No one! I live less than 10 miles from the rink! I only had to buy gas

Those that did have to travel long distances were responsible to provide their own transportation and in some cases, their coach's too.

My event was yesterday afternoon (Adult Artistic FS 2-3). I don't usually do this, but I need to rant before I rave (so I can end on a positive note), so if you don't like reading rants, skip the next paragraph.

Scoring for the Artistic event in ISI does not have a technical component for it. Scoring is based solely on edges, flow, choreography, carriage, posture, etc. There are no technical requirements, nor apparently are there any limitations. I don't have a problem with this except for the fact that the judges were clearly rewarding those who did more difficult technical moves yesterday. In my grouping, as well as the other adult grouping for this skill level, the winners did loops, flips, lutzes, camel spins, and camel-sit-upright combos. All these moves are from ISI levels 4-5. I was very disappointed that the judges seemed to forget what the Artistic event is supposed to be judged on. I came in 4th of 4, and while I don't think I should have won my category, I think that I should have been placed ahead of the the 3rd place winner who fell and did a butt slide across the ice, if the Artistic event truly is supposed to be about edges, flow, etc. I guess her loop jump (from FS level 4) made it more artistic than my legitimate FS level 3 program. Also, I noticed that among the female adults, those adults that had smaller frames & slight builds were placed ahead of females who had more womanly bodies, even if the more curvaceous women actually skated better. More than just a bit disturbing IMHO.

Despite all that, I had a good time at the event. I skated the best that I could, didn't fall, and ended in time with my music. For the first time, I skated with attack and I am proud of that. I also met some wonderful people, adults & kids, and had a blast watching other programs, checking out the vendors, and just soaking up the atmosphere of the event.

Anyone heading out to the benefit show tonight to see Ms. Sasha?

Well! I am home again. My Granddaughter and I skated well on Tuesday, we got sixth out of six, but she's over the moon because she got a medal with a purple ribbon on it to show for her efforts. I really like the ISI credo of Participation Not Elimination.

She did her part perfectly, and skated with confidence and a huge smile on her face. Nana was nervous and started too soon, caught a toepick on the takeoff for a waltz jump (no I did not fall!!) but other than that it was a very good day. Her mom and dad were there along with her sister and brother so she had a fan club. All in all I think her first-ever competition was a positive experience for her. She says she would like to skate with me again sometime, and she wants to do a solo by herself next time.

Disneyland was fun too!!

__________________
If you keep your eyes on God, you can walk on water.

Are there any results online?

__________________
- Ashley

yah they have results up... http://www.skateisi.com/HTML/event_i...ts/current.cfm

they have the results for monday-thursday up and are puting up today's at 10pm pst...

and.......... I got 2nd for my couples routine!!!!!!!!!!

__________________
~Dreams Can Come True~

It was a fun week... I drove down from northern California early Monday morning and made it to the rink in time to actually have practice ice on the rink where I would compete in Figures 1... and discovered just how BRIGHT WHITE the ice was! But I was happy with how I skated the figure (FI8) including the center! There were 3 in the group, I came in 2nd.

Tuesday some friends and I went to California Adventure to play on the rides and relax.

Wednesday had Charachter Spotlight... whose great idea was it to put Charachters (which usually require a good deal of make-up or hair or costume preparations) at 7:45am???? Oh well, at least all five of us in the group woke up the judges. We were a diverse group: Pochahantas, Kermit, (I Dream of) Jeanie, Tin Man and Casey (at the Bat). I skated well and ended up in a tie for first.

Thursday: Compulsory Solo Moves... had a bad warm-up.. except the final loop my coach made me do after they asked us to leave the ice.. it was GREAT! Of course, the loop I did in the event was a real squeaker... or as one of the judges said to me afterwards "You must really like toe jumps rather than edge jumps.. that loop was scary". The woman who also skated the event was so impressive... she was coming back to the ice after a broken ankle and had a GORGEOUS loop!

Friday: Couples Light Entertainment-High.. what a FUN group! We were all awesome. I told my partner I had a dream Thursday night we were going to place 4th (out of six) and she wouldn't speak to me any more... so when the results were posted, she said to me "I'm not speaking to you any more" -- and we both laughed... I KNEW what she meant.. but for a second, everyone else thought she was being a poor sport.. then we explained the dream.

So... a week of good skating and at a lot of different rinks (we also practiced at Ontario and Artesia just for diversity), had a lot of fun, made new friends, went to Disneyland with my coach for a few hours, and ended up with 2-1st place medals, 1-2nd place medal and 1-4th place medal.. and scored 14 points for my home rink.. which put it ahead of a local "rival" rink. (Without my points, my rink would have been down two more places in the final standings. My couples number didn't count towards our rink.. since my partner skates for another rink in another state.. and they earned the points.. which also put them ahead of one of their "rival" rinks).

And I didn't realize until I made it home, but I was not nervous -- even once!!! (Although I was a bit stiff on my compulsory moves warm-up.) So I've learned I CAN compete without getting all crazy! THAT may have been the best thing that came out of the entire week!