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                             Skate America :  Saturday


                       Saturday Afternoon:  Practice Session

We arrived in the early afternoon and managed to watch a practice
session for the Ladies practicing their long programs.   After a free
skating warm-up period,  the ladies skated to their music.  However none
skated their entire program - they were just focusing on pieces of the
routines.  Baiul, who was on the ice during the warm-up period (and
appeared to skate deliberately in-front of Bonaly during Bonaly's
program with her fast and tight camel variation that Bonaly can't do
well)  left the ice just before her music started.

We were ushered out of the arena after the practice session ended.  Upon
being allowed readmission, we took our seats - unfortunately 2/3 of the
way to the top and well over to one end of the ice.


                      Saturday Afternoon:  Dance Competition

The first four teams took to the ice:  Minorini and Gilardi,  Mayer and
Breen, Humphreys and Lanning, and Piche' and Denis.   There was one
near collision in the warm-up period.

First to skate were Minorini and Gilardi.  They skated a rather fast and
perky number that was in part to the "Bugle Boy" music.  It was fairly
well choreographed, but they seemed to have some problems with
maintaining unison and similar extension.  In addition they did not seem
to spend a great deal of the time on solid edges.

Next to skate were Mayer and Breen.  They skated a fairly sensuous
routine and seemed to be enjoying themselves.  They made fairly good
use of their edges overall.  There was a slight bobble where Mayer was
briefly "dropped" at the very end of the routine - right in font of the
judges.   The marks overall seemed to be a bit lower than they deserved.

Humphreys and Lanning skated next.  Their routine was nicely done, had
good use of edges as well as good unison and matched extension
throughout their routine.  Clearly they were the best of the group of four
teams.

Piche' and Denis skated last in this group.  Their style was more like a
Ballet style than the others.  Unfortunately they seemed at times to be
clearly ahead of the music, but the music was interpreted well overall.
They had very good unison and matched extension regardless of their
timing with the music.

The next five teams then took to the ice for the warm-up period:
Mrazova and Simecek, Punsalon and Swallow, Nechaeva and
Chesnichenko, Roca and Sur, and Moniotte and Lavanchy.  These teams
were much more aggressive in the warm-ups and there were several near
collisions throughout the warm-up period.

Mrazova and Simecek skated first.  Rather it would be proper to say that
they CLEARLY were DANCING!  The audience really loved their routine.
There were some very small unison problems but they had very nicely
managed changes of rhythm.  A truly outstanding performance.

Next to skate were Punsalon and Swallow.  They were also very good -
and were also really dancing.  This was refreshing, since the first four
teams in comparison had merely skated their programs.   Punsalon and
Swallow had some unison problems  in the faster portions of their
routine.  The slower portions had measurably better unison and flow but
were less noticeably danced.   The program that they skated was well
done - and yet can be noticeably improved.

Nechaeva and Chesnichenko skated next.  They had great unison and
matched extension, but did not really appear to be dancing in
comparison with the two teams immediately before them.  There was a
small problem on the "pass-through" and Chesnichenko actually let go of
Nechaeva at the end of the program, and it was obviously unintentional.
The flow of the program was somewhat interrupted.   The penalty for
this seemed to be on the light side given their final placement.

Finally Roca and Sur stepped on the ice to skate.   They were classical
Roca and Sur.  Unfortunately, towards my end of the ice, but out of easy
view of the judges,  Sur's skate became tangled in the drape around the
rink edge and both he and Roca fell.    They immediately recovered and
got back into the music without much loss of presence or obvious loss of
flow.  Roca and Sur obviously feel the music as they skate, and a great
portion of their routine can be said to be danced.  However, there were a
few technical portions and a few places where they held moves overly
long and gave the appearance of being "technical" skaters rather than
dancers.

Lastly,  Moniotte and Lavanchy took to the ice.  They were excellent!
They had great unison, speed, flow and matched extension.  There was
absolutely no question that they danced the ENTIRE program.  In fact it
looked so much like dance - one almost forgot that they were on ice!  In
addition they obviously felt all three rhythm variations that they skated
to.  This is definitely a team to watch for in Lillehammer.


                Saturday Afternoon:  Men's Long Program

In the following write-up, I will provide some details of the program as I
recorded it on paper.  However due to the seating and location, I was not
able to be certain that I correctly saw the entry to every jump.  Some
skaters are using a toe-push then step entry into a triple toe loop that
looks rather like a triple flip entry.  If I couldn't clearly see the entry
for
any reason,  it will be recorded there as a Flip.

The first four skaters took to the ice:  Britten, Nielson, Chack, and
Eichorn.  After their warm-ups,  they waited briefly for the competition
to begin.

Britten was first on the ice.  His program had a very good start but he
appeared to be losing it towards the end of the program.  He has
obviously had some training in Ballet at some time.  He did not do a
triple Axel , but instead had two double Axels in his routine, one in the
middle and one at the end.  The latter on was very weak.  In all he
completed 5 triples (loop, Salchow, Lutz, Lutz, and flip) but one was
poorly done and one had a brief touchdown of the free foot.  His spins
were less than spectacular and the only combination was the camel
change camel.

Second to skate was Nielson.  He skated a spectacular program - far
beyond what I expected to see from anyone in this first group.   His
routine included 3 triple(?) Axels,  a triple Lutz,  a triple flip-double
toe, a
triple loop, a triple toe, and a triple flip.  Some of these were remarkably
well done, leading one to think of Boitano's skill and strength.  His
program was solid and strong right through to the end of the program.
He had two combination spins - a flying camel-sit and a flying camel sit
change sit.  He also performed an excellent flying sit after his triple flip
double toe.  Nielson was obviously thrilled by his performance and even
picked up his coach at the end and swung her around!  The audience was
greatly bothered by his scores which were remarkable low given his
performance.  In my judgment, he should have placed third and was
probably hurt in part by being in the first group of skaters - a group he
obviously dominated.   If he remains consistent in his skating, he will be
a skater to watch for at Nationals.

Chack took to the ice next.  His performance was flat compared to
Nielson and he became obviously weaker toward the end of the program.
Chack attempted but did not land a triple Axel.  He did however land five
triples (triple flip, triple Lutz-double toe, triple toe, triple Lutz, and a
triple toe-double toe.  He appeared to have attempted a triple Salchow
but doubled it instead and did what amounted to a "open" double loop
that could have been an attempted triple loop.  Chack also had some
combination spins - one appeared to be a camel with a slightly flying  (?)
change sit and a camel sit layback change sit.

Eichorn was the last skater of the first group to take to the ice.  He was
obviously the weakest skater of the group, completing four triples (flip,
Lutz, loop and toe loop) He also had attempted several other jumps that
were either singled or doubled.  I was unable to clearly see his Axels,
there were two, and they might have been double Axels only.

The next group of skaters to take to the ice were:  Urmanov,  Candeloro,
Petrenko, Eldredge, and Boitano.   Several of these skaters (especially
Boitano) were concentrating intensely as they entered the ice and
seemed oblivious to all that was going on around them.   Boitano and
Petrenko even stroked differently from the other skaters - a much more
deliberate stroking with more apparent power.

Urmanov was first to skate.  He landed two weak triple Axels and four
other triple jumps (triple flip, triple flip-double toe, triple loop-double
something and either a triple toe or triple Salchow).  Urmanov attempted
a triple Lutz but lost it.  He did not do any reasonable combination spins
(or I failed to record them).  His scores seemed to be rather high when
compared with Nielson and in my opinion Nielson clearly out skated
Urmanov.

Candeloro skated second.  He opened with a failed triple Axel, but
succeeded in landing 6 other triple jumps (triple Lutz-double toe, triple
Lutz, triple toe, triple Salchow, triple loop, and triple flip).  The triple
Lutz double toe was a bit on the weak side.  He also did an open loop,
perhaps intentionally, and an open Axel into a Camel.  His combination
spin was a camel-sit-camel-sit  followed shortly after by a successful
double Axel.  And of course his sit-on-the-feet spin that ended the
program.  After he was done, he did a mime bit for each of the four areas
in the arena,  the meaning of which was lost to many people in the
audience.

Petrenko skated next.  His program contained fairly good artistry overall.
He opened with a triple Axel but was leaning severely and later on
performed either a double or triple Axel double toe combination.
Petrenko successfully landed five other triples (triple toe, triple Lutz,
triple flip, triple flip-double toe, and a triple Salchow).  He attempted a
triple loop following the triple Salchow but didn't successfully land it.
He did several combination spins, the best of which was a camel-change
camel-change camel.

Eldredge was the fourth of this group to skate.  I was surprised at how
well he did, since I had not seen or head much about him since
Nationals.  He has made an important change to his routine and is now
providing himself with "breaks" during the program so that he isn't
skating flat-out the entire time.  Eldredge attempted two triple Axels and
landed one of them (towards the end of his program).  In addition he
completed four other triples ( flip, Salchow, Lutz-double toe, and loop).
he also appeared to do, at the end of his program, a double flip-triple toe
but I couldn't clearly see the entry nor the number of revolutions on the
toe loop part.  Overall, he performed much better than he did at
Nationals.

Boitano was the last to take to the ice.  Boitano actually looked like he
OWNED the ice as he was skating.  He performed his triple Axel with
substantially more height than Petrenko.  However I was far more
impressed with his spread eagle-triple Lutz sequence.  Don't hold me to
that - it might have been a spread eagle - triple loop!  It happened awfully
fast and was a major surprise.  I can't wait to watch that on videotape.  In
addition Boitano completed 3 other triples ( triple flip-double toe, triple
toe-double toe, and a triple Salchow).  So he dropped either the triple
Lutz or the triple loop, depending on what really followed the spread
eagle.   Boitano also did LOTS of spread eagles.   I believe this counted
rather heavily against him in the scoring - as well as his lack of
additional triple jumps.  Once he gets it together, adding more triples
and dropping 2/3 of the spread eagles, Boitano will be unbeatable.


                   Saturday Evening:  Ladies Long Program

The evening event began with a young local Dallas skater singing a song
on the ice.  I didn't catch her age - but she is about 8 years old, perhaps a

touch younger.  Everyone was impressed by the quality of her singing.
Hopefully this segment will be televised,  if so you might expect to hear
her on albums in a year or so.

The first batch of skaters to take to the ice were:  Erving, Ball, Swed, Von
Saher, and Kwan.   The warm-ups were basically uneventful, but there
were a lot of falls.

Erving was the first to skate.  She appeared to be a little upset to be in
the first group to skate and her program was less than spectacular.  She
completed two double Axels and three triples:  triple toe-double toe
triple Salchow (weak) and triple Lutz (weak).  Erving did attempt two
other triples but did not complete them:  triple flip and triple loop.
After the mid-point in her program the jumps were either weak of
doubles or both.  There was a variety of spins throughout her program.

Ball was next to skate.  She attempted only two triples (triple toes with
the odd entry?)  and landed them both.  The remaining jumps were all
doubles, including a weak double Axel and a double Axel-double toe.
The only combination spin I recall is a camel change camel

Swed was the third to take to the ice.  She attempted 5 triples but landed
only two of them:  triple toe-double toe and triple Salchow - double toe.
In addition she attempted but failed to complete a double Axel after
having popped one into a single Axel earlier in her program.

Von Saher skated next.  She attempted 4 triples  but landed only two of
them, and both were weak triple Salchows.  She did however have a clean
double Axel.  also Von Saher performed some very nice combination
spins that up to this point in the competition had been noticeably
lacking.  Her best was a camel sit camel illusion sit.

Kwan was the last of this group to skate.   She did a remarkable job and
will prove to be a major challenge to Erving at Nationals.  Kwan
completed 5 triples:  flip, toe, Salchow, Lutz, toe.  I don't recall any
being
in combination - shortcoming that I'm sure will be corrected as she
matures as a skater.  She also completed two double Axels.  Kwan has
also put together some nice combination spins, her best being a camel sit
layback camel.

The second group of skaters to take to the ice were Baiul, Harding,
Bonaly, Yaginuma, and Kielmann.   The warm-up was basically
uneventful (no backflips) however Harding seemed to kick her foot
against the ice after a few warm-up jumps.  She was clearly bothered by
something, however the warm-up jumps appeared to be quite good.

Baiul was the first to take to the ice.  She seemed a bit tamer on the ice
than she had appeared to be on TV broadcasts prior to this.  She opened
with a beautiful triple Lutz.  In addition she completed three other
triples:  loop, Salchow (weak) and toe loop (weak).  She also attempted
but did not complete a triple flip.  Baiul completed a two double Axels,
one right near the end of her program.  There was one other jump worth
noting - a Salchow that appeared to be doubled because she was coming
too near the wall for comfort.   And of course Baiul did her signature
camel spin variation.

Harding was the second skater to take tot he ice.  She opened strong and
completed three triples:  Lutz (weak), toe, and loop.  When she attempted
her flip she doubled it and tapped the ice with her landing foot
afterwards.  Very shortly after that she took off on an Axel, singled it and
looked very bothered.   She quickly skated over to the judges and put her
skate on the table - as only Tonya can do it.   After some discussion, she
had her blade worked on off ice and returned to finish her program.
When she picked up the program, she missed her double Axel, doubled a
Salchow, and finished with a camel sit layback sit scratch spin.   She left
the ice very obviously bothered by the outcome and by missing the
double Axel.   Also noticeably missing were combination jumps. Her
scores varied quite widely,  probably because of the break in the
program.

Bonaly followed Harding.  She attempted four triples, completing only
three:  triple loop, triple Lutz - double toe, and triple Salchow.  In
addition she may have completed a triple flip, but I was unable to see the
entire jump.  She also attempted but failed to complete a double Axel
and even singled one Lutz.  Bonaly has wisely dropped her attempt to
copy Baiul's signature camel variation,  Bonaly's version is poor in
comparison, but she still tries it in practice sessions.   Bonaly's best
combination spin was a layback sit layback.  It is interesting to note that
Bonaly's scores varied almost as widely as Hardings.

Yaginuma, from Japan, skated next to last.  She completed three triple
jumps:  Lutz (weak) Loop (weak) and toe.  She did however land two
double Axels.  Like Kwan however, she did not perform any combination
jumps.  One of the most noticeable things that she did however was a
long sequence of spins - I failed to write down the sequence, it was too
much to remember!

Kielmann was the last skater for the evening.  She completed 4 triples:
triple toe-single toe, triple loop (weak) triple Salchow, and a triple loop.

She also completed a long sequence of double and single and half jumps
to the pleasure of the audience.  She had a nice combination sequence
early in her program that I believe went:  camel sit Bielmann layback
camel sit.   Her scores also varied widely as had Bonaly's and Harding's.

And - yes Bonaly got her back flip in - at the awards ceremony!


                               Saturday Night - Afterwards

We attended the skater's celebration party shortly after the competition
ended for the night.   The vast majority of the skaters attended the party,
but by the time we left neither Boitano, Baiul, Bonaly, nor Harding had
arrived.  However there were quite a few other skating notables there
including Dick Button and Peggy Flemming.   The food was great - and
the liquor was on the house.  And oh - the square dancing was a riot!
When else would you ever see all those skaters trying their hand (foot?)
at the Cotton-eyed Joe?