2007 U.S. Nationals

Text and  photos copyright 2007 by George S. Rossano

Angela Maxwell, the Midwestern Sectional Champion, placed second, and was the only one of the three sectional champions who place in the top 4 in the short program.  Maxwell had a fine skate going (landing triple Salchow - double toe loop, triple toe loop, and double Axel) until her last element where she fell out of her combination spin after the change of foot.  Her typical GoE for that element was -1, and the error cost her at least 0.39 points.  Even without the error she would still have place second.  Her program was well done, with presentation components (PE, CH, IN) marked third best.

Third in the Short Program was Ellie Kawamura, who sits 1.98 points behind the leader.  Kawamura opened with a devastating error on her combination jump, stepping out of triple toe loop.  She managed to stay on her feet and avoid a deduction. but still lost 2.43 points on the GoEs.  Skating to an instrumental version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", Kawamura created a lovely mood in presenting the program, despite the initial error, and was judged second in Program Components, trailing Alba in those skills by just 0.36 points.

Caroline Ferris skated strong elements, to place in the top three for element scores alone.  She was competitive with all the top girls in this group, but was pulled down by Program Component scores.  For the components, she lagged the leader by 2.58 points, and was judged 7th in components among the 12 ladies.  In this respect, her transition were a particular weakness, as was interpretation.

The Eastern Sectional Champion, Kristine Musademba, placed fifth in the short program.  Like Kawamura, she stepped out of triple toe loop in her combination jump and received GoE points of -2.29.  This error cost her two places, dropping her out of the top three.  In Program Components she performed well, and was judged third in those skills.  Her presentation was fairly strong with an energetic performance to "Walk like an Eqyptian."

The Pacific Coast Champion, Victoria Hecht, did not skate her jump elements well today.  She has been struggling with the jumps recently, and executed doubles for all four jumps in the program.  Nevertheless, her spins and spiral sequence were all level four and received GoEs of mainly 0s through2.  The loss of points in the jumps, however, was crushing.  In Program Components she received a "diversity" of marks.  Some judges had her in the fives, other in the threes.  Having seen her program many times, I thought it was as well presented as ever despite the reduced difficulty of the jumps, and my impression is that for several of the judges the technical issues with the elements drag down the Program Components unnecessarily.  The spread in marks in the Program Components seem to support that view.

Angela Maxwell, had a host of seconds.  She was second in element points, second in Program Component points, second in the Free Skate.  But she also had the most points, and was first overall.  She skated with zip and enthusiasm to "Children of Dune", landing four triples -- two triple toe loops and two triple Salchows.  Her program components were in the high 4s to 5.  Maxwell's victory, however, was largely the result of the winner of the Short Program under performing in the Free skate, and the winner of the Free Skate having had a troubled Short Program.

Second overall was Kristine Musademba, who came back from a fifth place finish in the short to win the Free Skate.  Skating to Malaguena, she landed five triples, two toe loops, two Salchows and a loop.  She was one of only two Novice Ladies to land a jump more difficult than triple Salchow.  Her loop, however, had a poor landing and received GoEs of -1s and -2s.  She had the third best element scores, but Program Component marks in the high 4s to low 5s, carried her to victory in the Free Skate by a slim 0.12 points, essentially tied with Angela Maxwell.

Carolyn-Ann Alba hung on for a medal despite a fourth place finish in the Free Skating.  Skating to a Spanish medley, it was a somewhat sloppy skate with errors on three elements.  She fell on triple toe loop, and a poor landing in a subsequent three jump combination (double Axel - double toe - double loop) resulted in GoEs of mostly -1s.  On her final jump element (double Lutz - double loop) she also received negative GoEs of -1s and -2s.  Her Program Components were in the mid 4s to 5, third best in those skills for the group.  It was a somewhat timid performance, that was just 0.24 points ahead of fourth place.

The only Novice Lady with a near complete set of triples was DeeDee Leng, who moved up from ninth in the short to third in the long, for a fourth place finish.  On her opening combination she stepped out of triple Lutz, which received mainly GoEs of -2, and which converted the combination to a jump sequence (with double toe loop).  She went on to land triple loop, flip and Salchow.  She did not attempt a triple toe loop.  She scored best in element points in the group, but in Program Components was scored only sixth, 4.55 behind Musademba.  Her Program Components were only in the low to mid 4s, with transitions and interpretation identified by the judges as her weakest skills.

Ellie Kawamura, who placed third in the Short Program, choked in the long where she placed fifth.  She started off by stepping out of double Axel, and probably two-footed it also.  The program then went down hill form there.  She had errors on four other elements, and two falls.  Even her signature spins were off today.  She ended up 11.25 points behind Leng in element points, which is a killing deficit in Novice.  Her Program Components, however, were fourth best, in the upper 4s, despite the technical errors.  This large number of errors is not typical of Kawamura's skating, and had she performed more in character for her, she would have been competitive for the silver or bronze medal.  But in her first year at Nationals in the Novice division, her nerves seem to have gotten the best of her.