hoptoad
10-08-2003, 06:51 PM
I went to the St Louis Skating Club's "Olympic Hopefuls Figure Skating Exhibition and Benefit" last Saturday and thought I'd share a few quick impressions. (On top of the usual disclaimers about correctly IDing elements, my notes are sketchy and my hand-writing worse.)
Although there were only a few senior level skaters here (Kelsey Drewel, Katie Lee, and Matt Savoie) I really enjoyed this show. There's nothing to give you an appreciation for how good the top skaters are at making the difficult look easy than watching skaters at all levels. The program was awesome, giving pictures and information about every skater. (Thanks Sylvia!) The fifth pre-juv skater is that much more interesting when you know she just learned the double flip and it's her favorite jump. :)
Matt Savoie skated last and performed his short program to blues music. He took an unfortunate nose-dive on center ice for no apparant reason, but he looked to be in good health and I love his basic skating. Jumps were: an effortless 3 axel, ??? (I missed the take-off on the next jump. I think he landed a double or triple toe or flip (she said with pin-point accuracy), but it obviously wasn't what he planned, maybe an aborted quad or combo); 3 lutz.
Kelsey Drewel did both her short and long programs. She looked pretty solid and very comfortable with her choreography. In the warm-up, her 2A looked very solid, it took a couple attempts to get the 3R going, and I don't think she attempted any 3F or 3L.
short: "Celtic Legend" 2A, 3R/2R, 3T
long: "Sahara" 2A, 2L/2T, 3S, 3R-step out, 3T-fall, 2F, straight line and circular footwork towards end
Katie Lee did her short program to "The American President." My notes say 3L-fall, 3S, 2A.
A few other skaters out of many who stood out to me:
John Coughlin and Lucy Galleher: never heard of them, but I'll definitely be watching for them now. They are going to the JGP Japan soon. Junior pairs short to "Espana Cani." I was impressed with their unison, especially in the sbs spins. She didn't hold the landing on the throw jump; lifts seemed pretty basic; lots of potential.
Brandon Mroz: Novice Long to "Nightmare Before Christmas." 3-jumps all over the place--by far the most landed that night. Looks good going in and out of jumping passes; in-betweens and spins suffer by comparison.
It seemed to me that the pre-juv and juv programs were on the whole too challenging for the skaters at their current level. Most seem to skitter every-which-way across the ice, barely keeping up with the music and not able to check their changes of direction. Jumps all over the place, from quite good to barely recognizable. Two stand-outs for me:
Kristin Walker: Juv long to "Dixie/Yankee Doodle" (Is it just me, or is that an odd music choice?) Solid, confident skate. According to my program notes she did well in the summer Future Champions Series, and it's easy to see why.
McKinzie Daniels: Pre-juv long to "Sound of Music Medley." Very cute 8 year old with impressive body control. She was skating the program instead of it skating her.
Although there were only a few senior level skaters here (Kelsey Drewel, Katie Lee, and Matt Savoie) I really enjoyed this show. There's nothing to give you an appreciation for how good the top skaters are at making the difficult look easy than watching skaters at all levels. The program was awesome, giving pictures and information about every skater. (Thanks Sylvia!) The fifth pre-juv skater is that much more interesting when you know she just learned the double flip and it's her favorite jump. :)
Matt Savoie skated last and performed his short program to blues music. He took an unfortunate nose-dive on center ice for no apparant reason, but he looked to be in good health and I love his basic skating. Jumps were: an effortless 3 axel, ??? (I missed the take-off on the next jump. I think he landed a double or triple toe or flip (she said with pin-point accuracy), but it obviously wasn't what he planned, maybe an aborted quad or combo); 3 lutz.
Kelsey Drewel did both her short and long programs. She looked pretty solid and very comfortable with her choreography. In the warm-up, her 2A looked very solid, it took a couple attempts to get the 3R going, and I don't think she attempted any 3F or 3L.
short: "Celtic Legend" 2A, 3R/2R, 3T
long: "Sahara" 2A, 2L/2T, 3S, 3R-step out, 3T-fall, 2F, straight line and circular footwork towards end
Katie Lee did her short program to "The American President." My notes say 3L-fall, 3S, 2A.
A few other skaters out of many who stood out to me:
John Coughlin and Lucy Galleher: never heard of them, but I'll definitely be watching for them now. They are going to the JGP Japan soon. Junior pairs short to "Espana Cani." I was impressed with their unison, especially in the sbs spins. She didn't hold the landing on the throw jump; lifts seemed pretty basic; lots of potential.
Brandon Mroz: Novice Long to "Nightmare Before Christmas." 3-jumps all over the place--by far the most landed that night. Looks good going in and out of jumping passes; in-betweens and spins suffer by comparison.
It seemed to me that the pre-juv and juv programs were on the whole too challenging for the skaters at their current level. Most seem to skitter every-which-way across the ice, barely keeping up with the music and not able to check their changes of direction. Jumps all over the place, from quite good to barely recognizable. Two stand-outs for me:
Kristin Walker: Juv long to "Dixie/Yankee Doodle" (Is it just me, or is that an odd music choice?) Solid, confident skate. According to my program notes she did well in the summer Future Champions Series, and it's easy to see why.
McKinzie Daniels: Pre-juv long to "Sound of Music Medley." Very cute 8 year old with impressive body control. She was skating the program instead of it skating her.