Whatever happened to...

[Jack]

This skater by the name of Triaghe Rouhse (I'm sure I just butchered the spelling of his name) I remeber seeing him compete somewhere and thinkin ghe was fantastic, but I didn't see his name on any of the regionals or sectionals lists. I am almost positive he is training somewhere in Jersey, but why didn't he compete? I was so bummed, I was really looking foward to seeing him at Nationals.


Also, whatever happened to Erin Sutton? When did she retire and why. she always looked to me like the next big thing. She seemed to have so much potential and a great relaxed style of performing.

[Louis]

Traighe Rouse competed as a junior at South Atlantic Regionals -- won the short program, then had a complete meltdown in the free skate and dropped all the way to fifth. He missed all of last year with an injury, I believe to his hip. This year, he had a rough skate at Liberty Open, but rebounded with a very strong skate at Challenge Cup. The meltdown at Souths was very unexpected given the way he had been skating.

Traighe is coached by Vicki Helgenberg and represents UDel. I'm not sure where he actually trains -- it used to be IceWorks, but Vicki and all of her students left IceWorks last spring.

I heard that Erin Sutton retired from the sport in 1997 after reportedly suffering from an eating disorder, but there was never any confirmation from a citable source. Erin tore up the novice ranks and did well as a junior, but I always had the feeling she was going to get too tall to perform the difficult jumps with any kind of consistency since her jumps weren't particularly powerful to begin with. She was, as you said, a beautiful skater with a great relaxed performance ability, and I enjoyed her contributions to the sport.

[peachstatesk8er]

Erin Sutton has an entire section on Tara's site for fan's questions.

[Jack]

Originally posted by peachstatesk8er
Erin Sutton has an entire section on Tara's site for fan's questions.

I thought that was Erin Elbe?

[Jack]

AHHHH!!! That's how I know Traige!!! .... Thanks Louis, you have eased my wondering mind.

New question: How are the rest of Vicki Helgenberg's students doing? I've always been so impressed with her kids, they all seem to have great technique and incredible focus.

[Trillian]

Originally posted by Jack
I thought that was Erin Elbe?

Yes, that's the one who has a section on Tara's site. (I just checked.) Entirely different Erin, although I think she was friendly with Erin Sutton as well since they both trained with Callaghan. (Erin Pearl was there at the same time too, though, so I have no idea which names I've heard linked with Tara's.) Elbe never made nationals in singles IIRC, but she did medal in pairs and figures. Her pairs partner was Jeff Weiss, who's subsequently had some success at the senior level and was looking for a partner again last I heard.

As for Sutton, I've heard exactly the same story as Louis regarding why she retired, which could mean it's true--or could mean we're getting our gossip from some of the same people. ;)

I was so disappointed for Traighe Rouse this year after he came back so well in summer events, but he's still quite young--this would have been his first year of eligibility for international junior events. Hopefully he can remain uninjured and isn't too disappointed about his showing at regionals, because I'd bet he could go as far as contending for a medal at nationals next season.

[peachstatesk8er]

Good lord, I get them confused. Aren't they both blonde and tallish? My bad.

[Anna]

Tara and Erin Elbe are best friends. Erin spent most of last year with Tara on SOI. They were also good friends with Erin Sutton when they were in Detroit, but Erin Elbe recently said that they'd lost contact with Erin Sutton and don't know what happened to her. I think Tara was also friends with Erin Pearl, but not to the same extent as she is/was with the other two Erins.