Louis
09-07-2002, 10:19 PM
Joelle Forte (SC NY) won the junior ladies event in convincing fashion after a year missed due to injury. For all of the fuss about puberty, here is another skater who has gained more speed and power without losing any of her jumping ability. She skated to classical music that I couldn’t place. Split jump into arabesque, 3salchow/2toe, 3toe/2toe, very nice deathdrop 7 revs, stepped out of a 3flip that was slightly underrotated (but a very credible attempt), put her foot down on a 2loop that was probably meant to be a triple, flying camel 5 plus 2 illusions, Ina Bauer into 2axel with a swung-around landing, serpentine spiral sequence LBO RFO RBO, layback 5, outside spread eagle, fall on 3toe, straight-line ftk, split jump into 3salchow, camel 3/sit 3/layback 3 – back sit 2/Y 4/scratch 3. In addition to all of the other changes, her presentation has come a long way since I last saw her two years ago. Five of the judges had her first, one had her third, and one had her fourth. I wondered if maybe those two judges thought that some of her triples were still slightly short of full rotation, but even so, I’m at a loss to understand ordinals other than first. She’ll be a force at Norths and probably at Sectionals if she can skate this well.
Samantha Mohr (UDel) was second with music that I assumed was “Spiderman” from her costume. Arabesque, layback 6, 2axel (put her foot down as she was checking out), 3salchow (maybe a little short of full revolution), 2loop, camel 4/layback 5 – back sit 5/upright 3, LFO spiral, 2lutz, 2flip (made some attempts at a 3flip in warmup), 2salchow, 2toe/2toe with a fall on the latter, straight-line ftk, 1axel, flying camel 7. Strong spin positions.
There were no triple jumps (or even double axels) from the rest of the junior ladies, but they all had at least once special move in their program. Diane Durbin (UDel) was third with a strong combination spin. Ashton Blust (PSC&HS, 4th place) had a beautiful straight-leg layback. Laura Shaw (Washington FSC, 5th place) had wonderful delay on her 2lutz and 2flip. Samantha Rowell (7th in the free, 8th overall) had excellent coverage on her spiral sequence. Amanda Bird (Richmond FSC, 7th overall) held a Biellmann spin for seven revolutions.
Jennifer Park won the senior ladies free with unanimous ordinals. She and second-place finisher Andrea Varraux both skated to Pearl Harbor, though I think Varraux had a bit of Waterworld mixed in. Park (SC No. VA) did a 3loop from running three turns, 1lutz, walley-half walley-3salchow (fall), 2axel into 2axel (wide landing), 3toe, 2flip (looked like she wanted a triple), and second 3loop (fall). She could stand to hold her spins a bit longer, as many of them did not meet the minimum required revolutions. Still, an easy win for her.
Varraux (UDel) opened with a 2axel, but then singled her lutz, fell on her salchow, fell on her loop, fell on a second salchow, and did not attempt a 3toe. (Maybe she’s reworking the timing for pairs?) She did land a 2flip/2toe at the end of the program, but that was the extent of the jump content. I think it’s safe to assume that most of her focus these days is on pairs. She was having no luck with the triples in warmup either.
Julie Mauser (Penguin FSC) landed her 3toe and 2axel attempts on two feet, but she was one of the few to get through the rest of the program without major errors. Solid double lutz and double flip combinations were enough for third.
Ashley Kabino (UDel) impressed with me with her speed and carriage, and she was knocking off 2axels, 3toes, and 3salchows like they were nothing in the warmup. In her free skate to “Romeo and Juliet” (Tchaikovsky, Rota, *and* Prokofiev versions), she didn’t have as much luck. She got the 3salchow, but fell out of the 2axel, popped both toe attempts, and singled her planned 2lutz and flip. It’s a long shot, but the quality of her skating is such that I could imagine her qualifying for Sectionals if the stars align for her jumps.
Laura Wetzel (Penguin) rounded out the senior ladies field with her impressive spins.
In the junior men’s free, Traighe Rouse (UDel) swept all seven first place ordinals, showing no signs of the injuries that have bothered him for the past two years. At least part of the music was “Gladiator,” but the arrangement of the cuts was slightly jarring at times. Still, he pretty much blew away the field. Outside spread eagle into inside spread eagle, high 2axel, camel 3/sit 4 – back camel 2/back sit 7, 3lutz/2toe, 3salchow/2toe, 3loop (maybe a slight two-foot or cheat?), 1flip, straight-line footwork into 3toe with turnout (and maybe a slight cheat again?), flying camel 6, fell out of a second 3lutz that he nearly had, nice serpentine sequence of outside spread eagle/LBO spiral/RFI spiral, footwork into Russian split into 2axel into running threes into 2loop, deathdrop into very fast scratch. So great to see him back. I’m not entirely sold on the program, as it doesn’t bring out his natural musicality, but maybe I’ll warm up to it with time.
Mark McLeod (UDel) was second with a stylish performance to “Warsaw Concerto.” His carriage, extension, and flair are to die for. Even something as simple as a crossover is done with natural panache; his skating and his jumps soar over the ice. 2axel, 3flip two-footed, 3toe-3toe with the latter two-footed and underrotated, flying camel 5, 2lutz, sit-change sit with 4 on each foot, 3salchow, 2axel with touch of the free foot, camel 4/sit 3/Y 2 – back sit 6, 2loop, circular ftk, 3toe (broke the Zayak rule), RFO-LBO-RBO serpentine spirals, textbook perfect split falling leaf, deathdrop 6 into Y 4. Performance ability like this is so rare-- the best way to describe it would be a combination of Jeff Buttle and John Zimmerman. I’ll cross my fingers that this guy will get to display his talents at Nationals and perhaps beyond.
Michael Solonoski (also UDel) was third. This is the third time I’ve seen his free skate to “Romeo and Juliet” this season, and the program is coming together nicely. Most of his jumps were uncharacteristically popped, but he did manage a nice 2toe-3toe combination.
Nathan Evancho (Penn State FSC-- the only guy with no connection to UDel) was fifth in the free and fourth overall. He landed two 2axels and a 3toe but struggled with the harder triples.
Noah Abrahams (SC of Boston, but training at UDel) had a typical “damn the controls; full speed ahead” skate. A lot of his jumps were very close and just needed more control on the landings.
Samantha Mohr (UDel) was second with music that I assumed was “Spiderman” from her costume. Arabesque, layback 6, 2axel (put her foot down as she was checking out), 3salchow (maybe a little short of full revolution), 2loop, camel 4/layback 5 – back sit 5/upright 3, LFO spiral, 2lutz, 2flip (made some attempts at a 3flip in warmup), 2salchow, 2toe/2toe with a fall on the latter, straight-line ftk, 1axel, flying camel 7. Strong spin positions.
There were no triple jumps (or even double axels) from the rest of the junior ladies, but they all had at least once special move in their program. Diane Durbin (UDel) was third with a strong combination spin. Ashton Blust (PSC&HS, 4th place) had a beautiful straight-leg layback. Laura Shaw (Washington FSC, 5th place) had wonderful delay on her 2lutz and 2flip. Samantha Rowell (7th in the free, 8th overall) had excellent coverage on her spiral sequence. Amanda Bird (Richmond FSC, 7th overall) held a Biellmann spin for seven revolutions.
Jennifer Park won the senior ladies free with unanimous ordinals. She and second-place finisher Andrea Varraux both skated to Pearl Harbor, though I think Varraux had a bit of Waterworld mixed in. Park (SC No. VA) did a 3loop from running three turns, 1lutz, walley-half walley-3salchow (fall), 2axel into 2axel (wide landing), 3toe, 2flip (looked like she wanted a triple), and second 3loop (fall). She could stand to hold her spins a bit longer, as many of them did not meet the minimum required revolutions. Still, an easy win for her.
Varraux (UDel) opened with a 2axel, but then singled her lutz, fell on her salchow, fell on her loop, fell on a second salchow, and did not attempt a 3toe. (Maybe she’s reworking the timing for pairs?) She did land a 2flip/2toe at the end of the program, but that was the extent of the jump content. I think it’s safe to assume that most of her focus these days is on pairs. She was having no luck with the triples in warmup either.
Julie Mauser (Penguin FSC) landed her 3toe and 2axel attempts on two feet, but she was one of the few to get through the rest of the program without major errors. Solid double lutz and double flip combinations were enough for third.
Ashley Kabino (UDel) impressed with me with her speed and carriage, and she was knocking off 2axels, 3toes, and 3salchows like they were nothing in the warmup. In her free skate to “Romeo and Juliet” (Tchaikovsky, Rota, *and* Prokofiev versions), she didn’t have as much luck. She got the 3salchow, but fell out of the 2axel, popped both toe attempts, and singled her planned 2lutz and flip. It’s a long shot, but the quality of her skating is such that I could imagine her qualifying for Sectionals if the stars align for her jumps.
Laura Wetzel (Penguin) rounded out the senior ladies field with her impressive spins.
In the junior men’s free, Traighe Rouse (UDel) swept all seven first place ordinals, showing no signs of the injuries that have bothered him for the past two years. At least part of the music was “Gladiator,” but the arrangement of the cuts was slightly jarring at times. Still, he pretty much blew away the field. Outside spread eagle into inside spread eagle, high 2axel, camel 3/sit 4 – back camel 2/back sit 7, 3lutz/2toe, 3salchow/2toe, 3loop (maybe a slight two-foot or cheat?), 1flip, straight-line footwork into 3toe with turnout (and maybe a slight cheat again?), flying camel 6, fell out of a second 3lutz that he nearly had, nice serpentine sequence of outside spread eagle/LBO spiral/RFI spiral, footwork into Russian split into 2axel into running threes into 2loop, deathdrop into very fast scratch. So great to see him back. I’m not entirely sold on the program, as it doesn’t bring out his natural musicality, but maybe I’ll warm up to it with time.
Mark McLeod (UDel) was second with a stylish performance to “Warsaw Concerto.” His carriage, extension, and flair are to die for. Even something as simple as a crossover is done with natural panache; his skating and his jumps soar over the ice. 2axel, 3flip two-footed, 3toe-3toe with the latter two-footed and underrotated, flying camel 5, 2lutz, sit-change sit with 4 on each foot, 3salchow, 2axel with touch of the free foot, camel 4/sit 3/Y 2 – back sit 6, 2loop, circular ftk, 3toe (broke the Zayak rule), RFO-LBO-RBO serpentine spirals, textbook perfect split falling leaf, deathdrop 6 into Y 4. Performance ability like this is so rare-- the best way to describe it would be a combination of Jeff Buttle and John Zimmerman. I’ll cross my fingers that this guy will get to display his talents at Nationals and perhaps beyond.
Michael Solonoski (also UDel) was third. This is the third time I’ve seen his free skate to “Romeo and Juliet” this season, and the program is coming together nicely. Most of his jumps were uncharacteristically popped, but he did manage a nice 2toe-3toe combination.
Nathan Evancho (Penn State FSC-- the only guy with no connection to UDel) was fifth in the free and fourth overall. He landed two 2axels and a 3toe but struggled with the harder triples.
Noah Abrahams (SC of Boston, but training at UDel) had a typical “damn the controls; full speed ahead” skate. A lot of his jumps were very close and just needed more control on the landings.