy
  12. Kimberly Meissner

 

Short Program Placements
Place Skater
1 Kimberly Meissner
2 Brianna Perry
3 Jessica Houston
4 Katy Taylor
5 Lauren Hennessy
6 Jessica Leatham
7 Felicia Gostisbehere
8 Tosha Hanford
9 Stephanie Dal Porto
10 Kimmi Jeffers
11 Katrina Karpowitsch
12 Natalie Malone

Skating last certainly didn’t bother 13 year-old Kimberly Meissner, who handily won the ladies’ short program with first-place marks from eight of the nine judges.

The youngster, who is coached by Pamela Gregory and Tracey Poletis at the University of Delaware, skated a clean, energetic program to music from the ballet "Ramonda," landing a strong triple Salchow, double toe loop combination and big double Axel.

"It wasn’t really hard to wait. I didn’t even watch the other competitors," said Meissner.

"This year, she’s really developed her own personality on the ice," said Poletis. "She was more cutesy before; now, she’s more mature." Poletis added that Meissner has all of the triples except the Axel and is planning two Salchows, a toe loop and a Lutz in her free program.

Good extension on her spiral sequence, along with a strong double Axel and combination spin, helped Briana Perry take second place. "I skated my best and had fun out there," said the Massachusetts native, who placed second at Easterns.

Perry added that her favorite skater, Michelle Kwan, inspired her spiral sequence. For her long program, the 13 year-old is taking a page from another champion, skating to the "Man in the Iron Mask" soundtrack used so famously by Olympic gold medallist Alexei Yagudin. "It has a lot of footwork in it, just like Yagudin’s program," said Perry.

In third place was Jessica Houston, 13, who finished third at Easterns. Her program was chock full of interesting moves, including an Ina Bauer and spread eagle into a double Axel. "My coaches, Mark Mitchell and Peter Johansson, along my choreographer Deidre Williams, came up with the idea," said Houston.

"Each spring, we play with different moves, and this one stuck," said Mitchell.

When complimented on her combination spin, Houston responded, "I like to spin." Mitchell laughed, saying, "She’s telling a little lie – we have to force her to work on her spins!"

Katy Taylor, 13, who finished second in the Midwesterns, hit a triple Salchow, double toe loop combination to take fourth place. Lauren Henessy, 16, who was fourth at Midwesterns, also hit a triple Salchow, double toe to finish sixth. Pacific Coast sectionals champion Jessica Leatham, 15, rounded out the top six.

 

Free Skate

 
Starting Order - Free Skating
  1. Stephanie Dal Porto
  2. Natalie Malone
  3. Tosha Hanford
  4. Felicia Gostisbehere
  5. Kimmi Jeffers
  6. Katrina Karpowitsch
  7. Lauren Hennessy
  8. Katy Taylor
  9. Jessica Houston
  10. Jessica Leatham
  11. Brianna Perry
  12. Kimberly Meissner

 

Free Skating Placements
Place Skater
1 Kimberly Meissner
2 Katy Taylor
3 Jessica Houston
4 Felicia Gostisbehere
5 Natalie Malone
6 Brianna Perry
7 Jessica Leatham
8 Katrina Karpowitsch
9 Stephanie Dal Porto
10 Lauren Hennessy
11 Tosha Hanford
12 Kimmi Jeffers

Kimberly Meissner Captures Novice Ladies Title

Now novice ladies are doing triple Lutzes.

Skating with speed and verve, Kimberly Meissner, 13, the leader in the short program, opened her free program with a triple Lutz -- the only one of the evening -- and nailed two other triples, the flip and Salchow, as well as a double Axel to clinch the novice ladies title.

"I learned the Lutz over the summer," said Meissner. "I was a little worried about doing it here at first, but once I got out there I was fine."

Meissner and her coaches, Pamela Gregory and Tracey Poletis of the University of Delware FSC, added that she will definitely compete as a junior next year. But now, they’re off the prepare a last-minute exhibition program for Nationals’ closing gala next Sunday.

With a free program that included an opening double Axel, double toe loop, double loop combination, as well as a triple Salchow, double toe loop combination and a slightly turned out triple loop, Katy Taylor moved up from fourth in the short to claim second place overall.

"Except for the bobble on the loop, I hit everything and it felt very strong," said Taylor. "I told myself not to go out there to compete with the other girls, but to just try to skate my best. . . This is a dream come true. I was hoping for maybe fourth place, but second is so much better."

Skating a sophisticated program to "The Iron Monkey," Jessica Houston, third after the short, opened strongly with a double Axel, followed by a triple toe loop, double toe loop, as well as a triple Salchow and another double Axel. Despite falling on a triple toe loop near the end of her program, she finished third in the free and won the bronze medal.

"I was a little nervous but excited. When I’m waiting to skate, my coach always says, "Can you do it?" and I say, "I can do it!" said Houston.

"I’ve known Jessica for a long time. She was always very musical, even as a little girl. This year, we chose to showcase that quality with some unique music and choreography," said one of Houston’s coach, former long-time U.S. men’s competitor Mark Mitchell. (Mitchell coaches in partnership with Peter Johansson.)

Brianna Perry, who was in second place after the short, opened her free program with a strong double Axel but fell on her next jump, a triple toe, as well as a triple loop. She hit a solid triple Salchow, double toe combination, but fell to fourth place overall.

Felicia Gostisbehere, a 12 year-old who finished fourth at Eastern sectionals, claimed fourth place in the free program and moved up to fifth place overall with a strong skate that included a triple Salchow, double toe loop combination, a triple loop and two double Axels. Jessica Leatham was sixth in the short program and seventh in the free program, and finished in sixth place overall.

Judges

          J1:  Robert Rosenbluth
          J2:  Brett Drury
          J3:  Shanon Hunter
          J4:  Dana Graham
          J5:  Kristina Blackwell
          J6:  Kimberly Heim
          J7:  Gale Tanger
          J8:  Jessica Gaynor
          J9:  Eleanor Curtis

Ordinals

Short Program
Place Skater J1 J2 J3 J4 J5 J6 J7 J8 J9 Maj. TOM
1 Kimberly Meissner 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 8/1  
2 Katy Taylor 2 2 3 2 2 3 3 1 2 6/2  
3 Jessica Houston 3 5 4 3 3 2 5 3 6 5/3  
4 Brianna Perry 4 4 5 5 4 4 2 6 4 6/4  
5 Felicia Gostisbehere 6 9 6 6 5 5 4 7 8 6/6  
6 Jessica Leatham 11 3 2 7 7 6 7 5 3 5/6 19
7 Natalie Malone 5 6 9 4 6 9 9 4 9 5/6 25
8 Lauren Hennessy 10 7 8 9 8 7 8 10 7 6/8  
9 Katrina Karpowitsch 9 10 11 11 9 10 11 9 5 6/10 52
10 Stephanie Dal Porto 8 8 10 10 11 12 10 8 11 6/10 54
11 Tosha Hanford 7 11 7 8 10 11 12 11 12 7/11  
12 Kimmi Jeffers 12 12 12 12 12 8 6 12 10 9/12  

 

Free Skting
Place Skater J1 J2 J3 J4 J5 J6 J7 J8 J9 Maj. TOM
1 Kimberly Meissner 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 9/1  
2 Katy Taylor 2 2 2 3 2 2 2 3 2 7/2  
3 Jessica Houston 3 4 4 5 3 3 3 2 4 5/3  
4 Felicia Gostisbehere 4 3 3 2 6 4 4 4 3 8/4  
5 Natalie Malone 7 7 5 4 5 5 5 5 5 7/5  
6 Brianna Perry 5 6 9 7 4 6 8 6 8 5/6 27
7 Jessica Leatham 6 5 6 6 7 7 7 7 6 5/6 29
8 Katrina Karpowitsch 9 9 7 9 8 10 6 9 9 8/9  
9 Stephanie Dal Porto 8 8 8 8 10 9 10 10 10 5/9 81
10 Lauren Hennessy 11 11 10 10 9 8 9 8 7 5/9 83
11 Tosha Hanford 12 10 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 8/11  
12 Kimmi Jeffers 10 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 9/12  

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