Hey everyone! Just got back from the Tuesday Championship Ladies practice in the Fleet Center. We were going to try to make the men's too, but after the busy day yesterday, we wound up sleeping through most of it! But we eventually got up, and even figured out the subway system and made it in time to catch the end of the last men's group (Michael Weiss' group.) We were told that Tim Goebel and Todd Eldredge were both present at their sessions, and that Todd DID land his quad! :)
First up was the ladies group B. This was the session that was to include Sasha Cohen and Amber Corwin among others, but those two were both no-shows. Andrea Gardiner was there, and she skated a nice program, but was only half & half it seemed on her triple jumps. I did see her do a triple flip / double loop combination (or at least I think.. it was at the other end of the rink). I like her program, so I hope she can get her triple jump legs under her by Saturday! Stacey Pensgen was also in this group, and she wasn't having a good day with her triple lutz and her triple flip. But she eventually did get a lutz down by the end of the session and received cheers for that!
Group C was supposed to include Sarah Hughes, Angela Nikodinov, and Sara Wheat, but none of these ladies were present either. In fact, only Beatrisa Liang and Ann Patrice McDonough showed up to this session. Ann Patrice's jumps were looking pretty good, she landed a few triple lutz/ double toe combinations as well as a triple flip/ double toe. Her solo triple flip out of a split jump and steps was giving her some difficulty but she got it eventually.
Group C included Michelle Kwan and Jenny Kirk. Both looked pretty good to me! It must have been incredibly distracting for the other skaters AND Michelle to practice in these conditions-- on either end of the rink there were lots and lots of school children who would NOT stop screaming for Michelle every time she rounded a corner. But everyone had their game faces for hte most part and tried not to pay attention (although I think I saw Michelle crack a smile once ;)).
Jenny Kirk had a great runthrough. Her program included a triple salchow, triple lutz/ double toe, triple toe, double axel, triple loop, triple flip, and a fall on the second triple lutz. She was ON with the exception of that last fall, and pretty darn consistant the entire session. She's definitly here to do well, and I look foward to seeing her in competition.
Michelle skated to her Black Swan program, and was pretty consistent. Her program had a triple loop, triple toe/triple toe (two footed in the runtrough, but landed a few times in the session), double lutz (which looked to me like she had gotten too close to the boards and bailed on it), triple salchow, triple flip, a single axel (definitly a mistake!), and a final triple lutz. Throughout the session she did a few other triple loops with no difficulty at all, landed a few double axels also with no difficulty, and a few lutzes and salchows. She definitly looks to be in good shape.
The junior pairs event kicked off today with the pairs short program. This was definitly a fun event, worth the extra trip to the Matthews Arena. Emma Phibbs & Devin Patrickgot the ball rolling with a nice program. For a while it looked like Kristen Roth & Michael McPherson were going to hang onto the lead after a clean and spirited program, however the show was stolen by one of the last groups to skate, the pair of Deborah Blinder & Jeremy Allen who also skated a clean program with a lot of energy and style. What I noticed the most about this pair was how clean everything they did was... even how gently he put her down after their split-twist move. This pair hands down took the short program.
Tomorrow's plate looks like a visit to the Fleet Center for some ladies short program practice, the junior men's short program in the early afternoon at the Matthews Arena, and then an evening in the Fleet Center as the opening ceremonies, pairs short program, and original dance take place. It might be a late one, but I'll report as soon as I can!
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