2015 U . S . A DULT C HA MPIONSHIPS


Four-time former champion Michael Rub- ke of the Los Angeles FSC won the silver medal with a score of 36.41. He opened with a solid Axel-toe loop combination, but then proceeded to single all of his planned double jumps. Sin- gles aside, and fighting pain in his landing foot caused by boot problems, Rubke kept his speed and flow throughout his program to “Te Break- ing of the Fellowship” by Howard Shore. A vendor tried to fix his boot prior to the


event, but Rubke felt the carbon fiber had failed him.


“Luckily I purposely upped my spins this


year, and I think my overall skating held me up,” he said. Rubke is undecided as to whether he’ll


compete next year. Injury also hindered the bronze-medal win-


ner, Tam Bui, though it was hardly evident from his performance to “Dreamcatcher” by Secret Garden. Bui’s program component score was actually


above Rubke’s, but he earned no credit on his sec- ond double Salchow in combination due to a rule that requires a competitor in this event to have an Axel-type jump. Bui left his Axel out due to an ankle injury, thus letting go of the silver medal. As it stands, the emotional and spiritual skater is philosophical.


“Life is short,” he said. “You just have Charles Huang CHAMPIONSHIP BY MIMI WHETSTONE Only 3.29 points separated the gold and


bronze medalists, with less than two points be- tween fourth and ninth place. Rochelle Revor ul- timately took top honors in a tight field, earning 36.78 points over her All Year FSC club mates, silver medalist Julia Caito and bronze medalist Jes- sica Scieszinski. “I felt a bit stronger on Tursday — cham- pionship always bring out my nerves,” Revor said. “Overall, of course, I wish I could have that Axel back, but as a whole I really enjoyed performing the whole program for the audience and the offi- cials.”


Despite a fall on her second single Axel,


Revor, a marketing manager for McGraw-Hill Education, skated a strong performance to “Con- cierto de Aranjuez” by Rodrigo, highlighted by difficult entries into each of her elements and smooth transitions for a components score of 22.44 — nearly two points higher than her nearest challenger. Skating to music by Secret Garden, Caito’s


performance showcased not only her grace and strength, but the joy she finds each time she’s on the ice. “I’m from Brazil and I moved to Korea when


I was 13 or 14,” Caito explained. “When I got there, I didn’t speak English, I didn’t speak Korean


(l-r) Julia Caito, Rochelle Revor, Lyssa Cobb, Jessica Scieszinski


Rochelle Revor


up toward the sky before my music started, I was talking to him and asking him to stay with me during the program. I think he was here and I’m really proud of what I showed him today.” Scieszinski received Level 3s on both of her combination spins, earning a technical element score of 14.29, less than a point behind Caito’s 14.73. Lyssa Cobb of the St. Louis SC won the pew- ter medal with a score of 31.95 points.


SKATING 13


and I didn’t have any friends. I went skating one day and I fell in love with it. I didn’t need words. Skating was my friend. Now as an adult, it’s my release. It’s my time to fly.” Caito opened her performance with an Axel- toe loop-loop jump combination before complet- ing a double toe and five additional jumping pass- es. She earned 35.33 points.


Less than two points behind with a score of 33.49, Scieszinski executed a powerful perfor- mance to “Te Sorcerer’s Apprentice” from the Fantasia soundtrack. “My grandpa and I used to watch that movie


all the time and it’s been 15 years since he passed,” Scieszinski said. “I really wanted to skate to music that I could relate to personally. When I looked


(l-r) Michael Rubke, Charles Huang, Souvanthong Muangkhoua, Tam Bui


to love to skate, love your family and love your friends.”


An improvisational skater who coaches


himself, Bui, an individual member of U.S. Fig- ure Skating, competed in the U.S. Open in May, where he performed in aerial silk on ice. Less than a point behind Bui, Souvanthong


Muangkhoua, ISC of Fresno, earned the pewter medal with a performance that included a Walley jump into a double toe-single toe loop combina- tion.


QUICK SILVER SHOTS


JAY ADEFF/U.S. FIGURE SKATING QUICK SILVER SHOTS


JAY ADEFF/U.S. FIGURE SKATING


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68