2014 U.S. ADULT CHAMPIONSHIPS D
2008, Himmerich landed two Axels and a double Salchow in combination. But when she landed a double loop-single loop combination, she nearly rose out of her boots with joy. Yet it was her spins that were superior and earned her Level 3s and 2s to give a boost to her technical score for a final score of 40.80 points. Beth Delano of the Philadelphia SC and Hu-
mane Society earned 38.73 points for the bronze medal. While not skating as freely as in the past, Delano was able to think herself through what was a clean performance to “A Day in the Life,” by Jeff Beck.
“I’ve been skating well,” Delano said, “but not
competing well.” Delano has competed in 19 out of 20 U.S.
Adult Championships, always with coach Lydia Paley Hume by her side. Te elegant Joy Dubost of the Washington FSC missed the bronze medal by only .06 points. Skating a beautifully choreographed program to the classic music of Rachmaninoff, Dubost earned a Level 4 for her stunning change-foot combina- tion spin. Tat, and a high-flying stag jump near the end of her program, highlighted a stellar per- formance for the pewter medal.
CHAMPIONSHIP MASTERS INTERMEDIATE-NOVICE MEN BY ANDY SCHELL
Calm, steady and as meticulous as the icon-
ic music (“Bolero”) he skated to, Michael Rubke handily earned his fourth consecutive gold medal in the Championship Masters Intermediate‒Nov- ice Men’s event with a score of 38.90, nearly eight points above his nearest competitor. “I’m an analytical person,” Rubke said. “Te meter of this piece never changes; it’s perfect for me.”
Rubke calmed the crowd and the judges, sys- tematically taking his time through a well-paced program that composer Ravel himself would have enjoyed. Opening with a steady Axel, he followed through with a fine repertoire that included a dou- ble Salchow and a double loop. His death drop added variation to the continuous tempo, and his change-foot sit spin earned him a Level 3. He popped his second double Salchow — in the same place he missed it in the warm-up. “Te light was flat and bright over there,”
(l-r) Christopher Williams, Michael Rubke, Charles Huang, Scott Sheets
Rubke said. “It threw me off a little, and it affected the spins, too.”
Looking as if he were a happy bouncer skating straight out of a New Orleans jazz club, longtime crowd favorite Christopher Williams grabbed the silver medal by earning 30.98 points. Teaming with 1973 U.S. pairs champion and Olympian Mark Militano, Williams put together a fast and fun jazz program set to three pieces of music ed- ited by Militano. With his unique flexibility and style that includes barrel rolls, hydroplanes and toe picks to the sky — Williams always brings it all to the ice. He even stopped at the end of his step se- quence to wave to his wife and 18-month-old son sitting in the stands.
And while he skated to Louis Armstrong’s “I
Got the Right to Sing the Blues,” his strong musi- cal interpretation and positive GOEs on both his Axel jumps deservedly gave him the rights to sec- ond place.
Charles Huang, All Year FSC, fought to keep
his adrenaline in check on his way to earning the bronze medal with a sophisticated program. As a novice skater, he was coached by U.S.
Figure Skating Hall-of-Famer Cathy Machado, yet this was Huang’s first trip to the U.S. Adult Cham- pionships after taking eight years off. Now that dental school at NYU is complete,
he’s back and working with Gary Kemp. Together they brought Huang’s Romeo and Juliet program to life. After a huge opening Axel, Huang fought to hold himself together after a couple of falls. He completed two big double Salchows and showed beautiful extension in his moves, settling down as the program progressed. Given the nod for his skating skills within the program component marks, Huang earned 30.48 points for third place. Always a charismatic figure on the ice, long- time adult competitor Scott Sheets of the Shaker FSC earned the pewter medal with some won- derful tributes to classic skating: a big stretched spiral sequence that covered the entire ice surface, a dazzling walley jump and forward and back in- side loops during his choreographed sequence that brought us back to the days of school figures. Sheets earned 26.13 points.
CHAMPIONSHIP GOLD LADIES
BY ANDY SCHELL While it was the pas de deux from Te Nut-
cracker that Amanda Blackwell built her program around, it was she alone who threw down the gauntlet. Skating first, the Channel Islands FSC mem-
ber came gliding out to center ice with a smile as sparkling as her elegant black-and-white dress. A coach and choreographer, Blackwell worked with her own coach, Cindy Bortz-Gould, to create mag- ic.
“I love this music,” Blackwell said. “It makes
me skate from my heart.” In six quick months since she debuted the
program at the Golden West Championships, Blackwell had polished it to perfection to earn the highest program component scores in the event. With equal doses of athleticism and balletic prow-
SKATING 15
(l-r) Jessica Scieszinski, Amanda Blackwell, Teresa Denti- co, Lynsey Moore
ess, Blackwell grabbed the gold medal (and 36.89 points) with a program that left the audience as pleased as the judges. Her smile only grew brighter as she calmly completed each element with graceful ease and precision. With lilting Axel jumps and combina- tions that were precisely placed to the music, she carried the audience from the beginning of the program to the end in a flawless performance that would clearly be hard to beat — and never was. Blackwell’s training partner and good friend,
Jessica Scieszinski (All Year FSC), took the silver medal with 35.06 points, skating to Danny Elf- man’s other worldly music from Oz Te Great and Powerful. In the best shape of her life, and wearing a fantastic costume of emerald, cream and black — a costume self-designed and executed — Sciesz- inski glided to position on the ice. “Hi Sammy!” she yelled over her shoulder toward a phone held high in the stands so a West
Amanda Blackwell
MIA CORSINI/U.S. FIGURE SKATING
JAY ADEFF/U.S. FIGURE SKATING
MIA CORSINI/U.S. FIGURE SKATING
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