U.S. JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
first place with a score of 96.21 points. Michael Jackson’s “Jam” and
(l-r) Sophia Dai/Jeffrey Fishman, Madeleine Gallagher/ Jonathon Horton, Caroline Yu/Brian Johnson, Juliana May/Cody Dolkiewicz
Sophia Dai and Jeffrey Fish- man, from the Arctic FSC, earned the silver medal with 58.00 points. Fishman and Dai skated to Te Ad- dams Family theme and based their routine off of brothers and sisters being mischievous.
Fishman said.
“We did the best we could,” With a score of 52.20, Caro-
line Yu and Brian Johnson garnered the bronze.
“I was a little disappointed, but sometimes it’s just a bad skate,” Yu said.
Juliana May and Cody Dolk- iewicz finished fourth with 51.86 points.
— Julia Nagy Madeleine Gallagher and Jonathon Horton
Injuries weren’t the only thing holding the pair back. Tey strug- gled with some of the elements in their program, which caused stress, according to coach Craig Joeright. So the coaching staff decided to put together an easier program for the pair to skate. “When we took that stress off of them, their confidence went through the roof,” Joeright said. “You could tell with the look on her face and the look on his.” Tey performed a program that contained side-by-side double Salchows and a throw double loop. Although Gallagher and Hor-
ton’s road has been bumpy, Gal- lagher doesn’t regret any of it and would “push through all that” again to win.
“Te journey here was really
hard for me and Jonathon and win- ning was really amazing,” Gallagher said. “Winning was like a Cinder- ella story to me.”
SKATING 21
INTERMEDIATE ICE DANCING
On their way to the rink, Gigi Becker and Luca Becker received a pep talk from their coach Elena No- vak. She told them to attack their program and perform with a lot of energy.
“You either commit to it and it’s great or if you’re hesitant, then it can be bad,” Novak said.
Te pair committed to their program and skated their way to
(l-r) Julia Biechler/Alexander Petrov, Gigi Becker/Luca Becker, Sammi Wren/Alexey Shchepetov, Kimberly Berkovich/Micah Jaffe
“Stranger in Moscow” blasted from the speakers as the Beckers, dressed in futuristic black outfits, skated to the beat with sharp, precise move- ments. As Luca glided past the judges, he pointed to them and nodded. “Luca has a lot of energy to
give out,” Novak said. “For Luca, (the other coaches and I) knew that he could do it and that he could do this character, and for Gigi as well, it was nice.”
Te coaches were pleasantly
surprised by the win. “Because they are so young and
it’s their first year in intermediate, we didn’t expect them to win,” No- vak said. “It was a good surprise.” Luca enjoyed skating the pro-
gram.
“It kind of made you want to get up and dance,” Luca said. A lot of work went into the
performance, the dancers said. “We’ve been working so hard for this whole thing,” Gigi said.
Gigi Becker and Luca Becker
“We had a lot of support from our friends and coaches.” Teir mother, Nicole Ugel,
credits the support received from other intermediate teams for mak- ing the experience a great one for the pair.
“Te intermediate families
have been so nice,” Ugel said. “Gigi and Luca just felt like a million dol- lars.”
Julia Biechler and Alexander
Petrov captured the silver medal with 94.07 points, performing to “Otonal” by Raul Di Blasio. “It’s just all for fun,” Biechler
said. “We always like doing it.” Sammi Wren and Alexey
Shchepetov earned the bronze medal. Teir routine performed to Te Pink Panther theme generated 88.37 points. “You show everything you’ve done for the season, and I believe we did exactly that,” Shchepetov said.
Kimberly Berkovich and Mi-
cah Jaffe were fourth with 86.30 points.
— Julia Nagy
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