The 2010 U.S. Junior Figure Skating Championships will take place Dec. 14-19 at the Hoover Arena, operated by IceLand USA, in Strongsville, Ohio. Approximately 300 figure skaters from across the country are expected to compete at the four-day event, which is being presented locally by University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital and hosted for the second time since 2007 by The Greater Cleveland Council of Figure Skating Clubs.
Six returning champions and 16 skaters with Ohio ties will compete in the event, which kicks off Wednesday, Dec. 16 with the intermediate men’s and ladies qualifying rounds. Competition concludes Saturday, Dec. 19 with the intermediate ladies free skate.
Last year’s U.S. juvenile ice dancing gold medalists Rachel Parsons and Kyle MacMillan (Washington FSC) return this year to compete at the intermediate level, while 2008 U.S. juvenile pairs silver medalists Maggie Gibson and David Botero (Indiana World Skating Academy FSC) will go for gold at the intermediate level. Reigning juvenile boys champion Nicholas Vrdoljak (Northern Ice SC, Northbrook, Ill.) and 2008 juvenile girls’ titlist Gwendolyn Prescott (Peninsula SC, San Jose, Calif.) are also competing at the intermediate level this year.
Skaters with Ohio ties competing at the event include the following:
Rachelle Fragedakis and Thomas Ontko (Strongsville SC), intermediate dance and intermediate pairs; Jacob Jaffe and Greta Riebe (Pavilion SC of Cleveland Heights) intermediate dance; Daniel Klaber and Holly Moore (Pavilion SC of Cleveland Heights), intermediate dance; Katie McBeath (Garfield Heights FSC), intermediate ladies; Jordan Pordash (Strongsville SC), intermediate men; Rachel Burgett and Ryan Hartley (Strongsville SC/Queen City FSC), intermediate pairs; Jessica Manahan and Alex Schachtel (Pavilion SC of Cleveland Heights/Shaker FSC), juvenile dance; Lyndsay Ream (Strongsville SC), juvenile girls; Maria Fu (Northern Kentucky SC), intermediate ladies; Alexander DiCola (Mentor FSC), juvenile boys; and Eric Hartley (Queen City FSC), juvenile boys.
Advance event tickets may be purchased by completing the order form on the event web site, www.clevelandskating.com/jrnationals <http://clevelandskating.com/jrnationals/> , and submitting it via fax to 440.777.1706 or e-mail to info@clevelandskating.org. Tickets may also be purchased at the arena box office during the event. Individual event tickets begin at $15. All-event passes are $50 (Wednesday-Saturday) and $35 (Thursday-Saturday). Discounted tickets are available for senior citizens and children ages 6-12. All seats are general admission.
Icenetwork.com will provide live and on-demand video coverage of the event for “Season Pass” subscribers within the contiguous United States. The site will also feature live results, recaps and photo galleries for subscribers and nonsubscribers. Once icenetwork.com’s video schedule is confirmed, it will be made available on the event page at http://web.icenetwork.com/events/detail.jsp?id=65670.
The U.S. Junior Figure Skating Championships crown the U.S. champion in ladies, men’s, pairs and ice dancing in the first two levels of the U.S. Figure Skating competitive structure: juvenile and intermediate. The remaining three levels – novice, junior and senior – will compete Jan. 14-24, 2010, at the 2010 AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Spokane, Wash.
Singles skaters qualified for the U.S. Junior Championships by finishing in the top four at one of nine regional championships held throughout the country in October, while pairs and ice dancing teams qualified by finishing in the top eight at one of three sectional championships held throughout the country last month.
Past champions of the event include reigning World champion and two-time U.S. champion Evan Lysacek <https://www.usfigureskating.org/AthleteBio.asp?id=2273> , and 2009 U.S. ice dancing champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White.
The U.S. Junior Championships were held in Strongsville once before, in 2007. The 2009 U.S. Championships took place in neighboring Cleveland, Ohio, which also hosted the event in 2000, 1964 and 1940.
An updated events schedule can be found on the Greater Cleveland Council of Figure Skating Clubs web site at www.clevelandskating.com/jrnationals
Strongsville, Ohio —
