Carriere Skates Away with Junior Men's Title
by Alexandra Stevenson  St. Louis – Stephen Carriere (SC of Boston) gave a glorious, vibrant, energetic showing of his four-minute free routine to “Once Upon A Time in Mexico” to claim the first gold medal awarded at the junior level at the 2006 State Farm U.S. Championships Tuesday evening at Savvis Center.
His beaming smile at the end of his routine said it all. This was his evening, and he rose from second after the short to win with a huge 12.72-point lead over Jordan Miller, who also advanced a place to finish with the silver medal.
“The whole week I have just been having so much fun,” said the 16-year-old Carriere, who is from Wakefield, Mass. “I think you have to have fun when you come to these things.”
Carriere was at the U.S. Championships last year at this level, but finished seventh.
“On Christmas Eve 2004, I developed an infection in my ankle, a bursa, so that was hard.
“Coming into it – as a second-year junior – I was saying to myself, ‘It has to be a good experience second year’. I was just a little hesitant in the short program. I did my best, but I really wanted to go for it in the long program, and I did that just the way I practice it.”
A factor in getting his stamina up is his running. Carriere’s time for the mile is 5:40.
“You have to slog through it, and it builds strength.”
Miller (SC of New York), 21, was delighted with his silver medal.
“I think (my age) takes the pressure off,” he said. “Because I was the oldest and this is my first trip (to nationals), we didn’t have any expectations. There was no pressure for me to go out there and perform. The entire goal all year was just to get to nationals and enjoy my time here. I think I was able to do that. With the proper training, it all just came together.”
Miller is in his eighth season as a junior, but it was his first time qualifying for the U.S. Championships.
His flamboyant showing, in an unusual spider’s
web costume, to “Green Tomatoes” by Rick Braun and “One More Night” by John Tesh and Phil Collins had lots of showmanship but less difficulty than Carriere’s.
Miller is nothing if not persistent. He stuck with the sport even though he broke his right elbow when five years ago he landed wrong trying to perform a double Axel. The injury left him with a huge scar and a plate and a screw in his arm.
“My coach then, Peter Burrows, stayed with me, even tying my shoes,” Miller said. “In the airport, even now if they have the security sensors set high, I set the alarms off.”
He has one ambition now.
“I want to do pairs again. So, I’m looking for a partner to do juniors.”
Geoffry Varner (Peninsula SC) sacrificed his initial lead of 4.18 with an ambitious routine set to “Conquest” and “The Last Samurai” that contained mistakes. He dropped to third overall but took his defeat well.
“I have never gone into the long being in first place. I have always been second or third. I usually skate really well,” Varner said. “It was just a little different feeling going into it being on top.
“I take this as a learning experience. I always learn from everything, even if it is great, even if it is horrible.”
The most stunning leap was staged by Daisuke Murakami (All Year FSC), who will be 15 five days from now. He advanced from 10th after the short to finish fourth overall with an enjoyable performance to “West Side Story.”
Craig Ratterree (Washington FSC), who came into the event as one of the favorites after a second-place last year, was fourth after the short but dropped to fifth overall.
Austin Kanallakan (Broadmoor SC), who, at 14, was the youngest competitor, was also expected to fare well, since he won a silver medal in this season’s Junior Grand Prix Final. He was fifth after the short but had one of those nightmare performances where just about everything seemed to go wrong and dropped to 13th.
Charlie White (Detroit SC) had to rush the 33 miles from the secondary Family Arena, where he and partner Meryl Davis took the lead after the original program, to SavvisCenter to skate in this event. He rose from 12th after the short to seventh overall.
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