The Championship Pairs event at the 2008 U.S. Adult Figure Skating Championships in Lake Placid, NY capped the end of the four-day competition, and what a way to end it! I left the 1980 Rink - Herb Brooks Arena with one word on my mind: TRUST. Such trust that the women place in their partners! This is only the second year of this event at Adult Nationals and some new faces took the podium after the competition.
Eight pairs teams took to the ice and in the end, 30-year-old Craig Joeright from the Onyx-Suburban Skating Academy and 40-year-old Judy Sargent of the Troy Academy of Figure Skating, won the gold with effortless lifts and a great unison to their skating. Craig is new to Adult Nationals, but not to competitive skating - he skated with wife Larisa Spielberg in pairs, including competing at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships five times. Both "retired" from competition in 2004 to focus on other interests. (Larisa is pursuing a career as a physician's assistant while Craig remains involved with skating programs.) Craig couldn't resist the lure of competing, especially when partnered with the very capable Judy, a skating coach, so they will be a force to be reckoned with in future Adult Nationals. Craig and Judy placed second at the 2008 Adult Midwestern Sectionals held in Ann Arbor, Michigan, after only a six month partnership! Their goals for next year include a throw double Salchow, possibly a double twist, and side-by-side double jumps.
As a reminder, U.S. Figure Skating holds the Eastern, Midwestern and Pacific Coast Sectionals. Skaters wishing to compete in Championship events at Adult Nationals must place high in sectionals. The Championship events also do not have age categories so you may see skaters in their twenties competing with forty-somethings and beyond, which certainly makes it more interesting and exciting!
Coming in second were 40-year-old Choeleen Loundagin and 41-year-old William Abel from the Santa Rosa FSC, who won this event last year. Choeleen, a skating coach, also had three of her students compete at Adult Nationals: Stephanie Ewing (who won gold in Championships Masters Ladies), Ninotchka Aschow (who won gold in Championship Gold Ladies), and Melinda Speer (who won silver in Championship Gold Ladies). William, a full-time student of landscape architecture, described the Adult Nationals experience as "relaxed" and "fun." Choeleen and William, who've been skating as a team for two years, won the 2008 Adult Pacific Coast Sectionals held in Portland, Oregon.
43-year-old Jenny Needham-Wall, a special education teacher and 50-year-old Ray Belmonte, an anesthesiologist, both of the Wagon Wheel FSC, took home the bronze. Ray was Jenny's singles skating coach for 10 years, so it must have been a great moment for them to put a terrific program together as teacher and student. The chemistry was evident as they received a rousing standing ovation from the audience after their skate to East of Eden. Jenny and Ray won the 2008 Adult Midwestern Sectionals held in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Ray said that their forte is their skating ability and a "naturalness" about their skating. Like Craig and Judy, their partnership is relatively new -- eight months.
A special congratulations to the fourth place team of Jason Spicer of Rye FSC (who also came in fourth in Championship Masters Men) and his partner Joy Dubost of Hickory Hill FSC. I remember years ago Jason taking lessons at Sky Rink at Chelsea Piers in NYC where I skate, and it's amazing to me how far he's come. (photo at bottom, from left to right: Choeleen & William, Judy & Craig, Jenny & Ray, and Joy & Jason)
And if I had to give out the best musical selection for the pairs event, it would go to the fifth place team of Kimberly Sailer and David Garber of the Wheeling FSC. They skated to a spy theme and performed to selections from 007 James Bond, The Pink Panther and Mission: Impossible. Kimberly, a vending company business owner, and David, a physician's assistant in cardiac surgery, told me after their skate that their main goal is to entertain, and they did not disappoint. They came in second in this event last year and their goals for 2009 include incorporating some double jumps. During their performance, Kimberly and David did some outstanding overhead lifts and I asked Kimberly if she felt scared being up that high. Her response? "Actually, no, it's like riding a roller coaster. The first couple of times you do them, you're very fearful and you're like 'ooh ooh ooh' but afterwards you come down, and you're safe on the other side and you say 'Whoa! That was fun! Let's do it again!""
On a sad note, the Championship Pairs event did start off with a scary fall. At the practice rink, while the skaters were warming up, Andrea Cooper of Ice Works SC and Lee Jones of Chesapeake FSC were practicing an overhead lift, something happened, and Andrea fell onto the ice. Eventually, the ambulance arrived and Andrea was taken to the hospital. Recently, I contacted her to find out how she is doing. Andrea wrote back that, "I sustained a compression fracture to my L1 vertebrae and a fracture to my sacrum. I will be in an upper body brace for the next six weeks followed by six weeks of physical therapy, but am expected to make a full recovery." Andrea also wrote that she and Lee felt the cause of the accident was a combination of an overcrowded session (that nine pair teams were scheduled for the 20 minute official warm up ice) and that the ice had not been cut. Andrea also advised that Lee was not hurt, but badly shaken. Andrea and Lee were sorely missed at the actual competition and I hope to see them back on the ice very soon.
Note: U.S. Figure Skating does not allow the media to film the actual competition; however, if you are an icenetwork subscriber, you can watch many of the performances on video.
Complete results for Championship Pairs are as follows:
Pl. |
Name |
Total segment score |
Total element score |
Program component score |
1 |
Judy Sargent / Craig Joeright Troy Academy of Figure Skating / Onyx-Suburban Skating Academy |
57.74 |
29.78 |
27.96 |
2 |
Choeleen Loudagin / William Abel Santa Rosa FSC |
54.47 |
27.08 |
27.39 |
3 |
Jenny Needham-Wall / Ray Belmonte Wagon Wheel FSC |
46.21 |
16.58 |
29.63 |
4 |
Joy Dubost / Jason Spicer Hickory Hill FSC / Rye FSC |
45.04 |
25.24 |
19.80 |
5 |
Kimberly Sailer / David Garber Wheeling FSC |
41.62 |
18.43 |
23.19 |
6 |
Tara Cioppa / Stephen Trzaska American Academy FSC / Washington FSC |
38.84 |
21.33 |
18.51 |
7 |
Diana Cheng / James Barry MIT FSC |
32.75 |
16.52 |
16.23 |
8 |
Heather McDonald / Matthew Leissring Vaca Valley FSC |
29.55 |
14.43 |
15.12 |
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