I N TE R MED I AT E Te top two teams after the short program,
Jasmine Fendi and Joshua Fendi, both 12, and Greta Crafoord and John Crafoord, both 14, fin- ished fourth and fifth, respectively. “I just thought they were brilliant to come out and win first and second place after the short, up against a really strong intermediate field,” coach Peter Oppegard said of his teams from the Los Angeles FSC. “In the long program you have to be physically stronger; the people who ended up beating them were older and stronger. I just wanted my skaters to understand that and have the perspective that they didn’t skate poorly at all, that it’s just going to take time.”
ICE DANCE by MIMI WHETSTONE “It feels so good, I can’t even put it into
words. It’s so hard to explain. Tis is amazing. I’m speechless,” Sophia Elder said. Sophia and her brother, Christopher, won the ice dance title with 103.53 points. At the ten- der ages of 11 (Sophia) and 13 (Christopher), the siblings have been competing together for the last four years, placing fifth at last year’s U.S. Cham- pionships in Boston. “We never gave up on our dreams and we didn’t let our other accomplishments go to our
heads,” Sophia continued. “We never said, ‘Oh, we won this competition or that competition, we can ease up or take a break from working so hard.’ We kept pushing ourselves and obviously it paid off here.” Performing their free dance to a medley
of Hungarian folk music, the Louisville Skating Academy representatives earned Level 4 on three of their five elements, amassing 55.24 points for the segment. “Tey performed the way they’ve been train-
ing,” coach Kelly Morris-Adair said. “Tey were a little tight in the beginning, but they worked through all the elements and the performance level was really enhanced. I’m so pleased they could do that under pressure.” Jillian Moyer, 13, and 16-year-old Jarred
Druzynski battled illness early in the week but finished on the podium with silver. “Te last two days I’ve been sick out of my
mind,” Druzynski said after the pattern dances. “Te fact that I was actually still standing out there, I’m happy about.” Performing their free dance to a swing/ blues-themed soundtrack, including “Crazy Lit- tle Ting Called Love,” “Dreaming” and “Rock Tis Town,” the duo finished their first U.S. Championships together, and the first of Moyer’s career, with 89.25 points. “It was our goal coming in to try for the po-
dium,” Moyer, who represents the All Year FSC, said. “But to actually have done it, feels amazing.” “No matter what happened with the place-
ments, we were so happy to be here,” Druzynski, who represents the La Jolla FSC, added. “We’re proud of ourselves right now.” Pulling up from a fifth-place finish in the pattern dances, Molly Cesanek, 13, and Maxwell Gart, 12, secured the bronze medal with a “Lion King” free dance worth 48.94 points. “Tey’re the kind of team who can perform
under pressure, so I knew they had it in them,” coach Matthew Gates said. “Tey struggled a lit- tle bit in the pattern dance, so they were hoping they would pull up and they did. What can I say? Tey did a great job.” Te duo, who represent the Washington
FSC and Charter Oak FSC, respectively, earned 83.14 total points.
A second-place showing in the pattern dances held Cherri Chen (Washington FSC) and Edward Jahoda (Gardens FSC of Maryland) in fourth place, despite placing fifth in the free dance. Te 13- and 14-year-old, respectively, ex- ecuted a performance set elegantly to “Beyond the Sea” and “Mack the Knife” that featured two Level 4 lifts, adding to their overall score of 83.09 points.
SKATING 55
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