Liberty 2007 news & results

[Sylvia]

Are any of these skaters being shown on youtube? There are several I would like to check on.

These are "amateur" videos and a few more should be posted eventually.

Oh my god i didn't realise that Vanessa James was skating pairs with Hamish Gaman. Are they training in the US? Have they just got together over the summer? I take it (since she was also competing in singles) that she will continue to skate in the singles event at British Nationals too?

They are a brand new team and are training in Newark, Delaware with Vanessa's singles coaches who also coach pairs (Karl Kurtz and Priscilla Hill). Vanessa also competed in the Senior Ladies SP at Liberty.

 

[layman]

Patrick Chan is Canadian, is he not?

 

[Sylvia]

Yes, Chan is Canadian. It was great to see him skate at Liberty for the first time! He's scheduled to be at Skate America and TEB in France.

Just passing this link along...

Typed up some notes, mostly on the senior men's freestyle, here:

www.voiceless.com/skating

Patrick Chan was the star of the event! I also enjoyed seeing Rohene skate. Both had amazing choreography and musicality.

 

[Sylvia]

Reposting the following from the Zhulin interview thread...

Joe:
We had the chance to see Rippon's SP and LP and Flatt's LP at Liberty this past weekend, and saw some of the flow/rhythm that you are talking about. Adam just "oozes" in his programs. And Rachael was really beginning to get into her LP music (a great piano concerto we must add) when unfortunately, there was a problem with the CD, and she had to go grab another copy of her music and wait for music player to restart her music at the point it skipped. With that said, she immediately got right back into the music with a headless back entry into a 3Lz.... and just kept on building to the end. Anxious to watch both her SP and LP continue to develop this season.

Rythm to us not only includes the body language but also the effortlessness of including jumping passes within the context of the music...seemingly connecting each element so that you are drawn not only into the program but drawn along with the skater, feeling what they feel as they skate IN the music, not just TO the music.

We were around until late Sat evening when the Jr men's event finally ended and snuck into Rink 3 to watch some of the assessment sessions that were going on for the kids who had already rec'd fall international assignments. Sylvia was there as well and she may have more notes on which she observed, but Joe Inman, Wendy Enzman was there, Cathy Casey, Mitch Moyer and several USFS judges giving feedback to each skater and their coaches as they went through sections of both their SP and LP. And we saw some great moments from many skaters as they worked through their programs, despite the fact that many of these kids had just skated their LP earlier in the day or that evening. Might want to have Sylvia post her thoughts here on what she observed.

Sylvia didn't take any notes at this session because she was really, really tired and was just content to watch quietly from the corner. I do think that this kind of coordinated, organized assessment by USFS has been long overdue for their senior and junior international skaters, and hope it can and will benefit them in both the short and long term.

 

[antmanb]

They are a brand new team and are training in Newark, Delaware with Vanessa's singles coaches who also coach pairs (Karl Kurtz and Priscilla Hill). Vanessa also competed in the Senior Ladies SP at Liberty.

Thanks for the info Sylvia. I'll be sure to look out for them at the British!

Ant

 

[GoldMedalist]

I'm really happy for Abbott landing the Quad/Triple combo! That's a big step for him.

 

[kittyjake5]

Thank you Sylvia-you are the best!!!

 

[Sylvia]

Nah, it's all the hard-working and talented skaters that are "the best", IMHO, and make Liberty a wonderful summer competition to attend as a spectator, year after year!

Published today on the USFS site:

Photos from the 2007 Liberty Summer Competition - which was held last weekend at IceWorks Skating Complex in Aston, Pa., and featured approximately 35 U.S. Team Envelope skaters - are now available online. Check back to U.S. Figure Skating Online in the coming days for a recap of the senior events.

Link is: http://usfigureskating.org/event_details.asp?id=38167

 

[Nigel]

Additional write up by USFS is now posted at:
http://www.usfigureskating.org/event_story.asp?id=39093

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

It had to have been a super competition.

What I think it serves is that these kids will not get the showy Cheesefests to try out their new routines and Liberty comes to the rescue for them to tweak what is necessary and maybe work hard on what's a problem. :thumbsup::thumbsup:

Joe

 

[Sylvia]

A few more videos from Liberty have been uploaded to youtube...

SENIOR MEN FS

Patrick Chan, 1st in FS - 130.71 (TES 67.69/PCS 63.02):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VL-1v5UgNoY

Douglas Razzano, 2nd in FS - 107.94 (60.54/49.40):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyfLZBpR1Hc

Jeremy Abbott, 3rd in FS - 101.85 (50.97/53.88)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4VqKKJ4rOc

Rohene Ward, 4th in FS - 100.61 (47.09/55.52):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXrWuk_gGuw

SENIOR PAIRS FS (only 2 teams competed)

Keauna McLaughlin/Rockne Brubaker, 1st in FS - 97.13 (52.83/44.30)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnNvLfpvvXM

Amanda Evora/Mark Ladwig FS, 2nd in FS - 94.87 (53.17/41.70):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNFnsL9AJSs

And one more Senior Men's SP -- Italy's Fabio Mascarello (11th place), an "OES [ = Obscure European Skater] with a weird classical remix" :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Vr4m72CpGY

 

[Arianne]

Just watched Rohene's free skate. Looks like he had a really terrible fall on the triple flip. His 3 axel looked great though. I really like this skater a lot. He is so unique and his flexability is amazing. He seemed really slow in this program. Did you think so too? If he could add speed and intensity, it would add a lot to his artistry. I hope he can make it to nationals again this year. Who will he have to go against in midwesterns to qualify?

 

[Arianne]

I looked up the results from last years midwestern sectionals. Here are the results:

1 Ryan Bradley 133.29 68.53 65.76 6.69 6.31 6.75 6.44 6.69 1.00 #6
2 Jeremy Abbott 132.16 63.52 68.64 6.75 6.81 6.88 6.88 7.00 0.00 #9
3 Parker Pennington 131.85 68.59 63.26 6.38 6.19 6.56 6.19 6.31 0.00 #8
4 Braden Overett 130.36 60.34 70.02 6.88 6.75 7.19 7.00 7.19 0.00 #7
5 Wesley Campbell 118.99 60.47 58.52 5.88 5.69 6.00 5.81 5.88 0.00 #5
6 Rohene Ward 108.96 48.32 62.64 6.38 6.00 6.25 6.25 6.44 2.00 #10
7 Michael Peters 105.93 51.29 55.64 5.69 5.50 5.44 5.75 5.44 1.00 #3
8 Ben Woolwine 88.35 39.71 48.64 5.00 4.88 4.75 4.88 4.81 0.00 #1
9 Casey McCraw 85.57 41.19 46.38 4.94 4.56 4.44 4.75 4.50 2.00 #4
10 Michael Lueck 60.79 22.29 38.50 3.81 3.88 3.75 4.00 3.81 0.00 #2

Ryan Bradley, and Jeremy Abbot already have a bye to nationals, so this would make Rohene's chances of making nationals pretty strong!

 

[Sylvia]

Just watched Rohene's free skate. Looks like he had a really terrible fall on the triple flip. His 3 axel looked great though. I really like this skater a lot. He is so unique and his flexability is amazing. He seemed really slow in this program. Did you think so too? If he could add speed and intensity, it would add a lot to his artistry.

Yes, my friend and I both thought Rohene started off skating with tremendous power and speed but slowed noticeably in the second half (hopefully he will improve his stamina as the season progresses) -- see my friend's review of the senior men's free skates posted on page 2: http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/showpost.php?p=256634&postcount=27
Liberty was the debut of his new "Dragon" program, so he needs to get more mileage on it.

I looked up the results from last years midwestern sectionals. Here are the results:
<snip>
Ryan Bradley, and Jeremy Abbot already have a bye to nationals, so this would make Rohene's chances of making nationals pretty strong!

Also, Parker Pennington has moved to the Eastern section (he's switched to Washington FSC when he relocated to train in Virginia earlier this summer). In addition, we'll have to wait and see if all three of the '07 Nationals junior men's medalists are moving up to senior -- Eliot Halverson, Brandon Mroz and Austin Kanallakan -- and/or how many of them end up qualifying for the JGP Final, thereby receiving a bye through Mids to '08 Nationals.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

Sylvia - Of course there are no lists of entrants for the US Nats at the moement, but those who will get a bye are: Weir, Lysacek, Abbott, Bradley, Smith and Carriere. Is this correct?

Pennington, Overett, and Ward must go through the Regs and Sects. Is this correct?

Mroz, Kanalakan, Halverson, and Steenberg may get a bye if they podium on the JGP. Otherwise they go through the Regs and Sects. Is this correct?

The 12 podium plus 4 Fouth place finishers who ever they are will be on their way to the Nats. Is this correct?

Last question: Does US Nats have a cap on the number of entrants?

Joe

 

[netnuts]

thanks

Thanks Sylvia for the video link. This is the first time I got the chance to see Amanda Evora/Mark Ladwig. Wow, they really have very unique style, original move and creative elements. Too bad the technique of their big items such as throw jumps and sbs jumps is not solid.

I want to see more of them even I know they may never be very competitive at world stage.

 

[ElFuego]

Sylvia - Of course there are no lists of entrants for the US Nats at the moement, but those who will get a bye are: Weir, Lysacek, Abbott, Bradley, Smith and Carriere. Is this correct?

Not exactly. Lycasek, Bradley, Weir, Abbott, and Smith have an automatic bye because of their Nationals finish.

Carrier MIGHT get one because he's been assigned to a GP event that begins 11/29. However sections are over 11/17, and therefor an international bye is not a guarantee (I think the event has to be within a week of sectionals).

Pennington, Overett, and Ward must go through the Regs and Sects. Is this correct?

They must go through sectionals. They must REGISTER for Regionals, however if there are less than 4 competitors entered at their regional (something that is likely for Ward), then they don't HAVE to compete there (but they have to make sure they check the box that says, something like, "If there are less than 4 entries, then I will not skate."

Mroz, Kanalakan, Halverson, and Steenberg may get a bye if they podium on the JGP. Otherwise they go through the Regs and Sects. Is this correct?

No. They have to qualify for the JGP final. Winning medals at their JGP events is no guarantee. Ask Halverson, who won two medals last year and did not qualify for the final.

The 12 podium plus 4 Fouth place finishers who ever they are will be on their way to the Nats. Is this correct?

At sectionals, you mean? The podiums all have spots for four places, so fourth place IS on the podium. The top four finishers at sectionals go on to Nationals. That equals 12 (3 sections times 4 spots on the podium equals 12).

Last question: Does US Nats have a cap on the number of entrants?

Only 12 can come through at sectionals. At the senior level, it's those 12 (or less, because I don't think there will be 12 senior pair teams from sectionals), plus the top 5 from last season, plus however many skaters earn a bye for qualifying for the JGP (or GP) final, plus however many skaters have a scheduling bye. That can vary from year to year, but with that said, there's still only so many skaters who can possibly make it through that way.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

Mil gracias, El Fuego

I hope to be at Nats and I want to make sure who is Senior and who is Junior. It does get confusing with some skating in the JGP and then appearing at Sr.Nats. But I think I got it now. Both competitions should be exciting.

Joe