Skate Chautauqua

[lazenpa]

I HEARD THERE ARE 17 SENIOR LADIES GOING TO BE THERE THIS YEAR. COULD BE GOOD COMPETITION

[PAskate]

That's great news. Last year there were only a couple of senior ladies. I'm definitely going on Saturday - I may now need to find a way to take off Friday as well.

[vesperholly]

That's excellent. Last year few entered and even fewer competed. Senior only had 2 ladies and Junior had just 5.

I hope Kimmie Meissner makes the trip again. It was a treat seeing her skate last year.

I will be attending both Friday and Saturday and taking pictures.

Jocelyn

[PAskate]

The schedule is up now. Based on that, it doesn't appear that there will be that many senior ladies. However, senior mens is now listed. Does anyone know you will be attending in either senior ladies or mens?

[Sylvia]

Originally posted by vesperholly
I hope Kimmie Meissner makes the trip again. It was a treat seeing her skate last year.

I will be attending both Friday and Saturday and taking pictures.

I'm told that Meissner will not be at Chautauqua this year, as she is preparing for her Junior Grand Prix event in early September.

Looking forward to your reports and photos, Jocelyn!

Official site:
http://www.chautauquaice.com/skatechautauqua/index.htm

Here's the direct link to the schedule:
http://www.chautauquaice.com/skatechautauqua/schedule0.htm

[lazenpa]

what do you look like sylvia? i am leaving wed nightfor jamestown.

[Sylvia]

You'd better ask Jocelyn what she looks like ;) since I'm not going to Chautauqua. Have a good skate!

[vesperholly]

I will be the one in the judge's box with the camera. :-) I'm only going to be there on Saturday because I have to work Friday.

Jocelyn

[PAskate]

I will be there Saturday also. I've got an appointment in the morning, but I should be there around noon.

[PAskate]

Anyone know if this is still on?

[Sylvia]

Someone from Jamestown posted on the Unseen Skaters board last night (Thursday) that the power went out at the rink around 4pm and came back up at 10pm, causing much confusion about the schedule and practices. This morning, the same person reported back as follows:

The ice is fine (thank God for back-up generators!).....when we went to the rink early this morning, the organizing committee had already reworked the schedule (eliminating a couple of practice sessions, etc.) so that they'll be completely back on track by 9:30 this morning!

Kudos to the Jamestown FSC (host club) for stepping in with the rescheduling (including handouts of changes, refund/rescheduling procedures, etc.) during what has to be a 'worst case scenario' come true!

They deserve high marks for keeping the competition on track without skipping a beat!

[vesperholly]

Quick reports... I attended all of Saturday's events. I caught the finals for Juvenile, Intermediate, Novice and Junior Ladies and Junior Men. Missed Senior Ladies and Men - who schedules Senior LPs on Friday afternoon?! Grr. I was photographing and not taking notes, so this is on memory only...

I didn't catch all of Juvenile but I did see the adorable Olivia Gibbons from Shaker FSC in Cleveland. She's *9* and she has a nearly-clean 2axel. She skated to kodo drums music and had all her doubles with slight cheats but good technique. I didn't catch her coach's name, but she had several young skaters in the competition, and all of them were quite good.

Taylor Firth won Intermediate. Margot Haglund also landed 2 2axels but fell on 2lutz and 2flip and either didn't attempt or popped a triple. Margot is the more precise skater with lovely jump technique, even with 2 falls two judges had her 1st, but the performance was kind of flat.

Devon Aigner of UDel won Novice skating to jazzy music. She landed a clean 2axel. The popular move this year seems to be 1axel-steps-2flip - I lost count of how many skaters did this. Alexandria Lahurd was 2nd but I have absolutely no memory of her. Alex Gengler was 3rd with an interesting performance to Cirque du Soleil music (not overused parts). Tonia Kwiatkowski had several students here, including Caitlin Richardson in this event and she skated very well with good presentation. Almost everyone attempted a 2axel though few were successful, and many were given credit (too much IMO) for the attempts.

Erika Choi Smith skated to Swan Lake and won Junior - her jumps were good but I remember the program being filled with small errors that added up. It just didn't seem like the winning performance to me, although I admit I wasn't in judging mode. Elizabeth Miosi placed 2nd with a great program to Turandot - beautiful in betweens and hit the jumps too (I think 1 triple and definitely 2 2axels). Mattina Alonge was 3rd with a rather boring program to the Untouchables. I really wish she'd stand up straight.

Colin Pennington is now a dead ringer for Timothy Goebel, not only in the way he jumps, spins and presents his music, but he's got that curly blonde hair too. That said, his program to Romeo & Juliet was technically proficient (2 3lutz, 3flip, 3loop, 3sal, 3toe) but quite boring otherwise. He's got potential but needs to develop the same charm that older brother Parker has on the ice.

Then, Traighe Rouse who is now training at UDel, came out and just knocked everyone out. Huge jumps - 2axel, 3lutz, 3flip, 3lutz-2toe, 3sal, 3toe, 2axel into 2loop (intentional) - and great in-betweens. He was grinning ear to ear by the end and deservedly won every single judge's 1st place mark. The kind of performance that makes you shiver - and actually elicited a standing ovation from a crowd of skating-savvy people. Let's hope he can duplicate it and get himself back to Nationals.

Photos in a week or so!

Jocelyn

[blondeangl]

Thanks for you report Joceyln I cant wait to see your photos! :D

[haribobo]

Thanks so much for your report, Jocelyn! :) Great for Traighe-- he's one of my favorite local skaters.

[A.H.Black]

So glad to hear about Traighe. Here's hoping we see him at Nationals. Has he grown a lot or is he still little?

[vesperholly]

He looked quite tall and grown up - I barely recognized him! :-)

Jocelyn

[Skatingsarah]

Originally posted by vesperholly
He's got potential but needs to develop the same charm that older brother Parker has on the ice.

Speaking of Parker, how did he skate:?: :D

[vesperholly]

I didn't see him skate. :-( The referee scheduled the Senior Mens and Ladies FS on Friday afternoon, and I couldn't get out of work.

Jocelyn

[Skatingsarah]

Oh thanks anyways!!;)

[legs2sk8]

Originally posted by vesperholly
Quick reports... I attended all of Saturday's events. I caught the finals for Juvenile, Intermediate, Novice and Junior Ladies and Junior Men. Missed Senior Ladies and Men - who schedules Senior LPs on Friday afternoon?! Grr. I was photographing and not taking notes, so this is on memory only...

I didn't catch all of Juvenile but I did see the adorable Olivia Gibbons from Shaker FSC in Cleveland. She's *9* and she has a nearly-clean 2axel. She skated to kodo drums music and had all her doubles with slight cheats but good technique. I didn't catch her coach's name, but she had several young skaters in the competition, and all of them were quite good.

Taylor Firth won Intermediate on a split panel, with a clean but squeaky 3-sal and two clean 2axel (one with 2toe). Margot Haglund also landed 2 2axels but fell on 2lutz and 2flip and either didn't attempt or popped a triple. Taylor's performance was a little sloppy with the in-betweens and messy jump landings (bent legs in the air), but had great energy. Margot is the more precise skater with lovely jump technique, even with 2 falls two judges had her 1st, but the performance was kind of flat.

Devon Aigner of UDel won Novice skating to jazzy music. She landed a clean 2axel. The popular move this year seems to be 1axel-steps-2flip - I lost count of how many skaters did this. Alexandria Lahurd was 2nd but I have absolutely no memory of her. Alex Gengler was 3rd with an interesting performance to Cirque du Soleil music (not overused parts). Tonia Kwiatkowski had several students here, including Caitlin Richardson in this event and she skated very well with good presentation. Almost everyone attempted a 2axel though few were successful, and many were given credit (too much IMO) for the attempts.

Erika Choi Smith skated to Swan Lake and won Junior - her jumps were good but I remember the program being filled with small errors that added up. It just didn't seem like the winning performance to me, although I admit I wasn't in judging mode. Elizabeth Miosi placed 2nd with a great program to Turandot - beautiful in betweens and hit the jumps too (I think 1 triple and definitely 2 2axels). Mattina Alonge was 3rd with a rather boring program to the Untouchables. I really wish she'd stand up straight.

Colin Pennington is now a dead ringer for Timothy Goebel, not only in the way he jumps, spins and presents his music, but he's got that curly blonde hair too. That said, his program to Romeo & Juliet was technically proficient (2 3lutz, 3flip, 3loop, 3sal, 3toe) but quite boring otherwise. He's got potential but needs to develop the same charm that older brother Parker has on the ice.

Then, Traighe Rouse who is now training at UDel, came out and just knocked everyone out. Huge jumps - 2axel, 3lutz, 3flip, 3lutz-2toe, 3sal, 3toe, 2axel into 2loop (intentional) - and great in-betweens. He was grinning ear to ear by the end and deservedly won every single judge's 1st place mark. The kind of performance that makes you shiver - and actually elicited a standing ovation from a crowd of skating-savvy people. Let's hope he can duplicate it and get himself back to Nationals.

Photos in a week or so!

Jocelyn

[legs2sk8]

I know for a fact that Traighe Rouse's Coach is Vicki Helgenberg. Vicki has been his Coach since he was six.
He does not work with Priscilla Hill. Perhaps she was just watching because she is from the University of Delaware also, and a friend of Vicki's.
They do not train in Lake Placid as someone thought. They skate at IceLand in Princeton, but in addition to IceLand Vicki and her skaters will be skating at the University this winter.

[A.H.Black]

I just checked out the photos of Traighe Rouse. You were right, Vesperholly, he has really grown up. I wouldn't have recognized him. The last time I saw him was Nationals in Cleveland.

[vesperholly]

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