Shelby Lyons?

[cocanuts]

what ever happened to her? she was a good pairs skater ut just needed a good partner because brian wells sucked. she was also a talented singles skater. what happened?

[Spinner]

Originally posted by cocanuts
...because brian wells sucked.

Please refrain from making such comments in the future. If you have constructive criticism or can provide facts to backup a civil expression of your opinions, that would be fine. What you stated above, though, is inappropriate. --Spinner

[Trillian]

After Shelby and Brian split in 1998, she took a year off pairs to pursue singles. She didn't qualify for nationals in the 1999 season, so she decided to go back to pairs with Jeremy Allen (who was just up from the novice level at the time). She and Jeremy never actually competed, and Shelby wound up deciding to retire and skate with Disney On Ice for a while. I remember hearing that she felt the lifts and throws in pairs were too dangerous. According to an article a year or two ago, she'd left Disney On Ice and was in cosmetology school.

[A.H.Black]

Was it Shelby who thought the lifts and throws were too dangerous or her parents. Personally I always liked Brian's skating, especially on an artistic level. I thought Shelby had some maturing to do in that area. When Brian skated with his former partner, I always thought that all he needed was someone who could keep up with him. In Shelby, I thought he found it. I thought it was disapointing that they couldn't make it work.

[Trillian]

Originally posted by A.H.Black
When Brian skated with his former partner, I always thought that all he needed was someone who could keep up with him. In Shelby, I thought he found it. I thought it was disapointing that they couldn't make it work.

Unfortunately part of Brian's problem was that he was very small for a male pairs skater--I don't think he was any taller than 5'6", if that. From what I saw of Shelby off the ice at the '99 nationals, she was probably at least 5'1" or 5'2" and had a more mature figure than in previous years--she may still have been fine with a bigger partner, but I think she'd have been too tall for Brian at that point anyway. It would have been pretty difficult for Brian to find a partner who was a strong skater AND didn't outgrow him.

[Tony Wheeler]

Thanks, I was also wondering where she had gone.

[cocanuts]

well, Brian seemed so inconsistent and unable to land the jumps that she did

[Ruth215]

A friend of my just returned from a cruise on Royal Carribbean's Voyager of the Seas and said Shelby Lyons was performing in their show. She wasn't a headliner, just part of the ensemble.

[Mistyeyed]

Originally posted by cocanuts
what ever happened to her? she was a good pairs skater ut just needed a good partner because brian wells sucked. she was also a talented singles skater. what happened?


Hi there! Were you aware cocanuts that Brain was the one who searched nationwide for a partner and HE chose Shelby? All because he wanted to mesh with a skater. He really wanted to be good and for awhile it was nice that they got some attention. I was hoping that they would do well together but it didn't work out. Anyway, I always thought that Shelby would go strongly in singles as she skated both singles and pairs and excelled in both. I do hope she is still skating.

[Sylvia]

Brian Wells pretty much taught pairs skating to Shelby Lyons from scratch, so I give him a lot of credit for the success they achieved in their career (1995-1998): 1 silver, 1 bronze, and 2 pewter medals at 4 Nationals and two 10th place finishes at World championships (they were last-minute substitutes for the injured Ina/Dungjen in 1998 and helped the US get 3 slots for 1999 Worlds). And if the US had had a 3rd pairs slot in Nagano, they would have had the Olympic experience as well (a real pity they didn't).

[smurf]

I believe Lyons & Wells skated at Worlds only once, in 1998.
I saw Shelby in Dec 1998 at Sectionals or regionals in Minneapolis as a single skater. She was a lot thinner, and did not skate very well. I believe Brian and she had split by then.

[Trillian]

Originally posted by smurf
I believe Lyons & Wells skated at Worlds only once, in 1998.

They also competed in 1996 and finished 10th. We had three U.S. pairs that year.

I saw Shelby in Dec 1998 at Sectionals or regionals in Minneapolis as a single skater. She was a lot thinner, and did not skate very well. I believe Brian and she had split by then.

She and Brian split sometime in the spring/summer of 1998, and Shelby wasn't skating pairs in the 1998-99 season at all. She picked up again with Jeremy Allen in mid-1999 but they'd split by the time of regionals in late 1999.