NOVICE PA IR S Kate Finster and Eric Hartley
long programs at the same time, just in differ- ent time zones, and it was really funny that Kate and I had the exact same reaction to our scores. Somebody did a side-by-side photo of us. She has become a Mini-Me, because she’s like this little, blonde peanut and she is full of charisma. “Eric is similar to Chris, very calm and re-
laxed. Kate is just off the wall, bouncy. Tey have kind of the same dynamic as us. It’s cute.” Finster and Hartley, who are coached by
John Coughlin and Dalilah Sappenfield, hit a snag in their short program when Finster failed to perform her part of a combination spin. Instead of letting the mistake keep them
down, the duo came out determined and relaxed in their free skate to La Strada by Nina Rota, performing a nearly flawless program, which in- cluded an opening Level 4 double twist and pos- itive grades of execution (GOEs) on all but one element. Tey also garnered the highest program component marks. “Tat’s something that Dalilah preaches to her little kids all the way up to the seniors,” Coughlin said. “Each program is its own individ- ual event, so put the short program behind you and go out and commit to that free skate.” Another first-year team, Sarah Rose and
Joseph Goodpaster, from the Southwest Florida FSC in Ellenton, rallied from sixth place after the short program to earn the silver medal with 109.66 points. Tey performed their free skate to music
Finster, Hartley shine in free skate, win crown by TROY SCHWINDT
When first-year team Kate Finster and part-
ner Eric Hartley rallied from third place after the short program to claim the novice pairs title, two of their biggest supporters were right there to congratulate them.
Alexa Scimeca and Christopher Knierim, who later in the week would win the senior pairs title, train on occasion with this upstart team in Colorado Springs, Colorado. “We watched them, congratulated them,” Knierim said. “Tey skated great, and they did the same for us. Tey don’t live in Colorado, so we don’t see them too often. I think, though, they plan to come here more next year.” Scimeca and Knierim do, however, see a
lot of themselves in the 11-year-old Finster, who hails from Louisville, Kentucky, and is a member of the Louisville Skating Academy, and 16-year- old Hartley, who calls Cincinnati home and is a member of the Queen City FSC. “Tis year when Kate and Eric went to sec-
tionals, we were in France (for Trophée Bompard) the same week,” Scimeca said. “We competed our
SKATING 43
from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. “Harry Potter is one of my favorite movies, so just playing him within the skating is like my peanut butter and jelly,” Goodpaster said. “It’s the two best things you can think of to combine. Once the character got into play, it was amazing.” “I enjoy acting out Hermione, and it was
a lot more fun to be clean on top of that with a solid performance,” Rose said.
Clean is right. Each of their 11 elements re-
ceived positive GOEs, including a Level 4 lift and a Level 4 spin. Coach Jim Peterson is excited about his
young team. “Her lift positions are junior level; our twist
was great today — big, high,” Peterson said. “I like the flow out of the throws. I was watching element to element, because at this level you don’t know what you are going to get. Tey were solid
Sarah Rose and Joseph Goodpaster
and I could tell they had the look in their eyes before they took the ice.” Fifth
after the short program, Jacquelyn
Green and Rique Newby-Estrella climbed onto the podium with their dramatic free skate to mu- sic from the movie Rudy. Teir overall score of 106.26 earned the
first-year team a bronze medal. “Tey have strong skating fundamentals;
they have strong jumps,” said Ethan Burgess, who coaches the team with Craig Joeright at the Detroit Skating Club. “Tey can do the throws. As the months have gone by, they’ve gotten better and better — and stronger and stronger — so I think we are going to have a good, solid junior year next year and for years to come.” In their free skate, the duo landed their
nemesis throw — the throw triple Salchow. “We’ve been struggling a bit with the throw
triple Salchow,” Joeright said. “It’s not like she hasn’t landed it — it’s been a gorgeous throw all year. In competition, we’ve had some issues where we’ve popped it, or did a single or didn’t even at- tempt it. So this was the first time all year that she went for it. It was a gorgeous throw, so I jumped about six feet in the air when she landed it. It was pretty amazing.” Vanessa Chen and Robert Przepioski, an-
other first-year team, claimed the pewter medal with 105.05 points. Chen, 14, and Przepioski, 25, train in San
Jose under coach Richard Alexander and chore- ographer Doug Mattis. Tey performed their free skate to a medley of Motown music. “Tey worked very hard,” Alexander said.
“I’m so proud of them. Now they will have the experience.”
Jacquelyn Green and Rique Newby-Estrella
JAY ADEFF/U.S. FIGURE SKATING
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