North American Challenge Skate
Lake Placid, NY USA
July 14-15, 2000
I arrived just as the ladies were finishing practice so I saw the novice
and junior pairs and men practice. I didn't take any notes but I was
particularly impressed with Avard/Choquet in Novice pairs. They were working
on a throw triple sal that had nice height and distance and was barely
two footed on the best attempts. Her air position in the lifts was
particularly good and overall I though they had alot more polish than
the other teams. I thought I also saw Blakinger/Ladwig doing a throw
double lutz. A few of the novice men were working on triple lutzes,
which I did not expect to see. The junior pairs was the usual mixture
of senior tricks with junior ability. Some of the lifts were pretty darn
scary going up and only just managing to stay up.
Note: I'm adding final placing, short(compulsory) and long (free)
after each description. Check the
USFSA NACS Results page for the full results.
Novice Free Dance
The compulsory dances must have been interesting. Three teams were tied
for third place and no one in the clear lead.
- Sabrina Granta/Bradley Yaeger - The music was a swingy, jazzy type of music, very
traditional ballroom style but not something that you might know well.
The lifts seemed based mostly on his strength to lift her and the side
by side footwork was a bit shaky but the speed was good for novice. A
solid, if not terribly innovative, dance. (1,3,4,1)
- Siobhan Karam/Joshua McGrath - I think the ODs this season will look like this dance.
Seemed to be a Charleston and Foxtrot. The lifts were well-integrated
into the dance, the side by side footwork was smooth and some of it in
holds and they had nice edges. They could use a bit more speed but a
nice team. (4,2,5,3)
- Alexandra Howells/Mick Matsumoto - Havana, Santana and other Latin music. The dance
looked new and they were somewhat unsteady with some scrapey footwork.
They were having some trouble really carrying the Latin theme through out
the dance but I'd like to see it when it's been worked on some more.
(5,4,1,5)
- Katie Collins/Lincoln Coverdale - The music was blues but in a Muzak setting. The
choreography was good but the dance was fairly sloppy, perhaps also a
new dance. They also seemed to get confused near the end and were off
the music. (3,1,3,4)
- Sara Solomon/Benjamin Cohen - A middle eastern program (Scherezahde?) that won the
best costume award from me. It was a bit slow. The lifts were good and
in the character of the music. The music was fairly strong for novices
but they managed to keep up with it until the very end.(2,5,2,2)
Novice Ladies Long
- Stephanie Trembley - A tango in a nice costume. Double axel. two and a quarter
toe. Flying camel. Double Flip. Double Axel - Double toe ( a bit of
a toe axel). combo spin with so-so layback. Double loop. death drop.
triple sal underotated and two foot and hands down. double lutz.
layback. (6,7,6)
- Samnatha Mohr - Cirque de soleil. Popped axel. double flip (step out) and steps
to double toe. fall on triple sal. Good stretch on flying camel. triple
loop might have been underotated (it was too close to the boards for
me to see.) Beillman type spirals. Layback. Double axel. Double lutz
(fall out). Circular footwork all in one direction. Combo spin. (8,6,8)
- Ashton Tessier - (Another clowise skater for my list). Double axel. Fall on
triple lutz that nearly worked. Flying camel. double toe. Double flip
that might have been planned for a triple, it was underotated and
step out. Underotated and step out on triple sal, triple loop two
footed. Layback very briefly held. Double axel. double toe - double
toe. Circular footwork. Her program had lots of steps but also many
mazurkas to keep the speed up. Combo spin passed through the positions
a bit too quickly. (7,5,7)
- Lisa Danemiller - The double axel takoff was wonky but she saved it. Triple
toe underotated and two footed. Camel to layback, great stretch. Hard
fall on triple sal. Double flip. Flying sit didn't have much pop. Double
axel - double toe. Double lutz, Double loop. Triple toe underotated and
two foot. Flying spin into a leg pulled up to the side spin. Good
speed and carriage but lots of trouble with the jumps.(5,8,4)
- Lisa Hortsman - Double axel - double toe very nice. Fall on triple lutz.
Triple toe - double toe. Combo spin. Ina bauer. double axel. Hands down
on double loop. Layback. Fall on triple sal. Popped flip. split to
triple toe. Flying camel, good presentation and stretch but jumps iffy.
(2,3,2)
- Joannie Rochette - The music was Instanbul. Double axel (step out) and steps to
triple toe. Double lutz. Combo spin. Step out on triple sal. Triple
loop that she landed and then fell. Layback. Pulled off triple flip.
Triple sal steps to double toe. Flying camel. Double axel - double toe.
She struggled in the begining but gutted it out to finished strong.
However, she could really use more connection to the music. I loved
her air position on jumps. (1,1,1)
- Amber Czsiny - I saw her last year and a year of growing has done her lots of
good. She is not so coltish and the flexibility moves look good. Double
lutz. Triple sal (slight two foot) - double toe. Double axel (two
foot and very tenative into it.) Double flip. Death drop. Spirals showed
great flexibility but the positions neeed to be held longer. Triple
loop (fall out). Layback to very nice Beillman. Two foot on double
axel. Popped toe. Two great split jumps in a row. Popped toe with
steps to double toe. Combo spin with great flexibility including the
Lucinda Ruh mushroom sit spin position. Reverse camel. (3,2,3)
- Cynthia Phaneuf - Poor layback. Double axel - double toe. Double lutz - double
toe. Fall on triple sal. Underotated on triple loop. Flying camel. Not
too much speed. Double axel. Double Flip. Double toe. Double lutz.
combo spin.(4,4,5)
Novice Pairs Long
Two teams came out for the first warmup group but something must have
happened because Blakinger/Ladwig withdrew after the warmup. I did see her
fussing with her skate but nothing else that was obvious. Please note that
I don't know all the lift names very well so they could be horrible wrong.
I'm trying but a Prelim pairs level doen't give me much overhead lift
experience.
- Shelia Harkaway/Colin Loomis - Music was Four Seasons. Lasso lift shaky and she
came down on his back. Throw double sal and then both steps to double
flip. Side by Side spins off unison. Back inside death spiral. Pair
camel. Double twist very low. tango camel to sit. Straight line footwork.
Throw double loop. Held on to double lutz. Back outside death spiral.
Loop lift (two hands for all of it). They looked like a team that was
just learning pairs skills.(4,5,4)
- Lindsay Carruthers/John Mattatal - Music was Shakespeare in Love. Double lutz and
steps to double flip well done. Very poor double twist. Small but
clean throw double loop. Hip platter lift to star. Tango camel to sit.
Side by side double axel. Lasso lift. forward outside death spiral
in good position. Side by side flying camels in perfect unison. Throw
double sal. hip platter lift. Got stronger at the end. Throws not very
strong but other pairs skills fine.(3,3,3)
- Karine Avard/Marc Choquet - Double twist. Throw triple sal (perhaps two foot).
Lasso to 1 hand. Nice speed. Side by side double lutz (she popped and
he fell), steps to double flip. Side by side spins started with poor
unison on camels but caught up to each other. Throw double loop. Lasso
to star with flip out. Double loop. Hip axel to 1 hand on hip. Lost
some unison on straight line footwork. A series of moves with pivots
and spread eagles into two death spirals. This move and a few other
ones made me think they were a Josée Piccard team, although she was not there
with them. (I didn't recognize the coach.) The were tighter than in
practice but still very impressive.(1,1,1)
- Colleen Okolski/Benjamin Okolski - They had spent a good part of practice with her
crashing hard on a throw double axel right into the boards and a few
times she looked to be in pain. I wouldn't be suprised if she had
cracked a rib. They had good speed, esp. for novice. Throw double loop.
Lasso lift. Double flip (he stepped out.) Double twist. Pair spin.
Very good back inside death spiral, hip platter lift rather unstable.
pair combo spin. Throw single axel (I breathed a sigh of relief).
Double lutz steps to double toe. Side by side spin unison fine. Back
outside death spiral.(2,2,2)
Novice Mens Long
- Damien Mainprize - Double axel. Two foot on triple lutz. Death drop. Nice
stroking with graceful arms and arm gestures. Triple sal. Fall on
triple toe. Combo spin fast and unusual positions that started with
a back camel. Straight line footwork has good flow. Fall on double
axel. A jump sequence none of us knew but later found out was a
walley - reverse one-foot sal - step over - triple sal but he
unfortunately fell on the triple sal. Double flip (fall). Broken leg
spin. He rather lost it at the end of the program but a nice skater.
(7,7,7)
- Benjamin Zumsteg - Double axel - double toe. good carriage. Triple toe - double
toe. Combo spin. Fall on triple loop. Circular footwork. Double flip.
Fell out of death drop. Fall on triple sal. Step out on double axel.
Back camel to sit to upright.(5,5,5)
- Dylan Moscovitch - He was coached by Gregor Filipowski, who is apparently
now in Toronto. The music was mask of Zorro. Held on to Double axel.
Flying sit good. Triple flip (two foot). Double sal. Combo spin. Triple
loop. Fall on triple lutz. Double sal. Straight line footwork. Single
axel. Triple toe. One and a quarter loop. Tried the triple loop again
but this time stepped out. Flying camel.(6,6,6)
- Julien Mercier - I believe the music is the Rock. Flying sit. Fall out of
triple toe. Double Axel and steps to double flip (fall out of both.)
Flying camel. Fall on triple loop. Double flip. step out of double
lutz. Back camel start to combo spin. Straight line footwork. Popped
axel (really long entry edge). Change sit.(8,8,8)
- Allen Chung - Reminded all of us of Hugh Yik with long legs and arms and
also a lovely graceful style. Triple toe (3 out) - triple toe. Underotated
and 2 foot on triple lutz. Double axel steps to triple loop (just
held on). Death drop. Triple sal. Double flip. Flying camel. Fall
out of double sal. Popped lutz. Circular footwork had a few slips
in it. Double axel. Camel. Although he petered out a bit at the end,
a very well done program.(4,4,4)
- Adam Aronowitz - Flying camel. Great double axel - double toe. Fall on
triple flip. Triple sal - double toe. Flying sit without much fly.
I thought a triple toe but might have been flip (sometimes I watch
but don't always SEE). One and a quarter sal. Double axel. Combo
spin. Double loop. Circular footwork. step out of double lutz and
then some other jumps to a double sal. death drop to fast crossfoot.
Another skater with great style and edges.(2,2,2)
- Mauro Bruni - Double axel - double toe. combo spin, double flip, slight step
out on triple toe. Perhaps a two foot on triple lutz - double toe.
Flying camel. Double loop. Triple sal. Death drop. Fall on triple toe.
The music seemed much too heavy for him.(3,3,3)
- Micheal Peters - Split jump. Crazy waxel. Double flip. Camel to back sit had
good positions. Great outside edge into triple lutz. Double axel from
spread eagle. Flying sit. Double lutz - single toe (oops!). Triple toe.
straight line footwork. Triple sal. Arabian. There was a definite
theme to the program with lots of artistic posing but I'm not at all
sure what that was. Interesting to see in Novices, though.(1,1,1)
Junior Pairs Long
I did see the pairs debut (I assume) of Mark Batka. He and his partner
looked very tenative together but seemed to be having fun. They were
coached by Luc Bradet.
- Alyssa Wise/Ricardo DeNucci - Slightly underotated triple twist. Throw triple sal.
Hip axel to no hand position. Double axel (she fell) and steps to
double toe that she fell out of and he hands down. Flying sit to sit
very out of unison. Double flip. Many unison breaks (like a new
program or a new team or both). Lasso lift went very off. Step out
of throw triple loop. Pair spin. Loop lift that only his strength
saved from disaster. Forward inside death spiral, her knee bent.
Off at end of music. This was not an auspicious begining to a junior
pairs event.(5,7,4)
- Teresa Anselmi/Micheal Adler - Firebird. Double twist. Press to star, air position
poor. Double flip. Pair spin. Throw double sal. back outside death
spiral. Lasso lift. very hard fall on throw double loop. Spins out
of unison at start. Loop lift. Split to double flip sequence good.
forward inside death spiral (bent knee). pair spin.(6,6,6)
- Elizabeth Putnam/Mark Batka - Triple toe (she did a double). Very scary lasso lift.
Double twist. throw double loop. Double axel (he waxel-ed). Platter
lift nearly collapsed. Pair spin. Fall out of throw double sal. Loop
lift. Circular footwork very sloppy. Flying camel out of unison.
Back outside death spiral. The final move was something like a
Detroiter but he held her at his chest level while spinning around
and then did a rolling drop out to the final pose. I doubted if it
was a legal move but I have no idea.(7,5,7)
- Johanna Purdy/Kevin MaGuire - She fell on double axel. Good triple twist. Fall out
on throw triple sal. Lasso to 1 hand and 1 hand set down. sbs spins good.
Back loop lift to layout. Double flip. Double loop. Throw triple sal
(fall). Hip axel. Spirals. Pair spin. Great back inside death spiral.
Throws off but lifts great.(1,1,1)
- Lindsay Rogeness/Brian Rogeness - Les Miserable in very elaborate blue costumes. triple
twist. Throw tripe sal that she two footed but he was closer to taking the
spill on. Double flips and steps to double toe that she singled. The steps
bewteen were fairly muddy. Lasso lift to 1 hand to one hand set down.
Great unison on sbs flying camels until the end. Forward inside death
spiral came out on two feet. pair spin. Throw double sal (well, that is
what my notes say but it must have been a loop.....). Loop lift. double
loops. hip axel lift with flip out dismount. back outside death spiral.
They seemed stronger than last year but definetely have some rough spots
to work out.(3,3,3)
- Genevieve Denis/Michel Bondy - Good double twist (I noticed at Sectionals that they get
really nice ice coverage on the twist, his feet are very smooth on the
turn.) Side by side triple toes (she might have underotated). Lasso lift.
Double axels (he single) and steps to double toes. Throw double sal.
platter lift. Throw single axel. Death spiral. sbs flying camels to sits
with good unison. Hip axel lift. Forward inside Death spiral. Pair spin.
Compared to the other junior teams, she looks more like an adult and
they have a nice prescence on the ice. (2,2,2)
- Alica Heelan/Eric Lesser - Huge triple twist but slight collison on landing. Both
fell on sbs double axels. Lasso lift to flip out dismount. Fall on throw
triple toe. Low position on forward inside death spiral. Double lutz to
double toe. Hip lift. very poor sbs spin unison. Pair spin. Throw double
loop. Back loop lift. Low position on back outside death spiral.(4,4,5)
We didn't stick around for medals since it was late and pouring out already.
Overall, I though the quality of the skating was quite good and I esp. found
the singles skating much improved. The novice men were a very pleasant suprise,
it is nice to see so many promising kids. Maybe only a few will ever make it
but it's great to see such attention to details of presentation and technique
at novice.
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Created 17 July 2000 by Amy Mossman
Last Update 26 July 2000