2010 US Junior Championships – Juvenile FD Report

 

I wrote this review on my drive back to Ann Arbor. Funnily enough for you at home, I wrote about Juvenile free dance first because it was fresh in my memory. I’m very impressed with the level of skating and the cleanliness of the boys’ turns when doing rotational lifts (good for you boys because I am a huge stickler on that! Beware!). The other main thing (other than wonderful judging things I learned from my amazing JETs and other officials) I saw and loved about Junior Nationals was the innocence of all the competitors. I love seeing kids love skating and competing for the joy of it, instead of being wrapped up in results, controversies, or just trying too hard. In the end, those things don’t truly matter; what matters is if you and your partner were happy with all of your skates. When I watched these kids skate, it truly reminded me of why I love skating, why I’m judging instead of coaching, and my drive to compete. Thank you skaters for truly touching me!

 

Giordano/Davis (black with pink trims/ “Pink Panther”)—In their first season together, Giordano topped the field in the free dance with strong skating skills. They received no negative GOEs for any of their elements. They had nice musicality, speed, and fairly good unison. Very clean and very nice skate!

pSTw4, RoLi4, CiSt1, CoSp3, CuLi4  – TES: 24.74 PCS: 24.14 TSS: 46.88

Total Score: 82.56

 

Miller/Lorello (yellow and orange/ “Shake, Shake, Señora”)— I was really impressed by this team. They had speed, but skated on flatter edges than some other teams. What they lacked in skating skills, they made up in performance. They came out and skated with confidence and wonderful expression. Miller and Lorello are a very captivating team. They had a few -1s on various elements, but like I said, they had a lot of expression. They received a lot of base marks, but I really liked them anyway. They placed 3rd in the segment and 2nd overall.

pSTw4, CuLi4, MiSt1, CoSp3, RoLi4 – TES: 21.81 PCS: 22.41 TSS: 44.22

Total Score: 81.44

 

Chadwick/Martin (white with colorful trim/ Russian Folk)—This team had my favorite choreography. It was well skated overall very well, but there was a stumble and unison problems in the twizzles. However, they were very musical, had nice edges, and leg lines. They are a very promising team. They placed 2nd in this segment and 3rd overall.

CoSp3, SlLi4, CiSt1, pSTw4, RoLi4  – TES 23.28 PCS: 22.53 TSS: 45.81

Total Score: 81.15

 

Pfeiffer/ Petrov (black with pink trim/ soft tango music)—Pfeiffer and Petrov were very clean and very precise. They skated with nice posture, unison, and edge quality. Their GOEs were primarily base and plus 1. They placed 5th in the segment but are taking home the pewter medal.

Sp2, RoLi1, pStw4, SlLi2, CiSt1  – TES: 20.10 PCS: 23.22 TSS: 43.42

Total Score: 80. 54

 

Olson/Dudley (pale pink with light green trim/ “1, 2, 3, 4”)—Olson and Dudley placed 4th in the free dance with a very cute free dance. They had very nice expression and carriage. What was nice about this team’s program was their variety of transitions, which is very difficult at this level. She had a slight stumble in the circle step sequence, but the team was consistently in synch with one another. Their highlights for me were their twizzles, which were perfectly synchronized, and their spin.

pSTw4, SlLi4, CiSt1, RoLi4, Sp2  TES: 23.39 PCS: 21.55 TSS: 43.94

Total Score: 73.99

 

Manahan/Schachtel (multi colored with black/ “That Thing You Do” by the Wonders)—I love this song and this movie. I really want to skate to it for next years OD if I get a partner. Anyways, skating in their hometown, Manahan and Schachtel placed 6th in the free dance and overall. They had nice speed and fairly good unison. They skated with nice energy. A highlight for this team was their rotational lift because Schachtel rotated so quickly with lovely, clean turns.

Sp3, CiSt1, pSTw4, RoLi4, SlLi3  – TES: 22.95 PCS: 19.39

TSS: 41.34