Cat's Lair 2002 Nationals Diary

Jan. 6-13, 2002

Cover Page

Day 1: 6-Jan-2002

• Novice Men Short (08-Jan-2002 03:01 AM)
• Novice Ladies Short (09-Jan-2002 10:18 PM)
• Novice Pairs Short (22-Jan-2002 01:11 AM)

2002 Sr. Pairs Free Program

Rogeness & Rogeness

Did I mention how much I loved their short program, did I mention how well their short program suited them? Cause their free skate to The Matrix does not suit them, not at all. It is only suitable for a team I don't like. They had a good twist, with a hand catch. She fell on a throw triple salcow. They did side by side single axels into double toes. They did a good double throw. She had lovely position in the star lift. This program is a terrible waste of beautiful line. They were thirteenth in the free and overall.

Hinzmann & Biancosino

They did a good double twist, caught with hands. She fell out of one throw, the other throw was a good one, but a double. They did side by side double axels, but she waxeled. She fell on the side by side toes. They did a lot of pretty ballet moves in the program. She has very pretty arm movements. They did a lovely pair spiral. I enjoyed their program a lot. If not for the evil of the no bear throwing rule I would have thrown one to them. They were twelfth in the free and overall.

Sima Ganaba & Amir Ganaba

They have a lot of crowd pleasing moves that really gets the crowd on their side. Unfortunately their lack of triple jumps displeases the judges. They had a catch double twist, he caught her with his hands. They did side by side toe jumps, she two footed, and I and my friends were unsure if they did doubles or triples. They definitely did one double throw that was fine and one triple throw that she put her hand down on. They did a very good star lift, he used one hand and he changed direction of rotation during the lift, that must be so difficult. They did side by side double axels, ended with the Natasha spin. They were eleventh in the free and overall.

Tiffany Stiegler & Johnny Stiegler

Skated to Romeo & Juliet, I think the Prokifiev not the Tchaikovsky. They did a good throw, and a twist with a hand catch. They did side by side axels. They did some other side by side jumps that I can not possibly read my notes on. They did a cartwheel lift, and the second throw she put her hand down. They had a one handed lift. They were slower than they usually are. But they had their usual excellent presentation, musicality and line. They are young and I think with their basic skating skills they may yet come back from their many injuries. Of course I also always clap really, really hard to make Tinkerbell come back to life. Ninth in the free and overall.

Jennifer Don & Jered Guzman

This poor kid, she does Jr. Ladies and then a couple hours later it is time for Senior Pairs. And she does it all with a big smile on her face, what a sweetie. They skated to something called Tango Ballet. Jennifer tried to being dramatic at the beginning of the music, but she quickly broke out into that adorable grin. They are fast. They did side by side triple toes. The twist he caught her against his body. They did two double throws. He fell on side by side double axels. They did a nice pair spiral into something on an inside edge that I can't read my notes about. They also did a star lift with a change of direction, and they did a one handed adagio lift. (Is it just me, but I think adagio lifts don't belong in Olympic eligible competition?) They had excellent side by side spins, good speed and synch. They were tenth in the free and overall.

Larissa Spielberg & Craig Joeright

Skated to Romeo and Juliet. On the side by side toes he fell out. Their twist was okay, he caught her against his body. She put her hand down on one triple throw and fell out of the other throw. They were fast in the lift. They did side by side double axels. They had good speed in their pair spin. They have very pretty positions. They were seventh in the free and overall.

Kathryn Orsher & Garrett Lucash

She did an excellent split before the twist. They did a throw triple loop. He fell on some side by side spins. They did a pair spiral into a camel spin, very nice. They had a good throw triple. They were fifth in the free and overall.

Molly Quigley & Bert Cording

Their program was to Les Miserables. He caught her against his body in the twist. They did side by side double axels. They did a flip dismout from a lift. She fell down on the side by side triple toes. They had a pretty spin and did a one handed adagio star lift. She had a nice position on that lift. The second throw was fine. They have a very nice death spiral, nice ice coverage, and she is in a pretty position. Molly has a lot personality and really expresses it well. I liked their program a lot. They were eighth in the free and overall.

Rena Inoue & John Baldwin, Jr.

I never liked John Baldwin as a single skater, so I am so amazed at how much I like Inoue & Baldwin. But I really enjoy their programs and think John is setting a great example. I wish more of our young men who can't crack the top in singles would take up pairs. We have such a shortage of male pair skaters and male dancers. Their twist was caught against his body. They did side by side double axels. She fell on a throw. They did a nice spiral sequence. The second throw was fine. They have good speed. They did a one handed adagio lift with her kind of curled up sideways, it is hard to describe but very effective. He passes his leg over her as she goes into death spiral. They were fourth in the free and overall.

Laura Handy & Jonathon Hunt

Their lift had a crash more than a catch. He stepped out of side by side double axels. The side by side triple toes were okay. They did a lift with her upside down and in splits. She fell on a throw. They also did an adagio lift. She stepped out of another throw. They had trouble with the dismount of one of their lifts. Sorry that is all my notes say. They were sixth in the free and overall.

The Hartsells

During the warm up for the final flight, my friend Ann Jensen noticed that Steve Hartsell seemed hurt. Then we both saw him go and talk to the referee. My heart was in my throat when Ann said they were going to have to pull out. And sure enough they took their place in center ice and bowed to the audience. Then they stood across from each other and bowed to each other. That is when I just lost it and started crying.

They are the sweetest kids, always very nice when I have spoken to them, always send thank you notes for pictures. Just the day before the free skate Danielle was saying what a cutie pie Marshall is. I so wanted them to make the Olympics, and they have worked so hard to recover from that terrible injury in 2000. I felt so bad when they had to withdraw I wanted to walk out of the arena and never go to another skating event ever. This sport just breaks your heart. You watch these kids grow up and work like dogs and they lose everything to a badly timed injury. Sigh! I hope Danielle and Steve find much happiness and success, as skaters or whatever else they may choose to do.

As they were leaving the ice, John Zimmermann came over and shook Steve's hand.

I took no notes on the final flight. You guys have seen it on TV by now, so you have been able to form your own opinions and don't need mine.

Copyright © 2002, Antoinette M. Aubert