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Cat's Lair 2001 U.S. Nationals Diaries

Index	15-Jan-2001: Novice Free Skate
Updated: 20-Jan-2001 Cover Page Day 1: 14-Jan-2001 Novice Short Programs Novice Men Novice Ladies Novice Pairs Day 2: 15-Jan-2001 Novice Free Skate Novice Men Novice Ladies Day 3: 16-Jan-2001 Tourist Day Day 4: 17-Jan-2001 Jr. Men Short Program Day 5: 18-Jan-2001 Jr. Ladies' Short Program Day 6: 19-Jan-2001 Coming soon (maybe ...): Sr. Ladies' Freeskate Day 7: 20-Jan-2001 Jr. Ladies' Freeskate	Novice Men's Free Skate One thing I noticed a lot of in the men's free was that these boys weren't just doing the jumps, they were doing a lot of interesting moves into the jumps, like spread eagles or spirals and there were a lot split jumps into jumps. Very nice to see more then just skate, skate jump. Ben Woolwine Ben attempted a triple lutz and fell. Landed a triple/double combination, another triple, a spread eagle into a triple salchow. He two footed a double axel, but did a double axel/half loop/double toe/double combination and another series of a split jump into a double/double combination. He did a flying sit spin where he jumped up and landed on the same foot, don't know what that is called but it is cool. He was 6th in the free and 6th overall. Michael Dimilanta Landed double axle, double salchow, double axel/double toe another rdouble. He stepped out of one triple salchow, but then did the double toe afterwards. He landed one other triple. He did a spiral sequence that had nice flow, but fell in a step sequence. Popped a lutz and ended with a scratch spin. 11th free and overall. Leif Hafstrom (Lawrence of Arabia) Triple salchow, stepped out, then double toe. Double axel/double toe, a double/double, spiral into a double jump, double axel, another double jump with a step out. Split jump into a double jump. Ended with a sit spin into a scratch spin. 10th in the free and overall. Jason Wong (Dragnet) Ummm, he had a lot of probles fell a couple of times, did land a triple sal, landed double axle and double axel/double toe. He ended with a scratch spin. 9th in the free and overall. Joshua Uster I thought he looked a lot like Ryan Bradley. He started out miming basketball and there were a lot of other motions in the program that were supposed to tell some story but I have no idea what it was. Interesting though. Double axel step out, then a half loop/double toe. Double lutz, he had great flow coming out of his jumps. Good flow throughout the program actually. He landed another double axel fine. 5th in the free and overall. Jordan Brauninger Double axel/triple toe, fell on the toe. Popped another jump and fell. Double lutz/double toe, held onto one double axel and landed a triple. Ended with a split jump, into a split jump into Arabians into a scratch spin. 4th in the free and overall. Matthew Lind Skated much faster than in his short. Landed two triple I can't identify, a triple/double combination, Stepped out of the lutz in a triple lutz/double toe combination and landed another triple lutz clean. Ended with an inside spread eagle for a half circle into a double axel then did flying sit spin into a scratch. Very nice program all around and he got all first place ordinals of course since he was the only boy there with a triple lutz. Our Champion. Egor Matsipura Had nice flow in his steps. Did a triple/double, double, double axel, double axel with a step out into double toe, spread eagle into a triple, another double/double and another triple. 2nd in the free skate Bronze overall. Adam Aronwitz This boy isn't much bigger than my son. But he is fast and he really attacks his program. Double axel/half loop/triple toe, double, and I think a triple/triple, but maybe it was so fast I couldn't tell. Fell on a triple and then did a triple salchow. He did a double axel that came out of nowhere and fell on a sit spin. Then a really cool series double axle/half loop/half loop/double toe. Ended with a scratch spin. Third in the free, Silver overall. Wesley Campbell Wesley had problems with all this triples, he fell on two, and got his feet tangled up in his sal and never got off the ground. Everything else was doubles including a double axle/double toe with very nice distance and another double axel. 8th in the free, 7th overall. Novice Ladies Free Skate Marshall joins me here so the notes are very inconsistent. Once again I would like to say to any skatie girl who reads this if my notes on you are brief that is because my baby demanded attention, not because I didn't like you. Lisa Danmiller Well I like her. Of course that and a nickel won't even get her a phone call. She two footed one triple sal and fell on another. Did a very nice double axel and a double axle/double toe, but alas fell on a spin. She kept fighting through the program and landed two double jumps right after a fall. 14th free and overall. Mattina Alonge Triple sal, double axel, double axel/double toe fell on a second triple sal. 12 in the free and overall. Aanya Reiten Two footed a double axel/double toe, double sal, fell on a triple sal,. She had great flow over the ice and a real smooth, powerful glide. 13th in the free and overall. Samira Banna Double axle/double toe, triple sal, triple toe/double toe. Her triples came to a dead stop, but she did them. She is very graceful, great edges, she did a Mohawk that made me weep. 13th free and overall. Boy if we ever bring back figures, my favorite skaties are going to kick butt! Lea Nightwalker Much better than in her short, she must have been very nervous. She was fast, aggressive and had very good ice coverage. Skated to a Dixieland medley (them's my people you know.) Did two triples, or maybe three I couldn't tell. Had one fall. Did a Kerrigan spiral and had two very high double axels. Pulled up to 5th free and overall. DeAnna Clark Double loop, triple sal, double axel, double axel/double toe, Kerrigan spiral, Bielman spin. And she did a double/double/double series. 7th in the free 6th overall. Kristen Milta Marshall ran out of potato chips and I had to get him more, so I couldn't take notes on Kristen. 11th free and 10th overall. Adriana DeSanctis Triple sal, triple sal/double toe, fell on a triple lutz double axel, double axel/double toe. Had fast nice spins. 6th in the free, 7th overall. Sandra Jean Ruckner Excellent presentation. Triple sal/double toe, double axel/double toe, double axel fall, and a triple loop. 8th free and overall. Wow! Watching this final flight warm up I was amazed. Just a few years ago no novice had triples, now they all do. They were fast, they were polished and they all had great laybacks. (Has Dick Button been torturing little girls to get them to do laybacks correctly?) I love Michelle Kwan very much, I admire her greatly for staying eligible when she could have taken the easy way out and gone pro, but there is a swarm of amazing skatie girls coming after her and she had better duck. Kelsey Drewel After she skated I thought that will be hard to beat, nobody could beat it! She did a double axle and just flew out of it. Three triples including a triple/double. Popped a lutz and fell once, but did a heck of a lot of other jumps besides. She had a whole lot of nice connecting moves, twirls and flootwork. Ended with a scratch and I really liked her. Our champion. Jennifer Don Fell on a few things. Did land a couple triples, a douple of double axels, a two footed triple sal. Ina Baur into a lutz , Bielman spin, had a big smile on her face. 3rd in the free, Bronze overall. Shanell Noji Woah she landed a ton of stuff, I lost count. Two double axels, at least two triples. Did a spiral right on the crescendo of her music. She is a lovely spinner, fast spins. Ended with a blur scratch, had a big smile on her face the whole time. Yeah the California girl wins the silver. Samantha Mohr She was not as good as the short, but I couldn't take notes on what exactly she did. She does have the layback that would make Dick Button swoon. 9th in the free and 8th overall. Kristen Sheaffer She did spins in both directions. (See Michelle, you innovate, and the swarm just follows along.) She had an ina baur with a deep arch, spread eagle into a double axel, and at least one triple. 4th in the free and overall.

Index

15-Jan-2001: Novice Free Skate

Updated: 20-Jan-2001

Cover Page

Day 1: 14-Jan-2001

Novice Short Programs

Day 2: 15-Jan-2001

Novice Free Skate

Day 3: 16-Jan-2001

Tourist Day

Day 4: 17-Jan-2001

Jr. Men Short Program

Day 5: 18-Jan-2001

Jr. Ladies' Short Program

Day 6: 19-Jan-2001

Coming soon (maybe ...): Sr. Ladies' Freeskate

Day 7: 20-Jan-2001

Jr. Ladies' Freeskate

Novice Men's Free Skate

One thing I noticed a lot of in the men's free was that these boys weren't just doing the jumps, they were doing a lot of interesting moves into the jumps, like spread eagles or spirals and there were a lot split jumps into jumps. Very nice to see more then just skate, skate jump.

Ben Woolwine: Ben attempted a triple lutz and fell. Landed a triple/double combination, another triple, a spread eagle into a triple salchow. He two footed a double axel, but did a double axel/half loop/double toe/double combination and another series of a split jump into a double/double combination. He did a flying sit spin where he jumped up and landed on the same foot, don't know what that is called but it is cool. He was 6th in the free and 6th overall.
Michael Dimilanta: Landed double axle, double salchow, double axel/double toe another rdouble. He stepped out of one triple salchow, but then did the double toe afterwards. He landed one other triple. He did a spiral sequence that had nice flow, but fell in a step sequence. Popped a lutz and ended with a scratch spin. 11th free and overall.
Leif Hafstrom: (Lawrence of Arabia) Triple salchow, stepped out, then double toe. Double axel/double toe, a double/double, spiral into a double jump, double axel, another double jump with a step out. Split jump into a double jump. Ended with a sit spin into a scratch spin. 10th in the free and overall.
Jason Wong: (Dragnet) Ummm, he had a lot of probles fell a couple of times, did land a triple sal, landed double axle and double axel/double toe. He ended with a scratch spin. 9th in the free and overall.
Joshua Uster: I thought he looked a lot like Ryan Bradley. He started out miming basketball and there were a lot of other motions in the program that were supposed to tell some story but I have no idea what it was. Interesting though. Double axel step out, then a half loop/double toe. Double lutz, he had great flow coming out of his jumps. Good flow throughout the program actually. He landed another double axel fine. 5th in the free and overall.
Jordan Brauninger: Double axel/triple toe, fell on the toe. Popped another jump and fell. Double lutz/double toe, held onto one double axel and landed a triple. Ended with a split jump, into a split jump into Arabians into a scratch spin. 4th in the free and overall.
Matthew Lind: Skated much faster than in his short. Landed two triple I can't identify, a triple/double combination, Stepped out of the lutz in a triple lutz/double toe combination and landed another triple lutz clean. Ended with an inside spread eagle for a half circle into a double axel then did flying sit spin into a scratch. Very nice program all around and he got all first place ordinals of course since he was the only boy there with a triple lutz. Our Champion.
Egor Matsipura: Had nice flow in his steps. Did a triple/double, double, double axel, double axel with a step out into double toe, spread eagle into a triple, another double/double and another triple. 2nd in the free skate Bronze overall.
Adam Aronwitz: This boy isn't much bigger than my son. But he is fast and he really attacks his program. Double axel/half loop/triple toe, double, and I think a triple/triple, but maybe it was so fast I couldn't tell. Fell on a triple and then did a triple salchow. He did a double axel that came out of nowhere and fell on a sit spin. Then a really cool series double axle/half loop/half loop/double toe. Ended with a scratch spin. Third in the free, Silver overall.
Wesley Campbell: Wesley had problems with all this triples, he fell on two, and got his feet tangled up in his sal and never got off the ground. Everything else was doubles including a double axle/double toe with very nice distance and another double axel. 8th in the free, 7th overall.

Novice Ladies Free Skate

Marshall joins me here so the notes are very inconsistent. Once again I would like to say to any skatie girl who reads this if my notes on you are brief that is because my baby demanded attention, not because I didn't like you.

Lisa Danmiller: Well I like her. Of course that and a nickel won't even get her a phone call. She two footed one triple sal and fell on another. Did a very nice double axel and a double axle/double toe, but alas fell on a spin. She kept fighting through the program and landed two double jumps right after a fall. 14th free and overall.
Mattina Alonge: Triple sal, double axel, double axel/double toe fell on a second triple sal. 12 in the free and overall.
Aanya Reiten: Two footed a double axel/double toe, double sal, fell on a triple sal,. She had great flow over the ice and a real smooth, powerful glide. 13th in the free and overall.
Samira Banna: Double axle/double toe, triple sal, triple toe/double toe. Her triples came to a dead stop, but she did them. She is very graceful, great edges, she did a Mohawk that made me weep. 13th free and overall.
Boy if we ever bring back figures, my favorite skaties are going to kick butt!
Lea Nightwalker: Much better than in her short, she must have been very nervous. She was fast, aggressive and had very good ice coverage. Skated to a Dixieland medley (them's my people you know.) Did two triples, or maybe three I couldn't tell. Had one fall. Did a Kerrigan spiral and had two very high double axels. Pulled up to 5th free and overall.
DeAnna Clark: Double loop, triple sal, double axel, double axel/double toe, Kerrigan spiral, Bielman spin. And she did a double/double/double series. 7th in the free 6th overall.
Kristen Milta: Marshall ran out of potato chips and I had to get him more, so I couldn't take notes on Kristen. 11th free and 10th overall.
Adriana DeSanctis: Triple sal, triple sal/double toe, fell on a triple lutz double axel, double axel/double toe. Had fast nice spins. 6th in the free, 7th overall.
Sandra Jean Ruckner: Excellent presentation. Triple sal/double toe, double axel/double toe, double axel fall, and a triple loop. 8th free and overall.
Wow! Watching this final flight warm up I was amazed. Just a few years ago no novice had triples, now they all do. They were fast, they were polished and they all had great laybacks. (Has Dick Button been torturing little girls to get them to do laybacks correctly?) I love Michelle Kwan very much, I admire her greatly for staying eligible when she could have taken the easy way out and gone pro, but there is a swarm of amazing skatie girls coming after her and she had better duck.
Kelsey Drewel: After she skated I thought that will be hard to beat, nobody could beat it! She did a double axle and just flew out of it. Three triples including a triple/double. Popped a lutz and fell once, but did a heck of a lot of other jumps besides. She had a whole lot of nice connecting moves, twirls and flootwork. Ended with a scratch and I really liked her. Our champion.
Jennifer Don: Fell on a few things. Did land a couple triples, a douple of double axels, a two footed triple sal. Ina Baur into a lutz , Bielman spin, had a big smile on her face. 3rd in the free, Bronze overall.
Shanell Noji: Woah she landed a ton of stuff, I lost count. Two double axels, at least two triples. Did a spiral right on the crescendo of her music. She is a lovely spinner, fast spins. Ended with a blur scratch, had a big smile on her face the whole time. Yeah the California girl wins the silver.
Samantha Mohr: She was not as good as the short, but I couldn't take notes on what exactly she did. She does have the layback that would make Dick Button swoon. 9th in the free and 8th overall.
Kristen Sheaffer: She did spins in both directions. (See Michelle, you innovate, and the swarm just follows along.) She had an ina baur with a deep arch, spread eagle into a double axel, and at least one triple. 4th in the free and overall.

Updated: Tuesday, 16-Jan-2001 00:57:36 EST