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North American Challange Skate Chicago
The 2001 North American Challenge Skate Junior ladies long programs were superb. Every skater had something special about her, and the event was by
far the most exciting of the competition. Skating first was Canada's Cynthia Phaneuf. From Coutreceu, QC, Canada, Phaneuf is the 2001 Triglav Trophy silver medallist (novice), and a newcomer to junior competition. Phaneuf was 7th after the short program, and skated to upbeat Latin music. She started her program out with a very fast catch foot layback spin. Throughout her program, Phaneuf managed to maintain a lot of speed. The double axel-double toe loop combination she completed was very good, but she stepped out of her next double flip. She had a fall on her next triple salchow, but her program was full of expression. She slipped on an attempted lutz jump, and fell on her next triple jump. Phaneuf had a nice, fast spiral sequence, but the three jumping mistakes that followed affected the program in a negative way. The Canadian finished with a tight double axel and a good final spin. Her scores for technical were very consistent; they were all either 4.1 or 4.2, and her presentation scores
were almost the same with 3.9-4.3. This meant that Phaneuf would drop a spot
and finish an overall 8th place in the competition.
Another Canadian was to follow, this time being Lauren Wilson from London,
ON, Canada. At last year's NACS, Wilson placed seventh, one spot from her 6th place at the short program. Wilson skated with nice flow, but fell on her first triple attempt, the triple flip. She then landed a nice triple salchow, but popped her next jump in mid-air. Wilson had a spread eagle, and moments later, a triple loop. She two-footed her double lutz, but the overall extension in her skating was very pretty to watch. Her performance also included a double axel, a triple toe, and very graceful skating. Her first mark ranged from 4.3-4.6, and for presentation she received marks from 4.2-4.5. Wilson improved on her short program placement, and finished 5th overall.
Next up was Ingrid Roth, Mexico's first junior skater of the night. Roth is 18 years old and comes from Mexico City. She is quite an experienced skater, placing 32nd at the 2001 Four Continental Championships. Roth's costume was
the best of her group, and she really stood out in practice, unfortunately,
for a not-so-good reason. In practice, Roth underrotated every triple jump
she tried and even had a great amount of difficulty with her double axel.
She skated to "Ziggurats of Cinnamon," and started off her program with very
little speed and an underrotated triple loop. She had a nice double lutz and double flip afterwards, but stepped out of her double axel, and later on another double axel. She had a pretty layback but her lack of speed, triple
jumps, and full rotation on the double axels was very noticeable. Her
technical scores were from 3.4-3.9 (overmarked by the Mexican judge) and
presentation scored from 3.5-4.1 (again, overmarked). She remained in last place after the long.
Silvia Marcella Rodriguez, 9th after the short, was up to skate next. Rodriguez is from Mexico, and skated to a classical piece. She popped her first double axel in the beginning of her program, and fell on her next
jump. Her layback spin had a lot of speed, but was not centered and had a
very bad leg position. Rodriguez landed a very shaky combination, and had a
nice double lutz and double flip. She finished her program with a fast final
spin, but the judges, who gave her marks from 3.5-4.0 on technical merit and
3.5-4.1 on presentation merit, could not overlook her mistakes. Rodriguez
remained 9th for the overall results.
Sixteen-year-old Marie Luc Jodoin of Trois-Rivieres Ouest, QC, Canada took
the ice next. She took the bronze medal at the 2001 Canadian Nationals
(junior) and skated to selections from 'Capriccio Espanol," "The
Nutcracker," and "Entry of Clara and the Prince." Jodoin began her program with a big double axel, which was followed up by a lovely triple loop. The flow in her skating was there, but the upcoming jumps were not. She fell on her next double and triple jumps and popped an attempted loop. The layback she
completed had a very bad leg position, but if she had the jumps it would have been only a minor mistake. Jodoin finished with a good double axel-double toe
combination, with her technical mark ranging from 4.1-4.5 and presentation
marks were slightly higher at 4.3-4.6. This left Jodoin in 7th place overall, although she did place 6th in the long.
The USA's first skater, 17-year-old Jennifer Don of West Dennis, MA, took the ice next. Don was the bronze medallist in the 2001 National Championships (novice). In the warm-up session prior to her skate, Don landed triple jumps and even two triples in combination. It looked like she could really make a move from 4th place after the short program. Skating to "Sunset Blvd" really accented her graceful style and beautiful flow. However, she fell on her first triple jump, the triple toe loop. Her spins impressed me the most of all the other skaters, and she had a gorgeous layback. Don landed a clean double axel and presented herself very well throughout the whole program. The attention to detail was a refreshing change from the less-choreographed skates from other girls. Don's skate ended with a double axel and a great final spin. Her technical marks ranged from 3.9 (heavily undermarked!)- 4.7 and for presentation 4.3-4.8. She dropped down to 6th place overall, but if she can land those jumps she will be a force in the junior's field.
The leader after the short and next to skate was Jordana Blesa. Representing the Los Angeles Figure Skating Club, 17-year-old Blesa previously placed 7th at the 2001 Nationals (junior). She looked very confident in warm-up,
landing all of her jumps and with great speed. The pressure of being the
leader may have gotten to her, though, because she didn't smile at all and
looked sad throughout her program. However, she looked very confident and
was one of the most powerful jumpers there. The classical music she chose to
skate to fit her well. She started with a very secure triple lutz, and had
great footwork into her triple-double combination. She landed another triple
jump, the salchow this time, and had a nice layback to follow it up. Blesa
landed some more double jumps, two in combination as well, and had nice
camel position to finish up her program. It was a little disappointing
because she had all her triples in warm-up and everyone was pulling for her
to skate well. Her technical scores ranged from 4.4-4.7 and for
presentation her marks were from 4.3-4.7, which were good, enough for a third place finish overall and the bronze medal.
Amber Czisny was up next. 14-year-old Czisny represents the St Clair Shores
FSC in Michigan, and earlier this summer she won at 2001 Skate Detroit (junior). Czisny was very impressive throughout practice, warm-up, and her
long program. She had a great chance at the gold because of her third
place after the short program. Skating to "Carmen" suited her very well.
She began with a fall on her triple loop, but followed it up with a nice
combination. Her Ina Bauer was very nice, and after she completed that move,
she did a clean triple flip. Czisny had a spread eagle into a single axel
(planned double), and very nice extension on her spiral. She had a few more
jumps, and ended with some Russian splits. Her overall skating impressed me
a lot, and I believe she will do well at Nationals. Her scores for the
first mark were 4.1 (too low)-4.7 and for the second mark 4.4-4.9. Czisny improved her standings and finished with a silver medal, which was very well earned.
The last of the Canadian ladies was next. Representing the Sherwood Park FSC
in New Sarepta, AB, Canada was Monica Boucher, who skated to "An American in
Paris." She began with a double axel-steps-triple salchow sequence, but fell
on or stepped out of lots of other jumps (except her double toe-double toe
combination). Her dress really distracted me, a bubble-gum shade of pink and
a black stripe going around her waist, which did not suit her at all. She
ended her program with a fall on her double axel. Her technical marks ranged
from 4.2-4.3 with a 4.8 thrown in (totally overmarked), and her presentation
scores were 4.2-4.8. This dropped her down to fourth place and out of the
medals in the overall results.
Kristen Sheaffer was the last skater of the night, and this definitely meant
save the best for last. From Starlight Ice Dance Club in Minnesota, 16-year-old Sheaffer skated to a classical piece. My impression of her was: Junior Nationals watch out! This girl will certainly take Los Angeles by storm. Fifth after the short, it was hard to imagine her jumping back into medal contention, but after three mediocre skates in the final group, everything was up for grabs. Sheaffer had the crowd on her side from the very beginning of her skate, which had good speed and excellent artistry. She began with a triple loop that was clean, a triple flip that was right on, a triple lutz, a double flip, a nice layback, a beautiful Russian split, a LOVELY double axel-double toe combination, another flip jump, fabulous footwork, a very good hydroblading move, and a single axel. Everything was dead on, and people were on their feet screaming with at least 15 seconds left in her program. She finished with the most impressive spin combination of the competition, and the judges agreed this girl deserved a wonderful score! I was clapping too hard to write down her scores, but she received 4 5.0s, the only 5.0s of every event in the competition. From 5th place after the short, Sheaffer jumped all the way to first and the gold! She absolutely has a future in figure skating!
The author would like to thank Josef of "The Skate Blade" for his assistance with this review.
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