by Michelle Wojdyla
(St. Charles, Mo., 1/9/06) - Novice pairs concluded today at Family Arena at the 2006 State Farm U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Twelve-year-old Jessica Rose Paetsch and 18-year-old Jon Nuss (
BroadmoorSC) extended their lead after the short program to capture the title. Andrea Best and Trevor Young (
Detroit SC) remained in second. Tracy Tanovich and Michael Chau (Southwest Florida FSC) moved up one spot for bronze. Meg Byrne and Nate Bartholomay (
Univ. of Delaware) fell one spot to fourth.
Paetsch and Nuss had the highest technical score, 42.30 and were the only team to reach the 50s, receiving 52.66 for components. Their total 94.92 – combined with their short program score for 139.39 – established the inaugural novice championship pairs benchmark at the U.S. Championships under the new judging system.
“I thought it went great,” Nuss said. “The twist I guess just set the tone for the rest of the program.”
Skating to “Sing, Sing, Sing,” Paetsch and Nuss opened with high energy and excellent speed. Their double twist looked high enough to have room for a triple, and it received all +1 and +2. Both throws, the double loop and double Salchow, were big with good flow on the landings and received positive GOEs of .5 and .36, respectively. They chose the unusual side-by-side double Lutz-double Salchow sequence as well as side-by-side double flips. A star lift that saw Paetsch rotate until her back was parallel to the ice drew gasps from the crowd and a level 3 from the judges. Their forward inside death spiral was rated a level 4.
With the exception of their spins, which still don’t have the unison they need, the program looked secure. The duo skates with confidence and nonstop attack.
“I bugged him [Nuss] for about two years and finally I said I have this little girl, she’s a dynamite skater, great singles skater, just try her out for a week,” said their coach Dalilah Sappenfield. “And he loved it. The rest is history. They have great chemistry and are great to work with.”
Best and Young, 17 and 18, respectively, were third in the free skate. They scored 39.10 for technical elements and 44.38 for components, with a –1 deduction for her fall on the second half of their double Lutz-double toe combination, giving them 82.48 total.
“We got all three lifts in the program, which is something we’ve struggled with in the past,” Young said. “One of the worst things we did was our side-by-side jumps, which are usually really good, but we struggled today.”
Performing to “Mask of Zorro,” Best and Young did attempt the most difficult side-by-side jump in the event, the double Axel, but he fell out and she touched down. She two-footed the throw triple Salchow, but the throw double flip was clean, receiving the base mark of 3.3. The highlights of their performance were the straight line footwork sequence, done very close to each other and in good unison, their level 3 twist and the level 4 death spiral.
Tanovich, only 9 years old, and her 15-year-old partner, Michael Chau, were second in the free with 38.29/47.74 for 86.03. This pulled them up to third overall. Their program to “SwanLake” came complete with delicately flapping arms by the precocious Tanovich, who doesn’t let age stand in the way of selling the ballet on ice.
The couple had high levels of difficulty, pulling 4s on their pair combination spin and forward inside death spiral, and level 3s on the majority of the remaining elements. The only major flaw was the side-by-side double loop-double loop sequence being downgraded to two single loops because of her cheated technique. Their highest single element was the level 3 lift that opened the program, receiving 5.93 points.
The pair joined forces about 18 months ago and are under the watchful eye of Kerry Leitch.
Meg Byrne and Nate Bartholomay tried the most difficult program of all the teams, but miscues cost them. A fluke fall on their death spiral netted zero points, and half the elements received negative GOEs. |