U.S. Pacific Coast Sectional, 11/11-13, Escondido, CA

dlkksk8fan said:

2005 Pacific Coast Championships started today. I spent about 4 hours today watching the competition. I got to see the Novice Pairs, Novice Men & Jr Ladies short programs. I thought all of the competitors did great, not many falls and very good choreographed programs. A novice skater by the named of Richard Dornbush caught my attention.

For those of you that live in Southern CA, especially in the San Diego area I would recommend that you try and catch some of the competition. There are also some famous skaters that are there as coaches. I saw Peter Oppegard, Karen Kwan Oppegard, Todd Sand, Jenni Meno, Doug Ladret, & Sergei Ponomarenko. I know there were more but I didn't want to go chase them down

If anyone would like me to list Fri & Sat competitions let me know.

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I've started a new thread from your post, thanks! Novice Men's is just one event that should be fun to watch! Dornbush placed 5th at the Intermediate level at last year's Junior Nationals and is a natural performer!

USFS's results index page (all Thursday results now up) is at:
http://www.usfigureskating.org/event_details.asp?id=25528

Event schedule by day:
http://www.usfigureskating.org/content/events/200405/sectionals-PC/schedulebyday.pdf

Host club's site:
http://www.escondidofsc.org/

Senior events begin today (Friday) and the start orders are at:
http://www.usfigureskating.org/even...ents/200405/sectionals-pc/startingorders1.htm

Any additional reports, impressions, etc., from any of the events would be
appreciated!

Here's the link to Golden Skate's article on Yebin Mok that was published after SWP Regionals and details her struggles to overcome her injuries since the summer of 2003:
http://www.goldenskate.com/articles/2004/101904.shtml
It includes a summary of her Regionals performance last month and identifies Henrik Walentin(sp?) as the choreographer of her new free skate to "a harp concerto by Gliere and Carl Davis' The Wind."

I have my fingers crossed that she can "do enough" to qualify for 2005 Nationals!

I will be there today!

I will be cheering for Brian Simm, who was 2nd Intermediate at Junior Nationals last year. He is skating very well this year. Go Brian!

I will also be cheering for a new Senior Pair team of Simm-Matthews who are looking very strong! Go Lauren and Devin!

I can't wait!

Me, too!

sk8rpatty said:

I will be there today!

I will be cheering for Brian Simm, who was 2nd Intermediate at Junior Nationals last year. He is skating very well this year. Go Brian!

I will also be cheering for a new Senior Pair team of Simm-Matthews who are looking very strong! Go Lauren and Devin!

I can't wait!

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Hey! You noticed these guys? Me, too! There might be hope for pairs on the west coast compared to last year! Who coaches these skaters? Who coaches Brian Simm? Is there any relationship going on between the Simms or Simm-Matthews? Where do they train?

Brian and Lauren Simm are twins and they won the 2003 Juvenile pairs title together in 2003. For this season, Lauren teamed up with a new partner, Devin Matthews, and she is making her debut in senior pairs. Lauren will also be competing in Intermediate Ladies at Junior Nationals in December.

pipsqueak said:

Hey! You noticed these guys? Me, too! There might be hope for pairs on the west coast compared to last year! Who coaches these skaters? Who coaches Brian Simm? Is there any relationship going on between the Simms or Simm-Matthews? Where do they train?

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Their mom, Sherri Terando, who is my coach is their directing coach, but they work with others as well. Lauren and Devin are/were being coached by Jill Watson, who is now moving to AZ. I'm not sure when. I believe there was another thread on this forum regarding her move along with John & Rena.

They train at Disney, Aliso & Paramount.

A friend of mine passed along these brief jump notes to me late last night (corrections/additions welcomed)...

Senior Ladies SP (top 10 of 12):
1. Beatrisa Liang [Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone] - 3F-2T,
3T, 2A
2. Yebin Mok [The Swan] - 3S(wild/swingy but held on), 3T-2T, 2A
3. Stephanie Rosenthal [Pink Panther] - nice 3T-2T, 3S, 2A
4. Amy Evidente [music?] - 3T(lean)-2T, 3S, 2A
5. Shanell Noji [Cirque du Soleil] - 3Z(2-ft)-hop-2T, 3T(2-ft/fall),
2A(crooked in air but nice landing)
6. Felicia Beck [Zorba the Greek] - 3Z(fall), 3F(fall), 2A(underrot.)
7. Sydne Vogel [music?] - 3T(came out forward), 3S, 2A(big)
8. Joan Cristobal [Exotica/Cirque du Soleil] - 2A(slow), 3S-2T, 3Z
(underrot. and step out)
9. Christina Gordon [music?] - 2A(big), 3T(fall), 3Lp(fall)
10. Erin Reed [A League of Their Own] - 3S(fall), 3T(fall), 2A(turn
out)
My friend preferred Mok's skate to Liang's, thought Noji had nice
spins and spirals, enjoyed Beck's energy and presentation, and liked
Gordon's and Reed's overall skating in spite of the jump mistakes.

Senior Men SP (top 9 of 12):
1. Nicholas LaRoche [Time to Say Goodbye] - 3A(spun/fell out), 3Z-3T
(step out), 3F
2. Pierre Balian - 3A-2T, 3T, 2A
3. Daniel Steffel - 3Z-2T, 3F, 2A
4. Jordan Wilson - 3A(high), 3F or T?-2T, 3Lp(lean)
5. Michael Villarreal - 3F-3T(fall), 2A, 3Z
6. Christopher Toland [Spanish piece] - 3Z-2T, 3F, 2A(came out F)
7. Sean Calvillo [Spiderman] - 3Z-2T, 2A, 3F(fall)
8. Michael Sasaki - 2A(big), 3Z(turn out), 3F
9. Justin Dillon - 3F, popped 1A, 3Z(fall)

Results index page:
http://www.usfigureskating.org/event_details.asp?id=25528

If anyone else can share reports/notes/impressions from any of the events, please do so!

went to see them

sk8rpatty said:

. Lauren and Devin are/were being coached by Jill Watson, I believe there was another thread on this forum regarding her move along with John & Rena.

They train at Disney, Aliso & Paramount.

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I went to see the the long. John and Rena were cheering them on, along with a hundred others. This team skated the pairs long of night ( only ones who were clean) and brought the house down. Very special. I don't know, they have something different that the others don't. I don't know how to describe it. Everyone else shows up year after year with the same junior program, or senior program, and they are interchangeable, no matter the music. But, these guys have some special style thing going on. You just get pulled into their performance. For starters, they are balletic and have much more stretch and finishing of movements than the others. When they do a triple throw, for instance, it looks gentle and effortless, instead of the huge, frantic, heaving style of most. Same with the split twist. She floats in the air and he actually takes her back into his hands while she's still airborne, and then sets her down. No crashing, no slowing of the stoking or movement on the ice. Steady and seamless. They remind me of some other past pair and I can't remember who yet. I'll think on it. I was a pairs fan years ago, then went more for singles for a long time, ice dancing for about 2 years, and now I'm back to pairsfan.

Thanks for this thread Sylvia, Pipsqeak and Patty. This is the most exciting part of the sport, to me.

Disappointing start for Felicia Beck.

Patty, welcome to Golden Skate!

Mathman

BEBE'S BACK AND ALL JUDGES AGREE

Beck and Vogel did not skate too well.

Nicholas LaRoche won over Christopher Toland who had a nip and tuck for second place with Jordan Wilson. I think the Americans are building up a strong men's division for 2010.

Joe

Surprising that Stephanie Rosenthal beat out Yebin Mok for 2nd place! I remember Stephanie from last yr's nationals. She didn't have a lutz, so got pretty low scores, but she had tons of charisma; the crowd loved her. Looking forward to seeing all of them in Portland.

Thanks for the report Pipsqueak!! I was unable to make it down last night. Lauren's mom called me last night to tell me how well they did. She was so excited. I will share your comments with her, I'm sure she will enjoy reading it!

Senior Ladies FS & final results:
1. 1 1 Beatrisa Liang, All Year FSC 1.5
2. 3 2 Stephanie Rosenthal, Utah FSC 3.5
3. 2 3 Yebin Mok, All Year FSC 4.0
4. 5 4 Shanell Noji, All Year FSC 6.5
5. 4 5 Amy Evidente, Peninsula SC 7.0
6. 7 6 Sydne Vogel, Anchorage FSC 9.5
7. 8 7 Joan Cristobal, Peninsula SC 11.0
8. 6 9 Felicia Beck, All Year FSC 12.0
9. 10 8 Erin Reed, Wasatch FSC 13.0
10. 12 10 Sierra Dickens, Sun Valley FSC 16.0
11. 11 11 Erica Aden, Tri-Cities FSC 16.5
12. 9 12 Christina Gordon, Fairbanks FSC 16.5

Notes for the top 9 senior ladies free skates from my very exhausted friend in the wee hours of Sunday morning...

1. Beatrisa Liang - Outside spread eagle to 2A, 3F-2T, 3T-2T, 3S(fall), 3F(fall), 2Z(tentative), split jump-falling leaf-2T, spiral sequence that ended with a back Charlotte, final combo spin of camel to FO edge to catch foot to back sit-pancake-rise to vertical Y. Well-choreographed program that showcased her musicality, the music had character (but my friend couldn't remember the kind of music it was -- her USFSA bio says it's "Black Earth," Tango (Pezziola/Piazzola?). Still no loop attempts in her program.

2. Stephanie Rosenthal [Cuban program] - 3T(fall), 2Z(sat down), 2A-2T, 3S-2T, 3T, 1A; straightline footwork had a lot of character, and her innovative spins included a camel spin with both legs bent that was held for a long time and a final combo spin of camel-back camel-pancake-half Biellmann. My friend remarked that while Stephanie is a very good dancer, this program, in her opinion, had almost "too much choreo" (including lots of arm movements) that detracts somewhat from the skating (speed and flow) in the program and adds challenge to land all the planned jumps. But she gives her credit for originality! And, as "sk8fanconvert" mentioned above, Stephanie skates with a lot of charisma!

3. Yebin Mok [Gliere harp concerto; Carl Davis "The Wind"] - 2Z, 3T(step out)-falling leaf-2T, 2Lp(foot down), flying camel to forward inside edge(nice), 3T(hand down), 3S(tentative), layback(nice), camel to forward outside edge-half Biellmann-back sit, 2F(fall), 1A, combo spin to end. My friend thought she looked slow and tentative and lacked energy tonight. Considering she has lost so much training time this year due to injury, just qualifying for Nationals is an accomplishment!

4. Shanell Noji ["Titanic" and "Legends of the Fall" soundtracks] - 2S, 3Z(underrot./not close), 3T-2T, flying camel(fast), 2A, layback into Biellmann, 3Z(more underrot. than 1st/fall), 3T?, 1A, good Russian split jump, straightline footwork, final spin combo ended with back scratch.

5. Amy Evidente [many different cuts of music, including Cirque du Soleil?] - 3T(2-ft. & step out), 2Z, 3S(2-ft. & step out), 3T-falling leaf-2T, 3S(2-ft. & forward landing), 2A-falling leaf-2T, 2A, flying camel(huge wobble then got it spinning). The audience was very supportive of her and were excited and energized when she landed a pretty decent 3Z in the warmup (may have been the best attempt of the night by a senior lady, in fact).

6. Sydne Vogel [music?] - 3Z(underrot./2-ft.), 3T-2T(good speed), 2A, outside-inside-outside spread eagles, 3S(lean forward), circular footwork with split jump had good ice coverage, 2F, 2A, 2Z; good final combo spin with back scratch. My friend thought she skated pretty well overall.

7. Joan Cristobal [edgy new-age music with a jungle beat] - 2A(underot.?), 3Z(underot.)-2T, 2F(underot.)-falling leaf-2T, Ina Bauer to 3S-2T, layback(nice), 2Lp, good spirals, 3Z(2-ft. & came out forward), 3S(step out). Started off well but lost energy toward end.

8. Erin Reed ["Cider House Rules," "The Ocean" by Savatage, and "Boon Ba Ya Ya" by Abraxas Pool] - 2A(nice), 3S-2T, 3T(2-ft. & landed forward), flying camel to catchfoot donut(nice), good change of edge spiral, 1.5A(came out forward), 2.5Lp, 3S(fall), 2Z-stag falling leaf(neat)-2T, good Russian split jump. My friend also noted her circular footwork had good energy.

9. Felicia Beck ["A Night on Bald Mountain" and "In the Hall of the Mountain King"] - 3Z(fall), 3Lp(fall), 1A, 2F, 3S(fall), 1A, 2Z. Highlights were her "incredible" catchfoot spiral that changed edge from forward inside to outside and her layback-catchfoot camel-Biellmann spin combo.

Senior Men final results:
1. 1 1 Nicholas LaRoche, All Year FSC 1.5
2. 6 2 Christopher Toland, Glacier Falls FSC 5.0
3. 4 3 Jordan Wilson, Santa Rosa FSC 5.0
4. 3 5 Daniel Steffel, Peninsula SC 6.5
5. 2 8 Pierre Balian, All Year FSC 9.0
6. 11 4 Brendyn Hatfield, Seattle SC 9.5
7. 9 6 Justin Dillon, St. Moritz ISC 10.5
8. 8 7 Michael Sasaki, South Bay FSC 11.0
9. 5 9 Michael Villarreal, All Year FSC 11.5
10. 7 10 Sean Calvillo, All Year FSC 13.5
11. 10 11 Casey Sullivan, Eugene FSC 16.0
12. 12 12 Daniel Nam, Lakewood Winter Club 18.0

FS notes (top 3):
1. Nicholas LaRoche - 3A(swingy landing), 3Lp, 3Z-3T(came out forward), 2S-2T, 3F(turn out), back lunge into 3Z. My friend thought his choreography could be improved; she likes his skating.

2. Christopher Toland - 3Z(step out)-turns-3T, 2A(big), 3F, 3Lp(no flow), nice straightline footwork(got applause), fast flying camel(more applause), 3S, 3F-turns-3T, outside spread eagle, 3Z(right on music), death drop to fast back sit. My friend thinks he has good potential and presentation.

3. Jordan Wilson - 3A-3T(turn out), 3F, 3Z, popped toe or flip, 3Lp, 3A(step out), 3S.

4. Brendyn Hatfield - no notes (finished 6th overall after being 11th in SP)
5. Daniel Steffel - no notes (finished 4th overall)
9. Michael Villarreal apparently was injured and stopped his program in the middle before resuming and finishing it.

Senior Pairs final results:
1. 1 1 Stephanie Kuban, Broadmoor SC
Laureano Ibarra, All Year FSC 1.5
2. 2 2 Julian Burns, Capital City FSC
Themistocles Leftheris, Los Angeles FSC 3.0
3. 3 3 Marisa Sharma, Los Angeles FSC
Amir Ganaba, Los Angeles FSC 4.5
4. 6 4 Lauren-Marie Simm, Glacier Falls FSC
Devin Matthews, St. Moritz ISC 7.0
5. 4 5 Christie Baca, Orange County FSC
Steven Pottenger, Dallas FSC 7.0
6. 5 6 Jacqueline Matson, Glacier Falls FSC
Jason Heffron, FSC of Rockford 8.5
7. 7 7 Lindsay Rogeness, Los Angeles FSC
Brian Rogeness, Los Angeles FSC 10.5

FS notes:
My friend only saw the final group of 4 pairs and thought that Kuban/Ibarra's unison, Burns/Leftheris' jumps and Sharma/Ganaba's lifts could be combined to form one great pair! She thought the top 3 pairs all show potential and was impressed when I told her they were all first-year pair teams.

1. Stephanie Kuban/Larry Ibarra - nice height on throw 3Lp, also landed a throw 3S, sbs jumps were 2A which she landed but he stepped forward out of both attempts, nice unison in the sbs spins and good pair spin.

2. Julian Burns/Themi Leftheris - landed a good sbs 3S, double or triple twist? big fall in corner on footwork, fall on throw 3S, nice lift, she came out forward on second sbs 3S-falling leaf-2T(she did it but he didn't), throw 2Lp, sbs spin(out of sync.), star lift, pair spin(labored).

3. Marisa Sharma/Amir Ganaba - high twist lift(not sure if double or triple), sbs 3S(she 2-fted), big throw 3S(hand down), nice lift with position changes, nice death spiral, double jumps sequence clean, throw 2Lp(high), sbs spins(off-sync.), nice lift(he on one foot, she in inverted stag position), footwork had good speed, nice pair spin, one-handed lift near end.

4. Lauren Simm/Devin Matthews - no notes (skated in 1st group). See report by "pipsqeak" above on their great performance to pull up and qualify for Nationals!

5. Christie Baca/Steven Pottenger - they were off-unison on but landed? both 2A attempts (2nd was a 2A-falling leaf-2T sequence), throw 2S(high) and throw 2T, lifts seemed simple (2 hands).

Junior Ladies final results:
1. 1 1 Sandra Jean Rucker, All Year FSC 1.5
2. 2 2 Tenile Victorsen, Los Angeles FSC 3.0
3. 3 4 Margaret Wang, Peninsula SC 5.5
4. 7 3 Crystal Shum, Glacier Falls FSC 6.5
5. 4 5 Jessica Lee, St. Moritz ISC 7.0
6. 6 6 Molly Clingan, Glacier Falls FSC 9.0
7. 5 8 Jessica Leatham, Lakewood Winter Club 10.5
8. 8 7 Lindsey Wilson, Lakewood Winter Club 11.0
9. 9 9 Victoria Muniz, Vaca Valley FSC 13.5
10. 11 10 Kimmi Jeffers, Fairbanks FSC 15.5
11. 10 11 Kristina Struthwolf, Utah FSC 16.0
12. 12 12 Valerie Green, Fairbanks FSC 18.0

Junior Ladies FS notes (top 4) as dictated from my friend at the rink:
1. Sandra Rucker - 3Lp, 3Z, 2F, 3S, 3Z(underrot./2-fted)-falling leaf-2T, 2A(lost edge after landing and fell), good speed in circular footwork, 2Lp. Good jumps. This will be 17-year-old Sandy's 2nd trip to Nationals as a junior (she was 9th in 2003). She is coached by Tammy Gambill.

2. Tenile Victorsen - 3S(lost landing edge/fell), 3T, 2A(came out forward), 3T-2T(wobbly), 2Z, 3S(good speed), split-falling leaf-2F?orT? to 2T sequence. Fast! Good flexibility and nice spins. She is coached by Peter Oppegard and she was 7th in novice at 2004 Nationals.

3. Crystal Shum - 3T, 3S, 2A (all huge jumps, just flying into them), 3T-2T(wobble), 2Z-2T, 2F, 3S, 3T(lean); good flexibility, nice spiral sequence. She placed 8th in novice at 2004 Nationals.

4. Margaret Wang - 2A-2T(big), 3T-2T, 3Lp(underrot.), 3S, 2A, 3T, 2Z-falling leaf-2T. This will be her first trip to senior nationals.

Junior Men final results:
1. 1 1 Douglas Razzano, Coyotes SC of Arizona 1.5
2. 2 2 Princeton Kwong, Peninsula SC 3.0
3. 4 3 Michael Peters, Peninsula SC 5.0
4. 5 4 Geoffry Varner, Peninsula SC 6.5
5. 3 6 Jordan Miller, Jackson Hole FSC 7.5
6. 6 5 Daisuke Murakami, All Year FSC 8.0
7. 9 7 Michael Novales, Orange County FSC 11.5
8. 7 8 Laithe Al-Zubi, Coyotes SC of Arizona 11.5
9. 8 9 Steven Pottenger, Dallas FSC 13.0
10. 10 10 Jeffrey Hamilton, Peninsula SC 15.0
11. 12 11 Michael Dimalanta, Vaca Valley FSC 17.0
12. 11 12 Bilal Kheir, Peninsula SC 17.5

Junior Men FS notes (top 4):
1. Douglas Razzano - 2A(easy with good distance), 3T-2T(easy), 3Z-2T(close to boards), flying camel, footwork into 3F, outside spread eagle, 3Lp, combo spin, 3S-2T(not much flow out), 3Z, walley-walley to 2A(good speed), death drop? to back scratch.
I think he wanted to prove himself here because he just missed out on a JGP assignment this fall (he was 5th in novice at 2004 Nationals, won the junior gold at Triglav Trophy in April 2004, and placed 7th in the NACS junior men's event in Waterloo in August). He is 16 years old and coached by Doug Ladret.

2. Princeton Kwong - 3Z(high)-falling leaf-3T sequence, 3F-2T, 3S-2T, 3Z, 3Lp, 2A, 3F, 2A(step out). My friend thought his speed and ice coverage was not as good as Razzano's. Jumps were really secure -- he takes his time and has nice air position. She also thought his overall line, extension and spins could be improved more (he did hold out a flying camel).
Coached by Sergei Ponomarenko, Kwong is the 2004 novice national champ, won the NACS junior men's gold in Waterloo and 2 JGP bronze medals this fall (3rd alternate to the JGP Final). And he turns 15 today!

3. Michael Peters - 3A(step out), 3Lp, 3Z(2-fted)-2T(step back), 2A, 3F(2-fted), 3T-2T, 3S(big), good circular footwork though had a wobble in it.

4. Geoffry Varner - 3F-falling leaf-3T, 3Z-2T, 2A, 2Lp, 2Z, 3S,
walley to 3T to 2T sequence, 1A(pop).

Pacific Costs results index page: www.usfsa.org/event_details.asp?id=25528

My friend didn't see any Junior Pairs and Dance, so if anyone has notes and/or impressions on those events to share, please do so. More details on the Senior and Junior men's and ladies' events (and any other events anyone might have seen) would also be welcomed.

pictures

Dave Amorde, the official photographer for Coasts, has begun posting pictures from this competition at http://my-photos-online.com

Events from days one and two are up; the final day's stuff should be up by very late tonight.

What an awesome event! I'm guess I'm probably one of only two people who saw the every skater - myself and the video cameraman!

Stephanie Rosenthal rocked in both events. She had the most difficult choreography by far, and more importantly, had complete command of it. If her jump content had been a bit stronger, she would have won the event easily.

I hope to be able to write a complete report soon. I'm still trying to finish editing, as well as getting some sleep.

Stephanie Rosenthal rocked in both events

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Dave ITA with you. Both her short and long programs were the best choreographed routines of the night.

I also thought the free dance of Alisa Allapach & Benjaman Westenberger rocked the house too.