2006 U.S. Nationals

Even without Kwan, there were seven "byes" bringing the entry up to 19. With the exception of Jennifer Kirk (and Kwan), the top 14 of the 18 finishers from last year returned for this year’s contest. The very elegant Kirk, who had just turned 21, announced her retirement on September 7, 2005, saying she planned to move back to her home town of Boston from her training site in Los Angeles, to coach and to attend television broadcasting school. She explained, "Although I still love skating very much, my passion and love for the competitive aspect of the sport has dwindled following the death of my mother in 2001 and my nagging hip injuries." She made the world team three times. She went to Moscow, where she finished 17^th, as a replacement for the too young bronze medalist Kimmie Meissner.

Among those who failed to qualify for this event was the 2005 US Junior champion, Sandra Jean Rucker, who didn’t do well in her Junior Grand Prix. She was 15^th in the JGP in Montreal which meant she did not get a second JGP. In her initial qualifying round, Southwestern regionals, she was tenth. In the television series Ice Diaries, on the Learning Channel which follows the progress of four skaters, Alisa Czisny, Bebe Liang, Danielle Kahle and Rucker, Rucker is heard continually complaining about the pain in her back.

Also failing making it to nationals were: Angela Lien, who was 15^th last year, was only 6^th in Easterns; Yebin Mok, who was 16^th, has retired due to injuries; and Shanell Noji, who was 18^th, was eighth in Pacific Coast Sectionals. Katherine "Kati" Hadford, who was 17^th, was eighth in Midwests and subsequently competed in the Hungarian nationals. Hadford explained to Helga Dobor in a very interesting article published on the website AbsoluteSkating.com illustrated with five excellent photographs: "I am a Hungarian citizen. It is not decided whether I will represent Hungary but that is not an impossible idea. My grandparents, Gyorgy Szele Gyorgy & Kornelia Szechenyi, with whom I went skating a lot when my mother had to work, often told me about their beautiful, happy life in Hungary." This summer, Hadford, who is coached by Priscilla Hill, trained for a short time in Budapest with Eszter Jurek & Andras Szaraz.

SP

Sasha Cohen has retained her "Dark Eyes" SP from last season, choreographed by Nikolai Morozov, but debuted a new "peasant" dress of blue with much embroidery on the skirt. She flowed through the eight elements and all but the triple flip were executed with her usual mastery. She earned 65.15 (34.79 + 30.36), a considerable 6.04 ahead of the second placed Emily Hughes.

Cohen two footed the landing of the triple flip, a mistake which was severely penalized with a minus 1.43 Grade of Execution. But she presented a sophisticated performance which had a seasoned mature patina. Three of her elements gained a Level 4, the flying sit spin, the spiral sequence and her incomparable layback spin. Three of the judges were moved to reward the layback with the maximum +3 GoE, a sort of equivalent of the old 6.0. Unlike the international new system, the USFSA has a version which does not mask the judges. So it is possible to reveal that those three judges were Paula Naughton from Vancouver, WA, Coco Gram Shean, from NY, NY and Robert Rosenbluth from NY, NY. Cohen’s other two Level moves were deemed Level 3 by the Technical Specialist, former US champion, Terry Kubicka, and his assistant, former Junior champion, Lisa Ervin-Baudo.

But Cohen wasn’t completely happy with her showing. "I was pretty happy with that. I really enjoyed the performance tonight and I’ve had a whole week of unknowns – being in bed with the flu. So I think I spent the majority of the past five days in bed. I am really happy that I have been getting better and I am really well trained and this is definitely half as good as I have been doing in practice, but I have been training hard enough to have this left after five days of being sick."

She was asked whether she feels this is her time. "That is an interesting question," she replied. "I have heard it quite a bit in the past few years. I have just kind of evolved in the way that I think and I have learned to enjoy it (skating). I feel really lucky to do what I do and the situation that I am in. I love it. And I learned to become a better athlete off the ice. That is where the real training is. Ice is slippery and anything can happen to anyone. I have seen that at numerous events. I am going to have fun out there and trust my training and worry, because I have figured out that the worry doesn’t help, and I hope my time is now. I just want to stay in the present and worry about what I have to do.

"I woke up last Saturday with the flu. I was taking every remedy I could get – stuff from the pharmacy, folklore cures, vitamins, anything. My spins and footwork were suffering. I had trained really well until I got the flu. I just didn’t have the strength. I’ve improved every single day. Everyone faces adversity. I knew I had a week to recover and I knew I would be here. The end party at nationals is the biggest thing."

John Nicks, her coach, said, "It came pretty close to 100 percent. It’s going to be difficult to beat that performance." And that was true.

Cohen was asked, as were all the top skaters, of course, about the missing Kwan, and what she thinks of Michelle’s petitioning for a place on the Olympic team.

"I felt a little empty without Michelle," said Cohen. "She’s always been there. It almost doesn’t feel like a nationals. It will be hard on whoever’s in the top three. I really am not too deep into the politics of the USOC and USFS. It’s their job to pick the skaters who will do the best at the Olympics. The one that doesn’t get to go will be devastated."

She and Nicks were asked what was changed about her in the years that she left California for the East Coast and then returned. Nicks said, "She was 17 when she went to the East Coast. She came back a lady. She said, "I didn’t know much about training. I was stubborn. I think my focus was off. It didn’t matter whether I skated well or not. I just wanted to win. That seemed to be my only object. Now it’s about performance."

When Nicks and Cohen were first together initially their relationship was stormy. It appears calm now. What changed there? "I always had fun with Sasha. I know she didn’t always appreciate my sense of humor. What’s changed is I’ve matured." That last remark prompted laughter because Nicks is far from young.

Cohen also said she’d been very influenced by Lance Armstrong’s book. "I’m in a very different place now," she said. "I didn’t know that much about training. The object is to let nothing get in the way of your body. Your body knows what to do. It’s the mind that gets in the way. You have to let go of the worry and go out there and enjoy it as much as possible.

This season an injury to her hip, in which she also managed to slash herself with her blade, and a bout with flu, sidelined her for Skate America. Since then, "I've prepared physically much harder. I've been pushing myself to a new level of training. I did a lot more with my practices, not doing more run-throughs but more frequent parts of the routine. I worked on my jumps and transitions and tried to get everything consistent. I built up my strength. I also did a lot of stretching to keep my body flexible and in good shape.

"I'm more confident. I feel like I've never been as prepared as I could or should have been. My weaknesses are that I didn't have enough confidence and was afraid of making mistakes. I always tried to be perfect. Now, I'm not going to let the fear of not being perfect hold me back in practice or competition. I’m not afraid of making mistakes.

Her buildup included some study. "I read all the bulletins. To get level 4, you have to be very careful to hold positions for a certain time and do all the revolutions and changes of edge. It’s very easy to do well in practice and then throw away points by getting too excited in the routine and forgetting to count. I don't consider myself to have anything on a platter."

Cohen, who turned 21 on October 26, has earned four silvers and a bronze (’03) in this event. Her first silver was in ’00 when she was too young for worlds and came a year after she took silver in Juniors. In ’01, although she traveled to Boston, she had to withdraw due to a back injury.

Emily Hughes, who turns 17 on January 26, gave a powerful showing in deep blue, to earn 59.11. Skating to the Allegro from George Gershwin’s "Concerto in F Major for Piano and Orchestra", she started with an excellent triple flip which earned a +0.71 GoE.

However, her combination was a little dicey. She landed the triple Lutz on an incredibly deep edge. She managed to hold onto it and got airborne for the double toe. However, the judges gave her a -1 GoE which meant 1.0 was taken off the base value of this move of 7.3, so she garnered only 6.3 points for it. It was her only negative. She received Level 4 for her layback and for the change foot combination spin. The other three Level moves were given Level 3. The changes of edge in her spins were very clear.

Last year Hughes made an impressive debut in this event getting a standing ovation for her free and placing sixth. The success came as a surprise after three years struggling at junior level in which she made it to nationals twice but finished towards the bottom, then failed to get sectionals. Riding that Portland high, Hughes charged into the world junior championships, which was her first New Judging System event, and won the bronze ahead of Alissa Czisny and Kimmie Meissner, both of whom had placed ahead of her just a short time before in nationals.

Asked whether she was nervous at the chance of making the Olympics, Hughes said, "I am not really thinking about it. I just really wanted to skate two great programs because this season hasn’t been what I wanted it to be." She has racked up three fifths and a sixth in her contests this season, the Marshall’s US Figure Skating Challenge, the Campbell’s Classic, Skate America and Cup of Russia. "I wanted to try and skate two really good ones. I’ve been really training hard this last month or so."

She was also asked, if she were to finish third but not be named to the Olympic team, would she file a counter motion to petition to Kwan’s petition? She laughed. "When we come across that bridge, we’ll worry about it."

Have many of her family were present? "Five of the six of us are here. Sarah is coming for the long program, then the whole family will be here. I think it’s great to have such a great support system. Sarah’s been so supportive." Sarah, the 2002 Olympic champion, had phoned her before the short to wish her luck.

Asked whether she gets fed up with all the references to Sarah, Hughes said, "I don’t see it as a bad thing. It’s great to be even compared to her."

In third place with 58.82 is Beatrisa "Bebe" Liang, who drew to skate last. She took the ice with all guns blasting. "Skating last is always hard. You have a lot of time to stay focused. I wasn’t cold or anything. It was so much fun. I wasn’t worried," she said. Her music was "Firedance" by David Foster and she attacked each element with a maximum energy level. "This is such a big year, obviously this is the right year to put it together. It just felt so good to have fun with this program," she said.

Her flying sit spin and spiral sequence received Level 4 and the other three Level moves got Level 3. Her GoE’s were all positive. Her combination was triple Lutz to double toe and the jump from footwork was a triple flip. Her technical score was slightly higher than Hughes’.

This is Liang’s sixth appearance in the US senior championships despite her youth. Liang turned 17 last March 31. Like Kwan, Liang started as a gymnast. After placing sixth in Juniors in ’01, she and then coach, Tiffany Chin, decided Laing should follow in Kwan’s footsteps and go to seniors as a 12 year old. She did and she duplicated Kwan’s debut senior finish of sixth place. But, unlike Kwan, she dropped to ninth the following year. After two subsequent years of getting seventh, she rose to fifth last year.

She was asked if she hadn’t got discouraged because, after the initial entry, she didn’t seem to be advancing until last year. She said she hadn’t. "Practicing really hard and making it to Nationals was my goal and getting better and more mature. I never thought of giving up. I was just gaining experience. It is really exciting for me to be here."

Will being so high put extra pressure on her? "I think for the long, I am going to stay focused and not get carried away with the short. I still have on more program to do. I will just ride on this and know that I can skate this well," she answered.

Kimmie Meissner is lying fourth with 55.03 after messing up her combo. She brought off the triple Lutz but "got ahead of myself" and was forced to put her other foot down to do a turn before getting back up into the air for the triple toe. Meissner classed it as "not a major mistake" but it was. To be a combination and not a sequence the skater must get airborne immediately. She was saddled with a substantial minus GoE (-2.14) and given credit for only the triple Lutz which has a base value of 6.0. If she had joined it with a double toe, the base value would have been 7.3. Instead of that amount of points, she received only 3.86.

Skating to "Symphonic Dances" by Rachmaninov, Meissner received one Level 4, which was for her final move, the butterfly back sit. Her layback spin and straight line step sequence were only Level 2 but her double Axel and triple flip were good. Her spiral sequence was a Level 3 as was the change foot combination spin although the spin was given a slight minus GoE.

Asked if she will do her triple Axel in Saturday night’s free, Meissner said she would not. "It’s too risky under the new system but I will do two triple/triple combinations."

Meissner made a spectacular debut in this event last year when she took the bronze and was credited, in the FS, with becoming only the second American woman to land a triple Axel in competition. (The first, of course, was Tonya Harding, who won her first national title with it in 1991 - the one which wasn’t stripped from her. Meissner’s, however, was landed on a steep edge unlike Harding’s which was definitely a more superior version.)

But she could not be entered for the world championship because she was too young. She turned 16 on October 4. ESPN took her to Moscow and filmed sequence with her watching and commentating on the event.

Alissa Czisny took the ice in pink, fushia and silver. She began her SP to "Prelude & Quadukka-I-Mayyas" by Jesse Cook with an excellent combination spin and flew easily through her combination, triple Lutz to double toe, but then went into the double Axel tentatively. She didn’t appear to get sufficient height and fell. The move was classed only as a single. Then she fell again on the triple flip but she did get credit for the three rotations. However, even with the 2.0 off for the falls and low scores on those elements, her spins and spirals are so superior, she scored 54.51 and lies fifth, only 0.53 behind Meissner but a substantial 4.31 behind Liang. Her change foot combination and layback spins got Level 4 but her spiral sequence was level 3 and her straight line step sequence only Level 2.

This is Czisny’s fifth appearance in senior nationals. In 2002 she was 11^th; 2003 10^th; 2004 12^th and 2005 7^th. She was the only US skater at this season’s Grand Prix Final where she finished sixth. She was given qualified by taking silver in Skate America and gold in Skate Canada. In addition to skating, she holds a full academic scholarship at Bowling Green where she is pursuing international studies. Czisny, who was 18 on June 25, and her twin, Amber, skated almost as soon as they could walk. They both reached nationals at junior level in 2001 with Alissa finishing second and Amber fifth. A foot injury halted Amber’s singles career qne sh’s currently looking for an ice dance partner.

Christine Zukowski was the only junior to get a bye to this senior championship. The runner-up for last year’s junior title did not have to qualify through regionals and sectionals because she gained bronze and silver in her two JGP events which won her a spot in the Junior Grand Prix Final, in which she finished sixth. She is currently lying sixth with 48.69

The 16 year old zipped up the ladder having won the US Novice title in 2004. She skated to Igor Stravinsky’s music from the ballet "The Firebird". Zukowski executed a triple Lutz to double toe and double Axel but messed up her triple loop putting her free foot down on the landing. She gained Level 4 for her flying sit and change foot combination spins but only Level 2 for the layback. Her circular steps were also Level 2 but her spiral sequence was Level 3 although it gained a slight negative GoE.

In seventh, with 48.69 is the Midwestern champion, Katy Taylor, who gave an exhuberant performance to Gershwin’s "Rhapsody in Blue" in a royal blue dress. She accomplished most of her elements but had a problem with her combination which was classed as a triple Lutz to single toe and received a -2.86 GoE.

Taylor, who turned 16 on October 22, gained silver in both the 2003 US Novice and 2004 US Junior championships, and took the bronze medal at the 2004 world junior championships. She made her debut in this event last year placing a respectable ninth.

Stephanie Rosenthal executed a single instead of double Axel and had problems with her triple toe to double toe combination and so earned only low technical marks, 21.75. However, she had a fun routine and put great energy into interpreting her "Rockit" by Herbie Hancock and she earned a good component score of 25.65. Together those marks, 47.40, put her in eighth place. Rosenthal, who was second at this season’s Pacific Coast Sectionals, was 13^th in nationals in 2004, and 14^th last year. She will turn 19 on January 19.

Amber Corwin, who turned 27 on December 21, is taking part in her 12^th consecutive nationals. Skating in black with a silver trim and tiara, she began well with a Level 2 layback spin and a combination of two triple toes. But she fell on her triple Lutz and then again on her Axel which was meant to be a double but was credited as a single. That gave her a deduction of 2.0 and she earned only 45.12. She had reworked one of her best SP’s, to Henry Mancini’s "Moon River".

Corwin first skated in the limelight when she took sixth place at Junior level in 1994. Her exceptionally long ride in seniors has had an occasional hiccup but mostly great showings. She was 16^th in her debut in 1995 but zoomed up to sixth the next year. She advanced to fifth in 1997 and was sixth again in the following two seasons. The beginning of the century saw her descend to 13^th but she rebounded in 2001 to fifth. An eighth place and then a fourth followed. Last year she was eighth. In all these years she’s graced a host of internationals including the first contest to use the New Judging System. Because she is so well respected among competitors and officials, she is an athlete-representative for both the ISU and the USFSA. In between all this skating activity, she graduated magnum cum laude from Cal State, Long Beach, in fashion merchandising and marketing.

Megan Williams-Stewart earned 44.44 and lies tenth. Skating second, to "Malaguena", in a black outfit with silver and purple, she fell on her first move, a triple Lutz which was going to be her combination. However, she accomplished a nice triple loop.

Williams-Stewart, who turned 18 last June 27, was tenth last year. She subsequently, made her international debut, finishing fifth in the Junior Grand Prix in Andorra, and taking the bronze in Midwesterns. In her first trip to Nationals, which was at Junior level in 2003, she was 13^th. In her first senior season, she didn’t advance out of the 2004 Sectionals, but last year she was a promising tenth in this event.

Megan Oster, a first year senior, skated in white to "Nights in White Satin" by The Moody Blues. She accomplished the triple Lutz but combined it only with a single toe. She brought off her triple Salchow. However, three of her moves gained negative GoE’s. She earned 41.33 which put her 11^th. Oster, who was 16 on July 14, won bronze at Junior level last year, and bronze in the Novice championships in 2004. She was fourth in this season’s Midwest sectionals.

Jane Bugaeva, skating to music from a Russian movie "My Dear and Tender Beast" in a lovely white dress, fell on her first triple, a Lutz, which was meant to be the combination, and stepped out of the second triple, the flip. She earned 41.08 and lies 12^th. Bugaeva, who was the Eastern Sectional runner-up, was 19 on August 26. Her first trip to Nationals was as a Junior in 2003 where she finished fifth. Moving up to senior the following year, she finished ninth. Last year, however, she dropped to 12^th. This season she finished tenth in the Nebelhorn Trophy and won the bronze in the US Collegiate Championships where she represented the University of North Carolina.

Erica Archambault earned 40.73 and is 13^th. She tried a combination of two triple toes which received a minus 0.43 GoE. She doubled her planned triple loop. The 2003 US Junior champion, was runner-up for the Midwest title. She was 19^th in 2004, her first year in seniors, and 13^th last year. Archambault, who turned 18 three days ago, skated in black and red to the "Don Juan de Marco" soundtrack.

Amy Evidente, performing in black with blue trim, to "Malaguena", fell on the second jump of her combination, triple toe to double toe. However she did a very good triple Salchow and double Axel. She earned 40.65 and lies 14^th. Evidente was third at Pacific Coast and won the 2005 US Collegiate Championships, an event held in Hawaii and open only to full time students. She represented the Santa Monica College in CA.

Dressed in pink, the Pacific Coast champion Danielle Kahle, who will be 17 on April 9, earned 38.74 for her program set to the Nino Rota soundtrack of "Romeo & Juliet". Her scores were low because fell on the second jump of her combination which was only double flip to double toe. She also fell on her jump out of footwork which was only a double Lutz. She lies 15^th.

Kahle showed great promise when she won the novice championship in 2002. She gained the bronze at Junior level the following year, but after taking 10^th in her first senior nationals, she suffered a slight set back finishing only 11^th last year. Now things have got even worse.

Michelle Boulos, who was fourth in Easterns, opened the event earning 38.52 which put her 16^th. She used music from "Once Upon A Time in Mexico". Skating in deep red, Boulos fell on her first move, a triple Lutz which was going to be her combination, and had a small trip in her footwork. The layback was very nice and she had some interesting footwork between the forward outside and forward inside spirals. She turned 17 the day before Christmas. Boulos was eighth in the 2004 US Junior championships.

Abigail Legg, from the Indiana/World Skating Academy, who is making her debut in this event, earned 38.38 and lies 17^th. The bronze medal winner from Midwesterns, who is 19, messed up her opening move, which was meant to be a triple loop but was downgraded to a double. She used the Irina Slutskaya approach of several double threes going in it. She executed a good triple Salchow to double toe in her routine to "Angel Eyes".

Anna Madorsky, 22, earned 35.88 and is 18^th. She qualified by taking fourth place at the Pacific Coast Sectionals and is making her debut in seniors after getting burned out and quitting the sport for several years. Skating in red and black, to a medley of Israeli tunes, she began with a good double Axel followed by a triple Salchow which received a -0.43 GoE. She fell on her triple toe which was to be combined with a double toe. Four of her moves were Level 3 but they all received a slight negative GoE.

After skating since "before I can remember", she stopped cold, in 2001, refusing even to watch events on television. It was a chance occurrence while she was sweating away on a machine in a gym at the University of Montana where she is majoring in anthropology in October 2004 that brought her back. Skating appeared on the television monitor used to relieve the boredom of the fast paced, physically demanding exercises.

She decided to try skating again, reasoning it would just be for exercise. But that led to taking, successfully, her senior test and competing in the Collegiate Championships. Only when she won Northwest Regionals and got through to Sectionals did she wake up to the possibility of making nationals. "My attitude through it all has been, so what if I come 20^th? The chance to skate in the same company as Kwan and Cohen is incredible. I’m enjoying myself."

The night concluded with Kwan being named to the Olympic team by a vote of 20-3. However, Emily Hughes was chosen as the third member, after Sasha Cohen and Kimmie Meissner for the world team. The international committee comprises many more members but many recused themselves. One of those who took herself out of the meeting was Carol Heiss Jenkins, the coach of Miki Ando, the Japanese competitor.

Kwan will be monitored on January 27. She must prove, then, that she will be in top form at the Olympics or the first alternate, Emily Hughes, will replace her. If Kwan does prove herself, Hughes will not travel to Torino as Kwan did to Lillehammer in 1994. In that Olympics, the USFSA was trying to get Tonya Harding thrown off the team but Harding’s legal team was successful in preventing them accomplishing that goal. (Of course later Harding was banned for life from the USFSA and taken off the world team.) Kwan was in Norway waiting to replace Harding right up until the Ladies short program draw.

Reached by telephone at her Californian home after the announcement was made, Kwan said she was watching the event on television. On the Pacific Coast, the broadcast was delayed and the final group had not yet skated.

A statement from Kwan was circulated saying, "I am very happy that U.S. Figure Skating approved my petition to be nominated to the Olympic team. At the same time I can empathize with how Emily must be feeling because I was in a similar situation in 1994. I appreciate the faith that U.S. Figure Skating has placed in me. I am confident that I will be fully ready to compete at the Olympics and look forward to representing the USA in Torino."

Kwan was asked about the January 27 monitoring when she must skate her short and long. On the teleconference, Kwan said "We haven’t discussed what I will do but I think they will check the levels (of the elements) short and long, and check the components. The details I really don’t know."

The monitoring will be done by five people, Bob Horen, the chair of the International Selection Committee, an athlete and three judges, although one of the judges may, instead, be a technical specialist. Kwan said by January 27 she was "hoping to do full run throughs. Right now I don’t want to rush. I started on Friday adding the spins and spirals and doing a few jumps. I feel my body improving but I have to not jump the gun. I started jumping triple toes and some doubles. Physically, I feel really good. I might have to avoid a jump or two. The double Axel gives me the most pain so I am not yet doing that but I can pop it in (at the last minute).

"I know (the petition has) caused a lot of attention in the media. With all my heart, I wish I could have been in St. Louis competing. It was very disappointing." She was asked if she was under estimating the time needed for her recovery, she said she’d been to the doctor and been assured that everything was progressing well. "I know my body. Everyone’s body is incredible in its ability to recover." She did, however, admit that she’s never been 25 before but didn’t believe her body would let her down.

Cohen was asked about Kwan’s being named to the Olympic team. "It’s the committee’s job to name the best team. If she’s healthy and able to compete she definitely is one of the strongest competitors." Cohen has had to come back from injury so does she feel Kwan can do it? "Coming back is physically and mentally is hard especially with the new system because you learn something every time you compete and she hasn’t. But Michelle’s proved she can handle herself and the challenge."

Cohen said she regretted Kwan was not in the competition. "I’ve beaten her twice at Worlds but it’s not the same. Nationals is Michelle’s territory. It has been for the past nine, ten years. It feels different here."

Cohen’s free wasn’t completely flawless but she was a clear winner. "It was really nice and I made it to the end and stayed on my feet. It wasn’t perfect, but it was good. After I started getting into it, I started to enjoy it. There are always so many thoughts in the beginning and I just had to get them all settled down." About her stumble on the triple toe to triple Salchow which resulted in a -2.43 GoE, she said, "I was a little tired. I tried to hold onto it (the landing of the toe) but I was a little out of my circle." She was forced to put her hand on the ice but it was her only error and negative GoE.

Cohen began with a three jump combination, triple Lutz-double toe-double loop, which was rewarded with a plus 1 GoE. This was quickly followed by a triple flip (+0.86 GoE) and triple loop (+0.43). Her spiral sequence, and three of her four spins were Level 4. The other spin, which was her final move, was a Level 3 as was her circular step sequence.

Cohen looked confident but she said, "I wasn’t in top form. I was definitely proud of myself with what I overcame. I wouldn’t say I was cautious but I was a little slow. I’ve been sick." She was just getting over flu. She originally debuted this free, choreographed by Nikolai Morozov to music from the 1968 movie "Romeo & Juliet", in an excellent showing at the Campbell’s Classic in St. Paul at the beginning of the season.

But she was disappointed by her subsequence performance of the routine in the Trophee Eric Bompard Grand Prix in Paris, where she fell on the final jump, a triple Salchow. She finished second overall to Mao Asada and only third in the free.

"When I returned from France, I evaluated myself and decided I needed to become faster, more powerful and improve my execution. I worked on individual elements and improved my stamina so I wouldn’t get tired late into the program." She decided to consult David Wilson. "We talked on the phone first and then I flew to Toronto. He changed the opening music. He tried to get a theme going in the program. He created suspense, and it gives the program a little more variation and depth."

She designed her gold sleeveless dress which was created by Jan Longmeier, who added more beads since its last public appearance in the Campbell’s challenge in Boston in December.

Cohen, who trains with John Nicks in Aliso Viejo, CA, made her Olympic debut in 2002 before taking part in her first world senior championships. In Salt Lake City she finished what was, for her, a disappointing fourth. She had been third in the SP. That may have been upsetting, but it was good for the sport, since, as she has said, if all had gone well and she had won, she probably would then have left the eligible ranks.

And although she may not have won a medal, she endeared herself to the whole country at the Opening Ceremony when she sat next to President Bush. With typical teenager exuberance, she called her mother on her cell phone and gave it to the President to say, ‘Hello’.

A fall on a double Axel on her last jump move marred her four minute routine but the rest of Meissner’s program was excellent. Her 116.01 score pulled her up from fourth to second but the gap between her and Cohen was a grand canyon, 28.14. Afterwards, Meissner could not stop giggling. "Everything went pretty well until the very end. That was about the only thing that I think went wrong. The flip in the beginning was really shaky but I was determined to do a triple-triple tonight. I has that mistake in my short and I wanted to try and overcome that tonight."

Her first move, the combination of triple flip to triple toe, received -0.86 GoE. She had decided not to try the triple Axel, although she hopes to have it ready for the Olympics, and did a double Axel in that spot. Then came a triple Lutz-triple toe which was given a +0.29 GoE which meant she earned 10.29 for this element. She did a triple loop, second triple Lutz and triple Salchow. The second double Axel, on which she fell, was downgraded to a single which meant that with the mandatory -3 GoE’s and the one point compulsory deduction, she scored only 0.40 but that still was better than nothing. "I was putting so much effort into the routine that by that time my legs were dead.

"I was a little disappointed because I don’t generally miss a double Axel, but I was very pleased with my performance because I feel like I gave it everything. I am sort of relieved. But, if I could, I would like to do the last element again. Overall I am happy with nationals because I feel like I did the best I could."

Meissner trains with Pam Gregory in Newark, Delaware. She used unusual music, "Belkis, Queen of Sheba", by Ottorino Respighi. The routine was recreated with Lori Nichol after an unimpressive start to the season in Campbell’s International in St. Paul on October 8. "That was so much fun," said Meissner. "I think that’s what I needed with my skating." She wore a red dress with a bare-ish midrift.

Last year she won the bronze medal and, although she was too young last year for worlds, she did travel to Moscow to join the ESPN commenting team. About her upcoming trip to Torino, Meissner said, "I don’t have words to describe it. I’m looking forward to it. It’ll be a very wonderful experience. It’s just crazy. I didn’t feel like it was real. It’s just awesome. There was definitely no pressure on me. I felt pretty confident going into the long. I always feel better when there’s more jumps."

Emily Hughes, whose sister, Sarah, was seen applauding her performance, dressed in blue, and gave a showing that was full of energy and power and demonstrated clearly that she is continuing to develop. "The program was pretty good. I got over 100, which is one of the goals I wanted to accomplish. It wasn’t as strong as yesterday but it was stronger than the last time (she competed with this program)."

Hughes started with a double Axel followed by a triple flip to double loop received a -0.43 GoE. Her next move was sensational – triple Lutz to double toe to double loop - which earned a +0.43 and a grand total for this element of 9.23. However, she fell on her fourth move, meant as a triple loop which was downgraded to a double. "I think I just got ahead of myself. I tried to recover and I did the next jump," Hughes explained. Her tenth move received -0.47 and was downgraded to a double loop.

She received 106.61 for the free which was 9.40 less than Meissner. It dropped her from second to third overall, 5.52 points behind Meissner. Hughes has trained her whole career with Bonnie Retzkin in Great Neck and Bellmore, NY. She used Glazunov’s "The Seasons". Hughes said, "I think that there is an amount of pressure because this is Olympic year. This is only my second (senior) nationals, and I thought this was a great experience for me in the future. I’m just really happy with what happened today."

Two years ago Katy Taylor and Meissner were the top two juniors. Each had beaten the other in various events but when they made their senior debut last year, Meissner came in at the top while Taylor was ninth. Now Taylor is seeking to narrow that gap and was delighted with her "pewter" medal.

She was named as second alternate for the Games and first alternate for the world championships. Taylor said, "I’m so excited to have improved my place and to be an alternate. I’m ready to go back to work. So many things can happen. I really think I can improve further."

Her routine, to "The Forrest Gump Suite" by Alan Silvestri, received the third highest technical score, 56.21, which was 3.81 better than that for Hughes, but only 48.64 for the components which was seventh best. Together that was 103.85, good for fourth place in the free. That pulled her up from seventh to fourth overall. All her spins were Level 4. Her overall score was 152.54.

Taylor is taught by Jana Conter & Mark Poole, who were so tense watching from the side, they nearly collapsed when she fell on her triple Salchow. "Our legs were giving away," said Poole.

Bebe Liang had to wait till last to skate when the crowd seemed drained of emotion. Dressed in black and skating to tangos, "Hope, Romance" by Apocalyptica and Oblivion by Astor Piazolla, she began well with a flying sit spin, double Axel and triple flip to double toe, but she aborted her triple Lutz which was meant to be a combination.

She coasted through most of the rest of the program, including a triple flip. But, with four moves left, she hit a wall, falling on both a triple loop and a triple Lutz. She managed the final trip toe to double toe and a change foot combination spin but she left the ice knowing all chances of remaining in the top three had evaporated.

Her score of 92.59, which was only eighth in the free, dropped her down to fifth overall. Liang, who changed coaches to Frank Carroll & Ken Congemi in 2005 and trains in El Segundo, in Los Angeles, said, "I was definitely a little disappointed but I’m glad I had that opportunity to skate in the top group." She was asked if moving those two jumps from the end when she must have been exhausted would to earlier in the program would have helped, Liang said, "I don’t think it would have made a difference. I’ve trained the program like this."

Christine Zukowski, making her debut in this event, is trained by Jeff DiGregorio at the University of Delaware. She skated to "Three Preludes" by George Gershwin in black. She began with a good triple loop, double Axel, Level 2 layback spin, and a triple flip. Her next four jumping passes were scheduled after the half way point and earned a ten percent bonus. The double Axel-double toe, triple toe-double toe-double toe, and triple Salchow all earned base value or better but she fell on her triple Lutz. Her free was rated fifth best but she stayed sixth, only a minimal 0.18 behind Liang.

Three falls and you are out. Alissa Czisny did not sizzle, and despite her beautiful program set to Minkus’ music for the ballet, "La Bayadere", with magnificent spins and wonderful spirals, she dropped from fifth to seventh overall, 1.72 points behind Zukowski. There was a huge gap between the technical score for her free of 42.56 and her components score of 55.44.

Dressed in a two piece purple outfit that was reminiscent of the Salome costume Kwan wore for her free in the 1996 in which she won her first world title, Czisny began well with a triple Lutz to double toe. But fell on her triple flip which was meant to be a combination. Her triple loop was downgraded to a double with a negative GoE. She fell again on a triple toe meant to be a combination and it was downgraded to a double. And fell yet a third time on what was meant as a triple flip and was downgraded to a double. She managed a triple Lutz but it received a negative (0.43) GoE but brought off a double Axel.

It was a nightmare program which could not be erased by her three Level 4 spins. Czisny says she never skates well at Nationals. She and her coaches, Julianne Berlin & Theresa McHendry in Canton, Ohio and Liz Punsalen Swallow at the Detroit Skating Club, tried, unsuccessfully, to get her to believe it was really just regionals. Part of that scenario included arriving late. Despite all that went wrong, when she took her bow, there was still a perfectly in place toothpaste smile gracing her face.

Stephanie Rosenthal, who is trained by Christi & Stewart Strugeon in Salt Lake City, skating in an attractive multi colored outfit began with a combination of three double jumps, Lutz-toe-loop. Although she presents only two varieties of triples, toe loop and Salchow, she has bags of personality on the ice. Her unique step sequences and great energy won over the audience and she left the ice to enormous applause. She earned 147.13 but although that was the sixth best free score, she stayed eighth overall.

Rosenthal has survived some nasty falls. "I keep falling backwards," she confessed. "I finally got my triple Lutz last March just before I was going on vacation. I wasn’t going to not skate and lose the jump just because I was on vacation so I practiced it and kicked my foot making a little crack. When I eventually got back to skating, I had lost the Lutz," Rosenthal said. Her music was "Ghost Dances" by Inti-Illimano.

Amber Corwin, who is trained by Charlene Wong in Habor City, used "U Plavo Zoru", choreographed by Cindy Stuart, for her free. She began with a combination of two triple toes which gained a +1.0 GoE. Her triple Lutz to double toe had a -0.57 GoE. Her triple loop gained the base value, which means that all aspects of the jump were satisfactory, entrance, exit, rotation, speed and height. A second triple Lutz was given -1.14 GoE. She fell on her triple flip which was downgraded to a double. Her double Axel was given the base value. She changed her mind on her last jump, intended to be a triple Salchow, and instead executed a double which got the base value.

It was nowhere near her best career performance. However, the 13,247 strong audience enjoyed it and enveloped her in a sea of applause. She gained 93.32 for the free which gave her 138.44 overall. That put her again in ninth place and that was where she finished.

Skating in a multi colored outfit, Megan Williams-Stewart, who is trained by Jeff DiGrigorio, began with an outside spread into a double Axel. That was followed by a triple Lutz-double toe and triple loop-double toe. She had to use strength to hold the landing of the triple flip. Later on there was a second triple Lutz followed by a triple Salchow on which she was forced to put her hand on the ice to keep from falling. Her final jump was a triple loop. She received 85.00 for the free, which took her to 129.44 overall, good enough to keep tenth place although she was 12^th in this section.

Erica Archambault, who is trained by Damon Allen and Jill Trenary-Dean in Colorado Springs, performed her FS to the soundtrack to "Seven Years in Tibet", which was choreographed by Tom Dickson, dressed in blue with multi colored sparkly trim. She began well with a combination of two triple toes and a double Axel but a fall took some steam out of her and she singled a Lutz. She snapped back with a double Axel to double toe to double loop but another double Axel and triple toe had deeply edged landings that she had to fight to hold. She earned 87.29 to gain 128.02 overall to pull up from 13^th to finish 11^th.

Danielle Kahle, who is taught by Frank Carroll & Ken Congemi in El Segundo and Simi Valley, CA, skated to "Beauty and the Beast" soundtrack in a brilliant daffodil outfit. She completed her first jump, a triple Salchow, which was meant to be a combination. Instead, on the landing, she did a double three turn. She soared through a triple Flip and triple Lutz which were followed by a spiral sequence and spin with change of edge. Then came a three jump combination, triple toe-double toe-double toe, and a double Axel. Her layback traveled a bit but had a good number of rotations. However, things went down hill from there with two jumps simplified to doubles. She sprang back to end with an excellent blur spin. Her free score of 87.36, good enough for tenth place in this section, brought her up from 15^th to 12^th overall with a total score of 126.10.

Jane Bugaeva, who is trained by Kathie Kader in Raleigh, NC, performed to music from the movie "The Stepford Wives" choreographed by Natalia Efimova, wearing a two tone outfit with a yellow skirt and orange top. An early fall on a triple flip and a doubled Salchow and singled Lutz took the fizz out of her. When she got to the end, she staggered and took some moments to bow to the audience. She left the ice obviously in an extremely disheartened state. She received 80.70 for her free and 121.78 overall which dropped her from 12^th to 13^th.

The wind was taken out of Megan Oster’s sails somewhat by falling on her second move, a triple loop, and on the following jump, a triple Lutz which was meant to be a combination. Her 14^th place in the free dropped her from 11^th to 14^th overall. She is taught by Tracey Poletis in Newark, Delaware, and skated to "The Death Theme" from The Untouchables by Ennio Morricone and "Czardas" by Giovanni Marradi, dressed in pink.

Michelle Boulos, who drew to skate first, skated to music by Adophe Adam for the ballet "Giselle". She is trained by Konstantin Kostin. Her choreographers are Nathan Birch & Mary Scotvold. Her 15^th in the free pulled her up one place to finish 15^th. Her score was 106.87.

Abigail Legg, who used the music, "Keys to an Imagination", is coached by Pieter Kollen, Kelley Morris & Don Adair, and Elena Zaitsev, also rose a place to 16^th. She scored 100.31.

Anna Madorsky, who is trained by Bob Crowley, fell on a triple toe loop. Performing in a lovely royal blue outfit with silver sparkles on the net sleeves trim, to Debussy’s Clair de Lune, Madorsky finished with 91.83 and was 17^th.