DATE TIME EVENT ARENA
Jan. 13 9:30 a.m. Novice Ladies & Mens Figures Ice Centre Rink A
Jan. 13 12:50 p.m. Junior Ladies & Mens Figures Ice Centre Rink A
Jan. 13 4:10 p.m. Senior Ladies & Mens Figures Ice Center Rink A
Jan. 15 11:30 a.m. Novice Dance "A" Compulsory Dances Ice Centre Rink A
Jan. 15 2:05 p.m. Novice Dance "Open" Compulsory Dances Ice Centre Rink A
Jan. 15 4:40 p.m. Novice Men Short Program Ice Centre Rink A
Jan. 15 5:55 p.m. Novice Pairs Short Program Ice Centre Rink A
Jan. 15 7:15 p.m. Novice Ladies Short Program Ice Centre Rink A
Jan. 16 11:45 a.m. Novice Dance "A" Free Dance Ice Centre Rink A
Jan. 16 12:00 p.m. Junior Dance Compulsory Dances San Jose Arena
Jan. 16 2:50 p.m. Junior Men Short Program San Jose Arena
Jan. 16 3:15 p.m. Novice Dance "Open" Free Dance Ice Centre Rink A
Jan. 16 4:55 p.m. Novice Men Free Skate Ice Centre Rink A
Jan. 16 6:20 p.m. Novice Pairs Free Skate Ice Centre Rink A
Jan. 16 7:00 p.m. Senior Dance Compulsory Dances San Jose Arena
Jan. 16 7:50 p.m. Novice Ladies Free Skate Ice Centre Rink A
Jan. 16 9:45 p.m. Awards - all figures events San Jose Arena
Jan. 17 10:30 a.m. Junior Dance Original Dance San Jose Arena
Jan. 17 12:20 p.m. Junior Ladies Short Program San Jose Arena
Jan. 17 2:35 p.m. Senior Dance Original Dance San Jose Arena
Jan. 17 7:00 p.m. OPENING CEREMONIES San Jose Arena
Jan. 17 8:00 p.m. Senior Pairs Short Program San Jose Arena
Jan. 17 10:00 p.m. Awards - all novice events San Jose Arena
Jan. 18 10:30 a.m. Junior Pairs Short Program San Jose Arena
Jan. 18 12:50 p.m. Junior Men Free Skate San Jose Arena
Jan. 18 5:15 p.m. Senior Men Short Program San Jose Arena
Jan. 18 7:45 p.m. Senior Pairs Free Skate San Jose Arena
Jan. 18 10:00 p.m. Awards - junior men, senior pairs San Jose Arena
Jan. 19 10:30 a.m. Junior Dance Free Dance San Jose Arena
Jan. 19 12:35 p.m. Junior Ladies Free Skate San Jose Arena
Jan. 19 5:00 p.m. Senior Ladies Short Program San Jose Arena
Jan. 19 7:30 p.m. Senior Dance Free Dance San Jose Arena
Jan. 19 9:45 p.m. Awards - junior dance, ladies, San Jose Arena
senior dance
Jan. 20 9:15 a.m. Junior Pairs Free Skate San Jose Arena
Jan. 20 12:00 p.m. Senior Men Free Skate San Jose Arena
Jan. 20 5:00 p.m. Senior Ladies Free Skate San Jose Arena
Jan. 20 8:00 p.m. Awards - junior pairs, senior men San Jose Arena
and ladies
Jan. 21 2:00 p.m. Exhibition San Jose Arena
Saturday, January 13 on ABC
U. S. Championships preview - 4:30-6:00 p.m. EST/4:30-6:00 p.m. PST
Thursday, January 18 on ESPN2
Dance (OD), Pairs (SP) - 8:00-10:00 p.m. EST/5:-7:00 p.m. PST
Friday, January 19 on ESPN
Ladies' (SP) - 10:00-11:00 EST/7:00-8:00 p.m. PST
Men's (SP) - 9:00-10:00 p.m. PST
Saturday, January 20 on ESPN
Men's (SP) - 12:00-1:00 a.m. EST
Saturday, January 20 on ABC
Men's (FS) - 4:30-6:00 p.m. EST/4:30-6:00 p.m. PST
Ladies' (FS) - 9:00-11:00 p.m. EST/9:00-11:00 PST
Saturday, February 3 on ABC
Pairs (FS), Dance (FD) - 4:30-6:00 p.m. EST/4:30-6:00 p.m. PST
Saturday, February 10 on ABC
Exhibition - 4:30-6:00 p.m. EST/4:30-6:00 p.m. PST
The clear favorite in the ladies event is Michelle Kwan who has three victories to her credit in the Champions Series, and has beaten all other contenders for the title at least once this year. Nicole Bobek has not skated particularly well since Worlds, and with the turmoil of a recent coaching change we do not expect her to place better than second or third, with her main competition Tonia Kwiatkowski. Whether Kwiatkowski can take the second spot will depend in large part on whether she can put together a strong short and long in the same competition, and how much Bobek's superior style can overcome technical weaknesses.
Last year's Junior medalist, Sydne Vodel, has come along nicely this year and seems to have consistent command of all the triples through triple Lutz. We see her having a good shot at fourth place, and if Bobek or Kwiatkowski choke badly, an outside chance to make the World team.
Todd Eldredge appears to be in command of the men's event. He has skated well consistently since Worlds, and, like Kwan, has beaten all his main competition for the gold medal at least once this year. Based on their International results we expext Scott Davis and Michael Weiss to fight it out for the silver and the bronze.
Aren Nielsen has a reasonable shot at fourth place if he can put a good short and long back-to-back. Also competitive for fourth place is Rudy Galindo, who skated well at Pacific Coast, with two good programs.
Jenni Meno and Todd Sand have a good shot at winning another pairs title this year, with their main competition again being Kyoko Ina and Jason Dungjen. Sand has shown clear signs of age in his stamina this year and he and Meno are likely to be hard pressed by Ina and Dungjen who are a physically stonger team. Nevertheless, Meno and Sand remain far superior in terms of style and form and have placed better Internationaly throughout the year than Ina and Dungjen. Barring any major mishaps we expect Meno and Sand to repeat as champions, and Ina and Dungjen to take the second spot.
Conventional wisdom has it that Lyons and Wells will get the bronze, and the third spot on the World Team. They won at Obersdorf and skated a difficult program competently at Skate Canada, despite some errors.
Several teams are competitive for fourth place. Of those we give a small edge to Stiegler and Zimmerman if they stand up for their two programs. They will probably have the two most interesting programs at Nationals this year, but they have struggled off and on in practice throughout the season. Still, competition seems to bring out the best in both of these skaters and fourth place seems achievable for them.
What can one say about dance? Look at last year's results and mail out the medals.