Senior Dance

Place	Couple	C1	C2	OD	FD
1	Elizabeth Punsalan Jerod Swallow	1	1	1	1
2	Jessica Joseph Charles Butler	3	3	2	2
3	Naomi Lang Peter Tchernyshev	2	2	3	4
4	Eve Chalom Mathew Gates	4	4	4	3
5	Kate Robinson Peter Breen	5	5	5	5
6	Deborah Koegel Oleg Fediukov	6	6	6	6
7	Julia Bikbova John Lee	7	7	7	7
8	Beata Handra Charles Sinek	8	8	8	8
9	Azumi Sagara Jonathan Magalnick	11	11	9	9
10	Leslie Soderberg David Lipowitz	9	10	11	10
11	Elizabeth Buhl Augustine DiBella	10	9	10	11
12	Jayna Cronin Yovanny Durango	12	12	12	13
13	Tiffany Hyden Paul Frey	14	13	13	12
14	Rebecca DeWitt Marc Fenczak	15	14	14	14
(w)	Tami Tyler Thomas Gaasbeck	13

        J1: Mary Karen Henderson
        J2: Shawn Rettstatt
        J3: Jim Larkin
        J4: Shirley Sherman
        J5: Patricia French
        J6: Robert Horen
        J7: Charles Cyr
        J8: Jenny Vogel Mast
        J9: Linda Leaver

Notes following the free dance.

Punsalan and Swallow skated to victory in new costumes to repeat as the National Dance Champions. Their program, introduced at the start of this season, will now be retired, and a new program is planned for the Olympic Games. Their current program did not receive the international reception during the season they had hoped for, and several adjustments were made to the choreography during the season. Ultimately they decided it was necessary to put together a completely new program to challenge the top five international teams. Although the basic framework of this new program is complete, it was not quite ready for these championships. They now have roughly 4 weeks before the Olympics to polish the new program, which is an Argentine Tango.

Joseph and Butler held second place to earn the second spot on the World and Olympic Team. Their silver medal result in their first year as seniors is the best result from a Junior Champion team moving up to seniors in 40 years. The last time this happened was when the 1957 Junior Dance Champions (Claire O'Neill and John Bejshak Jr.) won the silver medal in Senior Dance in 1958. Joseph and Butlers accomplishment is also noteworthy because they competed most of the season as Juniors and this was, in fact, their first senior competition at all. They are the 1998 World Junior Champions (the first for the U.S.) and throughout the season they had to practice both Junior and Senior compulsory dances and free dances. In addition, the team lost about 2 1/2 weeks of training in the month before Nationals because Butler sprained his ankle slipping on "black" ice in their training rink's parking lot.

Lang and Tchernyshev slipped to fourth place in the free dance but still held onto the bronze medal thanks to their second place results in the compulsory dances. Chalom and Gates, while placing fourth overall, can take some comfort in their third place result in the free dance. With Liz and Jerod turning pro after Worlds, and the U.S. likely to earn two dance spots again for 1999, it appears that the competition for the second World team spot next year will be among these two teams.

The fifth Detroit Skating Club team of Robinson and Breen were firmly entrenched in fifth place this week. The sense of thing here is that the torch is being passed to the next generation of dancers and that Robinson and Breen will not be a part of that.

Notes following the original dance.

Punsalan and Swallow remain in the lead with unanimous firsts in each of the first three dances. Their marks for the CD's were a little stingy, but in the OD their new jive was well received by the judges with marks in the 5.7-5.9 range. The OD they performed here is about 10 days old, replacing the dance they used during the international season. They were not satisfied with the response their previous OD received from the international judges and so have put together a completely new dance for here, in preparation for the Olympic games.

Places 2 through 4 have been full of surprises. Last year's silver medalists, Chalom and Gates, are firmly in fourth place, while the teams of Joseph and Butler, and Lang and Tchernyshev are dueling for the second and third spots. Regardless of how it turns out for second and third place, however, Joseph and Butler will be going to the Olympics as the U.S.'s second team. Because both Tchernyshev and Gates are not U.S. citizens, the only team that could displace Joseph and Butler is Robinson and Breen, and that is unlikely. It appears that Robinson and Breen are being sent the message that their time has past and it is time for them to move on.

If Joseph and Butler, the 1997 U.S. Junior Dance Champions hold second place, theirs will be the best first year senior result of a junior champion team in nearly 30 years. Also for the record books is the top five placements from teams all coached by the same coaches.

Compulsory Dance 1

Place	Skater	J1	J2	J3	J4	J5	J6	J7	J8	J9	Maj	TOM
1	Elizabeth Punsalan Jerod Swallow	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	9/1
2	Naomi Lang Peter Tchernyshev	2	2	2	2	2	4	6	3	3	5/2
3	Jessica Joseph Charles Butler	3	3	4	4	3	5	4	2	5	7/4
4	Eve Chalom Mathew Gates	4	5	6	5	4	2	2	4	2	6/4
5	Kate Robinson Peter Breen	5	4	3	3	5	3	5	5	4	5/4
6	Deborah Koegel Oleg Fediukov	6	6	5	6	6	6	3	6	6	9/6
7	Julia Bikbova John Lee	7	7	8	7	8	7	8	7	8	5/7
8	Beata Handra Charles Sinek	10	8	7	11	9	8	11	11	7	5/9	39
9	Leslie Soderberg David Lipowitz	9	11	11	9	7	9	10	10	9	5/9	43
10	Elizabeth Buhl Augustine DiBella	13	9	12	8	11	10	9	8	10	6/10
11	Azumi Sagara Jonathan Magalnick	8	12	9	12	13	11	7	13	11	5/11
12	Jayna Cronin Yovanny Durango	12	10	13	13	12	12	12	9	12	7/12
13	Tami Tyler Thomas Gaasbeck	11	14	14	14	10	13	13	12	13	6/13
14	Tiffany Hyden Paul Frey	14	13	10	10	14	14	14	14	15	8/14
15	Rebecca DeWitt Marc Fenczak	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	14	9/15

Compulsory Dance 2

Place	Skater	J1	J2	J3	J4	J5	J6	J7	J8	J9	Maj
1	Elizabeth Punsalan Jerod Swallow	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	9/1
2	Naomi Lang Peter Tchernyshev	2	2	2	2	2	2	4	2	2	8/2
3	Jessica Joseph Charles Butler	3	3	5	5	3	4	2	3	3	6/3
4	Eve Chalom Mathew Gates	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	5	4	8/4
5	Kate Robinson Peter Breen	5	5	3	3	5	5	5	4	5	9/5
6	Deborah Koegel Oleg Fediukov	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	9/6
7	Julia Bikbova John Lee	9	7	7	7	7	10	7	7	7	7/7
8	Beata Handra Charles Sinek	11	8	8	11	9	7	9	9	8	7/9
9	Elizabeth Buhl Augustine DiBella	7	9	14	8	10	9	8	8	11	6/9
10	Leslie Soderberg David Lipowitz	10	11	13	9	8	8	10	11	9	6/10
11	Azumi Sagara Jonathan Magalnick	8	13	10	13	11	11	11	10	10	7/11
12	Jayna Cronin Yovanny Durango	12	10	11	12	12	12	13	12	12	8/12
13	Tiffany Hyden Paul Frey	13	12	12	10	13	13	12	14	13	8/13
14	Rebecca DeWitt Marc Fenczak	14	14	9	14	14	14	14	13	14	9/14

Original Dance

Place	Skater	J1	J2	J3	J4	J5	J6	J7	J8	J9	Maj
1	Elizabeth Punsalan Jerod Swallow	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	9/1
2	Jessica Joseph Charles Butler	2	2	3	2	2	2	4	3	3	5/2
3	Naomi Lang Peter Tchernyshev	3	3	2	3	3	5	2	2	5	7/3
4	Eve Chalom Mathew Gates	5	4	4	4	4	3	3	4	2	8/4
5	Kate Robinson Peter Breen	4	5	4	5	5	4	5	5	4	9/5
6	Deborah Koegel Oleg Fediukov	6	6	7	7	6	6	7	6	7	5/6
7	Julia Bikbova John Lee	7	7	6	6	7	7	6	7	6	9/7
8	Beata Handra Charles Sinek	9	9	9	8	8	8	9	9	10	8/9
9	Azumi Sagara Jonathan Magalnick	11	8	11	9	10	9	8	8	9	6/9
10	Elizabeth Buhl Augustine DiBella	8	10	8	10	11	10	10	11	8	7/10
11	Leslie Soderberg David Lipowitz	10	12	10	11	9	11	14	10	11	7/11
12	Jayna Cronin Yovanny Durango	13	11	14	13	12	12	11	12	12	6/12
13	Tiffany Hyden Paul Frey	14	13	12	12	14	13	12	13	14	6/13
14	Rebecca DeWitt Marc Fenczak	12	14	13	14	13	14	13	14	13	5/13

Free Dance

Place	Skater	J1	J2	J3	J4	J5	J6	J7	J8	J9	Maj
1	Elizabeth Punsalan Jerod Swallow	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	9/1
2	Jessica Joseph Charles Butler	2	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	5	7/2
3	Eve Chalom Mathew Gates	4	2	4	4	3	3	3	3	2	6/3
4	Naomi Lang Peter Tchernyshev	3	4	3	3	6	5	4	4	4	7/4
5	Kate Robinson Peter Breen	5	5	5	5	4	4	5	5	3	9/5
6	Deborah Koegel Oleg Fediukov	6	6	6	6	5	6	6	6	6	9/6
7	Julia Bikbova John Lee	7	7	7	7	8	9	9	7	8	5/7
8	Beata Handra Charles Sinek	9	9	8	11	7	10	7	8	7	5/8
9	Azumi Sagara Jonathan Magalnick	8	10	9	9	10	7	10	9	9	6/9
10	Leslie Soderberg David Lipowitz	11	8	10	10	9	8	8	11	11	6/10
11	Elizabeth Buhl Augustine DiBella	10	11	11	8	11	11	11	10	10	9/11
12	Tiffany Hyden Paul Frey	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	13	13	7/12
13	Jayna Cronin Yovanny Durango	13	13	14	14	13	13	13	12	12	7/13
14	Rebecca DeWitt Marc Fenczak	14	14	13	13	14	14	14	14	14	9/14