The Nervous competition -- otherwise known as the Novice competition -- marked the official start of the 1999 State Farm U.S. Championships Sunday at the "E" Center in West Valley City.
This was skating at its most real and its most raw. Several of the tiny skaters, many of whom are in their first national competition, cried in practice over the weekend. Others fell on the simplest skills. Emotions were high, and the tension was tangible.As nervous as the athletes surely felt, their game faces were firmly in place when it came down to competition time Sunday afternoon. The novice ladies suffered through a power outage after the first skater, Megan Ignatowicz, performed.
After power was restored, 15-year-old Deanna Stellato from Glenview, Ill., finished first in the novice ladies' short program. She landed a huge triple lutz-double toe combination and impressed audiences with her artistry. Andrey Chua, 12, skated her way to second place with a program and style reminiscent of former national, world and Olympic champion Kristi Yamaguchi. Beatrisa Liang, 10, rounded out the top three with an impressive, mature program for someone so young. Her large triple salchow-double toe loop combination covered miles and miles of ice and was followed by a solid double axel.
Nicholas LaRoche wowed audiences with a fast, fluid performance filled with difficult elements. His triple toe loop-double toe loop combination was solid and secure, and he capped his program with a nice double lutz with both arms over his head. It was hard to believe he was nursing a sprained ankle, suffered after he won his regional competition late last year. LaRoche, of the Colonial Figure Skating Club in Boxboro, Mass., is in first place going into today's free skate.
Evan Lysacek, 13, overcame a concussion three weeks ago to finish second. His program, performed to the music of the "Gypsy Kings," had audiences clapping along, and his triple toe-double toe combination left them breathless. Lysacek, an Illinois native who placed second at the Midwestern Sectionals, had only been able to practice for the last week or so because of his injury.
"At least this way I didn't peak too early," Lysacek joked after the event.
Michael Villarreal, a 12-year-old from Long Beach, Calif., placed third. He performed a unique variation of the double axel by raising one hand over his head similar to Brian Boitano's "Tano" Lutz. It was a thrilling exclamation point on an adventurous, challenging program.
Terese Anselmi and Michael Adler put together a strong program to win the pairs short program. Following the competition, the duo from the Detroit Skating Club said they were most proud of their unison -- especially marked in their side-by-side spins and loop jump.
"I thought our presentation was really good," Adler said. "We started off kind of shaky -- the first lift was for me -- but after that we were fine. I knew then it would go well."
Colette Appel and Adam Kaplan improved on their third-place finish at the Eastern Sectionals to finish the short program in second place. They were followed by Anna Campos and Ronnie Biancosino, who won the Eastern Sectionals after fewer than 10 months skating together.
Though audiences do not typically flock to the Novice events, Sunday's competition showed that the future is bright for U.S. figure skating. Should we expect to see them back in Utah in 2002?
When asked, the skaters' eyes widened and a silence descended. Then Michael Adler spoke, his voice soft.
"It's hard to think that far ahead in skating. A lot changes from year to year." Then a playful smile. "But I think it would be great to be back."