Butler and Jacobsen Lyrical in Junior Pairs Short Program
by Sandra Stevenson
 (St. Charles, Mo., 1/10/06) -
A fierce battle is taking place in the junior pairs championship with only six one hundredths of a point between the top three after the short program, promising a very exciting free skate on Thursday.
Last year’s silver medalists from the novice championship, Bianca Butler and Joseph Jacobsen (All Year FSC) hold the lead after a superbly graceful presentation to the “Pas de Deux” from Tchaikovsky’s dulcet ballet music for “The Nutcracker.”
The 5’3” Butler, 16, & 6’1” Jacobsen, who will be 19 on February 9, said they had benefited greatly from their international Junior Grand Prix assignments.
“It was a great experience,” Jacobsen said. “We went to Andorra and Japan and won medals and then were sixth in the final. That took some of the pressure off this event.”
Their coaches, former U.S. pairs champion Jenni Meno and her husband Todd Sand, said they had pushed their students to work on their posture and stretch.
“We want them to stand up and show off their line,” Meno said. “The program is not about one element. It’s about the overall impression.”
That certainly produced results.
But Kendra Moyle (Arctic FSC) & Andy Seitz (OnyxSkatingAcademy) are snapping at their heels in second after giving a slightly flawed presentation to “Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini” by Rachmaninov.
Unlike the leaders, who played safe with a throw double loop, which earned a plus 0.50 grade of execution, Moyle and Seitz dared the fates with a triple, and her skid landing was punished with a minus 1.40 GoE taken off the higher base value.
That meant Butler & Jacobsen earned 3.50 points for this element, while Moyle & Seitz received 3.60. But what if they had fallen? Then the risk of doing a triple would not have been worth it. Coaches are now having fierce debates over whether the system should reward playing it safe.
The blonde 5’1” Moyle, 15, has adapted well to her 5’8” partner, who turned 20 in December. They only teamed up last February after the dissolution of Seitz’ partnership with his sister Lindsey.
Undeterred, Lindsey found herself another partner. She and R.J. Westfall lie 11th of the 15 pairs.
“I wanted to go away to school and move away from home and spread my wings a little,” Andy said. “But I was out there today cheering for my sister.”
In third place are the most experienced team, Julia Vlassov & Drew Meekins (EliteTrainingAcademy), who were second in this event last year and gained the silver medals behind a Russian couple in the recent Junior Grand Prix Final.
“We’re not disappointed,” Meekins said. “It’s virtually a tie.”
They were very pleased they received a level 4 for their lift in which they rotated first one way and then the other. How had they got the idea to do this unusual and extremely difficult move?
“We read the rulebook,” Meekins said. “It’s down there in black and white. We’ve been working on it for quite a while.”
The only other pair to get a level 4 was Aaryn Smith & Will Chitwood (BroadmoorSC) but they sabotaged their hopes with a fall on what was classified as a single Lutz which resulted in a compulsory deduction of 1.0.
Smith & Chitwood are sixth. Kaela Pflumm (SC of New York) & Christopher Pottenger (Dallas FSC) are fourth, and Bridget Namioka (University of Delaware FSC) & John Coughlin (Silver Blades FSC of Greater KC) are fifth. |