Memorial/Skating Spectacular To Be Held For William Sears

[Arsenette]

USFSA Article (http://www.usfsa.org/news/2002-03/searwill-memorial.htm)

This is nice.. :D

The Skating Club of New York has scheduled a memorial on Oct. 9, 2002 to honor 2002 novice pairs champion William Sears.

[Spinner]

Wow, great news. Thanks for sharing Arsenette!

[TRAxel]

I had never heard of this young skater... I wonder what he died from? That is really great they are having a memorial for him.

[adrianchew]

William and Katie his partner was the current US Novice Pairs champions. :cry:

[Anjelica]

Any reviews on this as it was tonight?

[Arsenette]

I'd like to know as well.. I don't go to Chelsey Piers anymore.. (wish it was in the Ice House :oops: )

[ChicaTica]

I would first like to express my deepest condelences to the Sears and Malinova families. I skated with Will when he was a young, chubby kid called Ariel. The world has lost a great person and a talented skater.

The rink was filled to capacity, with people from all aspects of Will's life. I spoke with a lady who was the mother of a young lady who went to high school with Will. Many people from the skating world were there, as well.

Here is what happened for those who were not able to attend (a summary of the program):

There were those who spoke and those who skated.

Speakers in order of speech:
The Rev. Fred Johnson, Jr.--Chaiplain from Trinity School (Will's high school)
Elizabeth Quinn--Will's first skating friend
John Z and Kyoko
Marc Whedbee--Will's best friend
Dr. June Idzal--Will's computer science teacher from high school
Joan Rozolis--former president of SCNY and current treasurer of the USFSA. She spoke also read a moving statement from Phyllis Howard
John Nicholis--Dean of Students, Trinity High School
Robin Wagner--read a beautiful statement from Sarah, who couldn't be there
Prof. Donna Goodman--Will's favorite professor at NYU
Austin Sears--Will's father, who read an increadible two page statement that was distributed to all attendees

Those who spoke knew Will from all different areas of his life. They really gave a great picture of what kind of child, friend, artist, young man, son, business person and skater Will was and aspired to be.

Skaters in order of performance:
Anastasia Gromov--Dimitri Gromov's 7 year old daughter
Tommy Pernetti--Will's friend from his early skating days
Annabella Rockwell--one of Will's favorite students
Adam Aronowitz--a skating friend whom Will cut music for
Isabella Tobias & Kurt Lingenfelter--training buddies who also had music cut by Will
Jordan Miller--a skating friend and chess partner
Ice Theatre of NY--four ladies skated in white to very lyrical music
Daniel & Kaile Eison--skated pairs; Daniel was a very close friend of Will's and he produced the skating spectacular
Mackenzie Moliver & Vitaly Novikov--training buddies who also had music cut by Will
Alexander Abt--knew Will and had music cut by him
Yuko Kawaguchi & Alexander Markuntsov--trained with Katie and Will with Moskvin; Will edited their music
Shepard Clark--Will enjoyed Shep's skating
Lucinda Ruh--Will considered her a dear friend and cut music and video tapes for her
Naomi Lang & Peter Tchernyshev--Will was a friend of Peter's and was a fan of their skating
Katie Boxwell--Katie and Will are 2002 US Novice Pair Champions; she was a close friend and confidant.

I prefer not to take the focus from Will by giving details about the performances. It was clear that all of the skaters had their heart in their skating numbers. There was a lot of love in the rink. Will was a remarkable young man.

There was a final benediction by Rev. Johnson

On the back of the program the Sears family thanks:
Daniel Eison
SCNY
Sky Rink at Chelsea Piers
Terri Levine, Gretchen Gross, and the BOD of SCNY
Ron Talerico, Sid Morgan, Wade Corbett, and Marta Kalish at Sky Rink
All those who have helped honor Will.

With deepest respect and sympathy,
ChicaTica

[kar5162]

Ok, very brief review...it was 2 days ago and I don't have my program with me, so please forgive any mistakes.

The stands were packed - tons of people came. They started with quite a few speakers, all of whom had wonderful things to say about Will. Without looking at the program, we heard from several of Will's teachers - high school and college, John and Kyoko, Robin Wagner (reading something she wrote and a letter from Sarah), one of Will's first skating friends, Will's best friend, and Will's father. Will was certainly accomplished for a 20 year old.

Skaters (please forgive the million spelling mistakes I am going to make with the names):

Anastasia Gromov - I think she's about 7 now, but she looks smaller. She's the daughter of Dmitry Gromov, who used to skate for Russia and was Will's freestyle coach. Great program - very fun and cute with singles through lutz.

Anabella Rockwell - One of Will's students. Anabella has more energy than most people I've ever met and really seems to enjoy performing for an audience.

Young man (Thomas Pernetti?) - I feel terrible, but I cannot remember his name. This may be right, it may not be. I also can't quite remember, but I believe he was one of Will's students. Will cut his music. He skated a nice program with a few double jumps and very good straight line footwork for that level. I think I also remember seeing him skate Open Juvenile at North Atlantics last week.

Isabella Tobias and Kurt Lingenfelder (ages 11 and 13) - They placed second in Intermediate dance last week at Norths. They did their free program here and very nicely at that. Isabella apparently used to attend the same school as Will and he cut their music. They are cute kids and amazingly accomplished considering she only started dance in late spring and they've only been together about 3 months.

Dan and Kalie Eison - Dan and Kalie are competing Novice pairs this year (Dan will also go to sectionals as a Novice man). They had a few problems, missing the side by side double flips and a death spiral that seemed to get a little away from them, but a very nice throw double salchow, strong side by side double salchows, and nice lifts...final death spiral was also very nice.

Mackenzie Moliver and Vitaly Nouvikov - Another dance team, older this time. They were fun to watch though not at the technically level of Peter and Naomi who skated later. They're both very attractive and look nice together.

Adam Aronowitz - Adam has wonderful stroking and edges...good in between and really nice spirals. I don't know what he was doing that night with the jumps though. All doubles except single lutz, loop, and axel???

Lucinda Ruh skated to the Prayer wearing the gold bodysuit. She just spins so fast, it's simply amazing. The bodysuit just emphasizes how unreal the positions she achieves are.

Yuko & Sasha (I'm not even going to try for last names here) - Wow! They have improved a lot in unison since I last saw them. She is still incredibly tiny too, which means he can throw her SO high - it's really cool to watch. They also hit a pair spin position that was so unique, I cannot even begin to describe it, but it was very cool.

Naomi & Peter - They skated a number I didn't recognize. It still seemed a little rough, so I'm guessing it's new. It didn't seem "too Tarasova-ish" though (which I normally associate with over-emoting). Aside from some problems on the lifts which I attribute to the program being new, I liked it. It seemed to be in the same direction as Parisian Walkways with more dancing difficulty. Caveat - I know nothing about dance.

Shepard Clark - Shep skated very well and landed several triples...I'm pretty sure I remember at least triple lutz and loop. He also has great power and extension. He did a nice inside spread eagle and 3 butterflies in a row. I think this was the first time I've seen him in a costume that actually covered his chest.

Alexander Abt - I just love him. He skated to something so familiar that I feel like an idiot 'cause I can't remember it...Nat King Cole maybe? His webpage says his exhibition is to "Mask of Zorro", but this wasn't. He didn't do much jump wise, but did do 3 Arabians in a row to end the program...two people in one night! He also just has the most wonderful, effortless stroking I've seen - it seems like he's barely even trying and all of a sudden he's skating 100 miles/hour. His son was running around all night and is adorable.

Katie skated beautifully as a tribute. Her program included nice doubles and good spins, but was mainly impressive for the emotion she put into it.

I feel like I've forgotton someone. I have no idea who I might have missed though. Overall it was a wonderful show...all the skaters did a wonderful job and everyone seemed to have a lot of respect for Will.

[Anjelica]

Thank you all. My condolences as well to Will's family.

[NorthernLite]

Thank you so much for sharing your impressions of the evening. It sounds like it was a wonderful tribute to a fine young man.
How difficult it is when someone so young is taken. My heart goes out to his family.

[skate4fun]

Did anyone get photos from this event? Or do you know if there is a video for sale with proceeds going to the Will Sears Memorial fund?

[adrianchew]

I was there too but have been too busy to write about it.

Naomi and Peter skated to Still Loving You (Scorpions) which is their new free dance! I do agree with kar - it looks like a more difficult version of Parisian Walkways, and not really like a brand new Tarasova creation. You can find the lyrics here...

Still Loving You Lyrics (http://www.leoslyrics.com/listlyrics.php?sid=%E0%88%03%03%F0%7F%16x)

Sasha Abt was absolutely amazing... first time I've been that close to the ice to see him skate... edges are to die for, his ease of movement, edging quality and speed to me even surpasses Yagudin and Plushenko. And quiet edges too. His program was to "What A Wonderful World".

I heard Will's dad was surprised so many people showed up for the show. :)

Please note that the Skating Club of New York is collecting contributions for the Will Sears Fund in his memory.

The Skating Club of New York has established the Will Sears Memorial Fund for Pairs Skaters to honor the accomplishments and aspirations of A. William Sears. Throughout the United States there are hundreds of pairs skaters who are distinguished by their talent, hard work, and exceptional artistry. The fund will identify and assist the most promising of these skaters in achieving their competitive, artistic, and athletic goals.

Contributions can be sent to the SCNY/Will Sears Fund.
SCNY
Chelsea Piers
Pier 62, Room 312
New York, NY 10011