Photography by Ann Jensen
Jeremy Abbott
Adam Baadani
Wesley Campbell
Robert Dierking
Evan Gibbs
Luis Hernandez
Casey McCraw
Mark McLeod
Michael Novales
John Serpe
Geoffrey Varner
David Weintraub
Jason Wong
Michael Dimalanta
SP: 12th
Double axel. Single loop. Looked like he was trying a triple toe -- was short about 1/2 revolution, then stepped out of it and did a double toe. Did a nice flying sit spin.
FS: 3 Final:6
Fell on a 3 lutz attempt. Did a nice 2 axel and a 2 axel-2 toe combo. Double loop. 3 sal-3 toe. 3 toe-2toe. almost got all 3 revolutions of a solo 3 toe. He was a fast an efficient stroker. And he has a very cute smile. I enjoyed this skate. Gets a lot of distance on the jumps too.
SP: 6th
Double axel, wild in the air. Triple flip? - double toe. Arms seemed to have a life of their own at times.
FS: 8 Final: 8
Ok. So both his short and long said they were from Waterworld.....I know he did one 2 axel; there may have been a second. There was a triple which I have noted as a lutz, combined with a roughly landed 2 toe. Did a triple loop? Popped an attempted triple toe. I have a note by a 3 sal that says "toe pick" I think he landed way up on it. And I have a double flip. He did a couple of VERY short Spirals which showed great promise.
SP: 5th
Landed the double axel, then had sort of an odd swing out of the free leg. Triple lutz-double toe. Double loop. Flying sit was a little rough, but made the revolutions. Program had really nice choreography, and Wesley performed it well.
FS: 4 Final: 4
Wesley had a very bad looking fall in the warm up - skidded off an edge & went chest down into the ice. Looked rattled a bit, but pulled himself together. Did 2 double axels. Fell on the 3 lutz attempt. Did a 3 flip. Was short of rotation on the loop...like almost a full rotation.... Stepped out of the 3 toe. He did another Lutz, but I wasn't sure it was a triple. I suppose given he was 4th it must have been. He had a nice dramatic skate. I remember Wesley from a couple of years ago - I liked his style then & still do.
SP: 3rd
Double axel. Triple lutz-double toe. Double loop. All of the spins were solid. A very good skate.
FS: 1 Final:1
Danger Will Robinson - this kid is definitely blasting his way through the ranks. He had an amazing skate to Henry IV (Paul Wylie Bonus Points). Two double axels, one in combination with a double toe, which was followed by a double loop. Triple sal-double toe. Triple lutz with a roughly landed double toe. Double flip. Triple sal. Triple toe that was two-footed and slightly cheated.
SP: 9th
Triple toe, step out, double toe. Double loop. Double axel. Nice spins.
FS: 2 Final 3
Triple lutz. Double flip. Triple loop. Triple sal-double toe. Double toe-triple toe (two footed). Double axel-double toe. Single toe. Had a beautiful position on his camel, but it was a little slow. Evan's lutz was probably the nicest one of this evening -- very solid and clean.
SP: 4th
Double loop. Triple toe-triple toe. Fell on double axel. Really great, fast footwork and spins.
FS: 7 Final: 7
Well, I guess I can stop wondering when the curse would strike Luis. Suffice it to say this was not a good skate. He did do two double axels and a lutz-toe combo, but I believe the lutz was a double. I know he fell on the flip and the triple toe attempt. After that, everything sort of went black. Ah well, it's the start of another season. I really loved this program. Luis expressed the music really well.
SP: 2nd
Skated to JFK wearing what looked like a costume from "March of the Wooden Soldier". I'll have to assume he did a lutz-toe and an axel. I only saw the double loop because we were all hungry and cranky and ordering lunch from the person who was going out for us.
FS: 6 Final: 5
All right, in spite of the fact that he was wearing yet another inexplicable costume (black with a huge cross, like he was skating to "The Mission", but he was skating to "Lincoln portrait"), I did pay close attention, and he is really quite an impressive skater. Extremely nice line, very fast skating. His jumps did give him a little trouble today, though. He was too far forward on the double axel, and fell off the toe. Did the same with his triple flip. Put a hand down on a triple lutz. Was short of rotation, two-footed, and fell out of the triple loop, and only made it about 2 and 1/2 around on a triple sal. His combination spin was superb, and I really very much enjoyed his skate.
SP: 13th
Wade and I loved this boy's skating in the warmup. He was fast, he was confident, his shoulders and hips had beautiful alignment in his jumps. We just knew he was going to win this thing. He did a double loop. He fell on the axel. He fell on the toe loop. Wade and I are very sorry to have accidentally cursed this fine young skater.
FS: 11 Final: 12
A very cautious skate. Two double axels. He two-footed the following jumps: 3-lutz, 3-sal, two separate 3-toes. He did land a 2-flip-2 toe, but he two-footed the toe and put his hand down.
SP: 7th
Double axel landed very far forward. Some triple (from where he placed, probably not the lutz) into a double toe. A double loop that seemed to just barely skim over the top of the ice. His spins were weak, but he has really lovely posture.
FS: 10 Final: 9
A nice high 2-axel, and another one in combination with the 2-toe. 3-toe-2-toe combo. 3-sal. 3-sal-double loop (looked like there was a little cheating in the middle). Stepped out of a flip. There were two attempts at lutzes. One turned into a sort of 2-flutz, and I'm not certain how many revolutions the other had.
SP: 8th
Well, I really liked this kid. He had a beautiful arch to his back. Very fun choreography to "Top Hat". He did an actual spiral, a double axel, popped a triple sal, and did a single toe after it. Sigh.
FS: Withdrew
Richmond Times Dispatch 1/10/2002
A groin injury necessitated Richmond's Jay Serpe's withdrawl from this past
weekend's United States Figure Skating Championships in Los Angeles.
Shortly after completing the short program, Serpe reported a pain in the groin-muscle
area. During an evening long-program practice later that night, pain in the
region cut short the practice and the medical teams at the site intervened.
Doctors at the championships strongly advised him not to skate in the long program,
thus preventing further injury.
Serpe will be unable to jump for up to a month.
Withdrew
SP: 11th
He managed to get about 2 and 3/4 revolutions out of the lutz and two-footed it, but still managed to tack on a double toe. Double axel. 1.75 loop. Really nice split jump. Spins were OK. Basic skating was a little slow.
FS: 9 Final: 10
2-axel-2-toe. 2-axel. 2.75-lutz combined with a squeaked out 2-toe. He put his hand down on a sal, then popped into either a single or double toe. Did a solo 3-sal, and another that was two-footed. He did a nice back spiral-hydroblade Ina Bauer combination that I really liked. He was skating to Carmen (ugh). He looked like he was getting tired when the music got frantic, but he recovered for a very strong ending.
SP: 1st
Double axel. Triple lutz-double toe. Double loop. Skated to Kodo Drums, and as the drums banged an ending in perfect time, he pounded his fist in the air and shouted "Yes!". As the first skater out of the gate, he really got our hopes up. This was a superb skate.
FS: 5 Final: 2
I love this kid's jump technique. Like Tim Goebel, he gets up in the air and seems to have a sort of magic hang time before whipping off the revolutions. He has confident, fast entries into his jumps, and gives you a real feeling of confidence to watch him. Double axel-2 toe. Fell on the 3 lutz. 3 sal. 3 toe with a slight two-foot. 3 sal-2 toe. 2 axel which he landed, but didn't hold the check -- it popped open, and he fell.
SP: 10th
Double axel. Almost fell on his flying sit spin. Did a very nice Ina Bauer. I lost track of what his combination was, but he didn't fall, and he did the double loop.
FS: 12 Final: 11
He had a lot of hand movements in the beginning of his program, then the jumps started to give him trouble, and he cut back on them a lot.. 1 axel. Popped a sal. Did a loop that I don't think got all the way around, and put the other foot immediately down. Put his hand down on the 3 toe. Did a 2 lutz-2 toe. Popped a toe that I assume was another attempt at the triple. Had a rough flying sit-spin, but a nice camel-sit combo, and a nice scratch spin, and got big bonus points from me for doing both an Ina Bauer and a spread eagle.
Home Links Editorials Past Events Order Photos Send Ann Mail
Last updated: January 12, 2002 0:31 AM