Two-time Olympian


David Santee, organization- al innovator Anne Gerli and choreographer


Ricky Harris have been elected to the U.S. Figure


Skating Hall of Fame Class of 2015. Their on-ice inductions will be held Friday, Jan. 23, at the 2015 Prudential U.S. Figure Skat- ing Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina, followed by an evening reception. “The Class of 2015 will be remem-


bered for its unique and diverse contribu- tions covering multiple decades,” said Larry Mondschein, chair of the hall’s nominating committee. “David Santee twice represent- ed the United States as an Olympic athlete and recently served as a data operator at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games, showing his unwavering dedication to the sport. Anne Gerli is a true visionary who always put the interests of the skaters first, while Ricky Harris broke new ground by bringing the principles of choreography and dance to championship-level figure skating.” The U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame


was established in 1976 to honor individ- uals who have made outstanding contri- butions to the sport of figure skating in the United States. Upon induction, the three new members will bring the total number of hall-of-famers to 166.


DAVID SANTEE David Santee, a two-time Olympian


and seven-time U.S. World Team mem- ber, is entering the hall as an Outstand- ing Competitor. In his 10 seasons as a senior competitor, Santee stood on the U.S. Championships podium eight times during a career in


which he faced American greats Charlie Tickner, Terry Kubicka and Scott Hamilton. Coached by Evy and Mary Scotvold, Santee earned the 1981 World silver medal and finished fourth at the 1980 Olympic Winter Games. Santee is a U.S. Figure Skating and International Skating Union certified tech- nical specialist. He is one of six U.S. tech- nical specialists certified for international events and the only American certified as a data entry and video replay operator. At the 2014 Sochi Games, Santee served as a data entry and video replay operator for ev- ery figure skating event. Santee is the long- time director of skating of the Park Ridge (Illinois) Park District and participates in an advisory capacity with the Profession- al Skaters Association. He serves on the Ice Skating Institute’s Board of Directors as the instructors representative as well as ISI’s representative to the U.S. Figure Skating Board of Directors.


ANNE GERLI Anne Gerli, hon-


ored for Outstand- ing Contribution in a nonathletic role, was the driving force behind what was commonly known as “Junior Nationals.” A Skating Club of New York member and U.S. judge for more than 70 years, Gerli, along with Lucy Brennan, proposed a national championships for juvenile and intermediate skaters to the U.S. Figure Skating Board of Directors in 1990. The next year, the SCNY hosted the inaugural event. Through Gerli’s determi- nation and organizational skills, the event thrived while going through a series of name changes: Junior Olympics (1991), U.S. Junior Olympic Figure Skating Champion- ships (1995) and U.S. Junior Figure Skating Championships (1998). The name remained until 2013, when the event was included in the overarching U.S. Figure Skating Cham- pionships. Gerli has served U.S. Figure Skating as vice president (1985), Olympic representative (1981–82), U.S. World Team leader (1985) and Skate America vice chair (1982). She has chaired the Judges, Singles and Pairs committees and served two stints on the Nominating Committee (1982–83, 1995). Gerli also served as the chair of Pro- gram Development. Gerli is credited with creating the Accelerated Judges Program and the Young Internationals Program.


32 JANUARY 2015


She earned her first judging appointment in 1944, became a U.S. singles/pairs judge in 1966 and still judges tests at the SCNY. Since 1998, she has judged more than 500 tests.


RICKY HARRIS For more than 40


years, Ricky Harris in- tegrated the concepts of dance into the sport of figure skating, intro- ducing an innovative style of choreography in 1972. Harris, entering the hall for Outstanding Contribution for cre- ative impact, published three figure skat- ing books and produced the sport’s first in- structional video, earning her the moniker “the mother of choreography education in figure skating.” She was instrumental in establishing the Professional Skaters Asso- ciation (PSA) rating in choreography and was one of the first choreographers to be- come a master-rated coach. Harris worked with such champions as Scott Hamilton, Michelle Kwan, Brian Boitano, Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner and Evan Lysacek. It is believed she is the first choreographer to sit in the kiss and cry with an athlete. Har- ris was a member of the 1978–79 support staff of the Squaw Valley Olympic Training Center. A former professional skater, Harris earned a master’s degree in dance and a doctorate in choreography. She was a fre- quent contributor to SKATING magazine and wrote a popular column that shared her insight and answered readers’ ques- tions in the 1980s and 1990s. Harris, who skated with the Sonja Henie show, created a series of choreography workshops that are still being conducted by American Ice Theatre.


Ricky Harris, left, sits in the kiss and cry with Olympic champion Scott Hamilton and his coach Don Laws.


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