Status of Male Dancers

[Icesk8dance]

Does anyone know if these boys are still active in Dance and are they pursuing tryouts.

Joseph Braasch
Nick Traxler
Jake Villanueva
Matthew Inman

All four had some decent success at different levels and it would be great if they would come back on the scene and partner up with any one of the many girls available. Hopefully none of them need funding!

[Weegie]

Nick Traxler is listed as being at partner try-outs after Nationals, so he must be actively looking for a partner. Does anyone know if Crystal Beckerdite (skated with Nick for awhile last year) is still skating and with whom?

[what?meworry?]

matt inman retired from skating a while ago. unfortunate.
with regards to nick traxler, he has gone through a number of partners. the problem may be with him, but it's hard to tell. why did he split with katy hill in the first place, they seemed like a pretty good team at the time.

[IdmaIjan]

I wish Nick and Katy had given their partnership a little more time. I've always enjoyed both skaters. Together they had a long elegant look that would have only gotten better had they stayed in the partnership. Katy is such a beautiful, tall girl. I thought line-wise she and Nick looked great. I just can't think of another guy who would have matched her as well.

I wonder why Nick didn't skate this year?

[Icesk8dance]

Originally posted by what?meworry?
matt inman retired from skating a while ago. unfortunate.

I had thought the same, except he was at Lake Placid competing in some of the Open Dance Events. I don't remember the girls name, they were not a great physical match, but I thought it might be an indication he was coming back.

[Leela]

I hope Nick Traxler finds a new partner----I always thought he was a good skater, with a nice feeling for the music. He and Katie Hill looked good together; I suspect they parted for personal, relationship reasons rather than because of their skating. Is Katie looking for a partner? I know she's tall and it's hard to find any guy, let alone a really tall guy, but maybe she can skate with her brother Augie Hill, who's quite tall now, too :)

[Imo]

Originally posted by Icesk8dance
...except he was at Lake Placid competing in some of the Open Dance Events. I don't remember the girls name...

Matt Inman skated with Vivian Olmedo of Penn State FSC...

[snowflake]

joseph braasch quit to pursue school, i believe. he did not want to skate anymore.

nick traxler is looking for a partner currently to skate seniors. he and katy split due to many factors. she now goes to school at UTD in dallas, skating occasionally and coaching full time.

[what?meworry?]

Originally posted by Leela
I hope Nick Traxler finds a new partner----I always thought he was a good skater, with a nice feeling for the music. He and Katie Hill looked good together; I suspect they parted for personal, relationship reasons rather than because of their skating. Is Katie looking for a partner? I know she's tall and it's hard to find any guy, let alone a really tall guy, but maybe she can skate with her brother Augie Hill, who's quite tall now, too :)

i don't know if she's still looking, she's not on the usfsa partner search or ice-dance.com but her brother, charlie is listed on both and she's on the listing as secondary coach. that means if she were still interested, there would be 3 teams in the family. so i'd guess part of the problem is that there aren't any tall enough usa guys who can cover their own skating. katy is still listed on the don korte site (http://www.sk8stuff.com) the search site is under "connect" (?) she's listing #2604. she is 5' 10" tall!

oh, and i saw nick hart is back on the partner search.

[Icesk8dance]

Originally posted by Imo
Matt Inman skated with Vivian Olmedo of Penn State FSC...

Will they be competing together as a Junior or Senior team this season?

[Imo]

I don't know - I don't even know if they're still together or not... the only info I have is that they skated the Open Westminster and the Open Argentine at last year's Lake Placid Summer Champs and finished 3rd in both dances (of 5 and 4 teams respectively).

The results are here (http://orda.org/skating/ThurResults.htm).

[what?meworry?]

Originally posted by snowflake
she now goes to school at UTD in dallas, skating occasionally and coaching full time.

and other things! check this out:
http://www.dallasstars.com and go to the fan center and then to ice girls group photo. hill is the tall one in the back with the dark hair. i searched the name and there also appears to be a, ummm, young lady of notoriety in the uk with the same name.

[leepn]

you sure know a lot about this person. Any relation?

[what?meworry?]

not a relation but i've talked to them and have mutual acquaintances. i got interested in the "what ever happened to" on this meandering thread and did some research. i remember her when she was ben's partner and thought the nick partnership was promising when i first saw them.
a lot of people around skating know the family and share information.
the link i posted was sent to me when the "ice girls" were formed. i thought it was really fun.

[Howie]

Katie Hill has not competed in a number of years. And anyways there are so many other girls out there with a lot more experience. And from my sources that family is having some HUGE financial problems so do not count on seeing many teams from that family.

[Icesk8dance]

Back to the original topic......another skater comes to mind, Denys Latyshev, he competed at Placid with Stacy Carter. Shame they broke up, I was impressed with their look. I have seen her name listed on the partner search but not his, hopefully he has not quit.

Also, does anyone know the status of Russell/Metzger?

[what?meworry?]

from what i hear, with that many skaters in the family for so many years, it's always been a struggle. apparently the kids cover a lot of their own skating expenses by coaching. there was an article in the local paper during nationals about augie/flo that talked a lot about that.

[what?meworry?]

Originally posted by Icesk8dance
Also, does anyone know the status of Russell/Metzger?

i heard at nationals that r/m split, and that kenny metzger had not fully recovered from his knee surgery to be able to train enough for nationals. i don't know the long-term implications of that, but given enough time off, perhaps he'll be able to reenter the competitive ranks.

i'm editing this to point out that while solomon/cohen are off the envelope list, russel/metzger are not. therefore, they either have not notified usfsa of a split or they may not have actually split.

[what?meworry?]

howie, i've been mulling over your post and would address this via pm you if you allowed the option, but you have not. so, fyi, i've contributed (to a limited extent) to some skater's funding. what specifically do you know about the hill situation? you can pm me with the information, i'd like to help them if their situation has deteriorated.

[Icesk8dance]

Originally posted by what?meworry?
i heard at nationals that r/m split, and that kenny metzger had not fully recovered from his knee surgery to be able to train enough for nationals. i don't know the long-term implications of that, but given enough time off, perhaps he'll be able to reenter the competitive ranks.

i'm editing this to point out that while solomon/cohen are off the envelope list, russel/metzger are not. therefore, they either have not notified usfsa of a split or they may not have actually split.

I remember hearing that Metzger had fallen at Sectionals, hitting the wall with that injured knee. I'm sure this would be a long recovery process, but how long can they wait to notify USFSA? If the team has split, Russell would be a nice prospect for O'Meara if he is still looking.

[WeBeEducated]

Augie Hill is a talented young man who has chosen the difficult yet exemplary path of skating, going to school full time, and working part-time in order to compete as an icedancer.
I admire him for his choices, and for his responsible behaviour. He is fun and intelligent,polite and well liked by skaters and coaches.

He is not one of those skaters who has their personal servant("parent") trailing behind him carrying his skate bag and pandering to his whims, but I am sure his family has made many sacrifices for Augie, Katy and Charlie to skate competitively.
If he needs some financial help, I sure hope some one somewhere helps out in a way that allows him to maintain his dignity. He is one of the best with unlimited potential.

[Trillian]

Originally posted by WeBeEducated
He is not one of those skaters who has their personal servant("parent") trailing behind him carrying his skate bag and pandering to his whims, but I am sure his family has made many sacrifices for Augie, Katy and Charlie to skate competitively.

Wasn't there also another sister who competed at the national level in the mid-'90's? Elizabeth, maybe?

Either way, any family that's not extremely wealthy will have to be making some sacrifices to have three or four kids competing at the elite level in this sport, even those who would otherwise be considered fairly well-to-do. However, financial situation doesn't play that great a role in how the kids in this sport turn out from what I've seen--I can think of some very down-to-earth skaters who come from more comfortable financial situations, and some real brats who've had to struggle to pay the bills. It almost always depends on the parents, so if Augie is as nice as you say, his parents have done something right. And yes, not acting like a personal servant is usually one of the best things a parent can do for these kids.

[Sylvia]

Originally posted by what?meworry?
from what i hear, with that many skaters in the [Hill] family for so many years, it's always been a struggle. apparently the kids cover a lot of their own skating expenses by coaching. there was an article in the local paper during nationals about augie/flo that talked a lot about that.

I just found and posted a link to the archived article about Augie Hill that what?meworry? mentions above in this new thread:
http://www.skatingforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6489