Potential new partners for Rockne

[Coco]

wow - that's gotta be a record for least amount of time spent together before a competition, no?

[JadeDixon]

Delurking to say that I'll try to make it as well and report back.

[stjeaskategym]

wow - that's gotta be a record for least amount of time spent together before a competition, no?

Seriously. Are they required to be monitored at a summer competition or something? I didn't think so. What would be the rush? It's only been like two weeks, and going all the way up to Oakland for this doesn't seem to make much sense. I figure they won't actually be at this, but you never know.

[Sylvia]

The only reason I can think of is that Marley/Brubaker may want to be considered for an international competition this fall.

[stjeaskategym]

The only reason I can think of is that Marley/Brubaker may want to be considered for an international competition this fall.

Yeah, and you have to compete at least 35 days before an assigned international (or at least that's what the skaters in the International Selection Pool have to do). Maybe that's what the rush is. I'm just surprised they would have programs so fast.

[olympic]

Yeah, and you have to compete at least 35 days before an assigned international (or at least that's what the skaters in the International Selection Pool have to do). Maybe that's what the rush is. I'm just surprised they would have programs so fast.

Perhaps he and Keauna already had a program planned, half-planned before she left the sport and MBM is stepping into it? Or maybe they are reverting to an older program of his and Keauna's? I dunno. Just throwing stuff out there.

[gkelly]

Well, they needed a long program for the test(s) anyway. But preparing a short program as well means that much more work in a short amount of time.

[JadeDixon]

So I made it to the rink tonight to watch pairs practice @ Skate St. Moritz. I'm really impressed with how well Marley/Brubaker are skating after just two weeks together (confirmed this with their moms). Of course, I've never skated pairs myself and never saw a bunch of pairs skaters on a regular basis while I was skating, so I don't know too much about pairs.

Their lifts look really good, at least I'm not cringing while I watch them just waiting for an inevitable fall like I do with other pairs I've seen live. And the air position I thought looked good. But I'll say it many times, I haven't seen a lot of pairs live, usually intermediate, so a press lift is impressive to me, let alone one handed, lasso lifts, stuff like that I saw tonight.

They tried SBS 3toe, I don't remember seeing them actually land them though. Their SBS double axel double toe looked awesome, though I didn't see them land it while doing their program.

The death spirals (forward and backward inside) look good for two weeks, but I still sense some hesitation, needs some polish I think.

Pair spin looks good, SBS spins were sometimes in sync, once in their program though I thought they were very well in sync, probably better than some lower level pairs I've seen who have been skating longer.

Footwork was a little rusty the first time, but smoother the second time (SP footwork anyway)

Saw them trying throw 2 loop and 2 lutz (I think, I was only watching the takeoff edge once, and I kept expecting a twist lift, I guess it was at a weird angle from where I was sitting), the landings are kinda inconsistent, she stays on her feet most of the time but seems to pitch forward on the landing and then two foots it. It's almost like she's getting used to the extra height and isn't quite sure how to handle the landing yet (Reminds me of how it felt when my coach had me bend my knee on my salchow and the jump went higher, but I was all over the place on the landing)

The double twist (did not watch the takeoff, sorry!) looked good, good height, seemed secure, although she did grab onto him on the landing, but it really looked like he caught her and had control of her as she came down rather than just dropping her or her crashing into him. Of course I don't see a lot of live pairs, highest level I've seen is junior, but that was probably the best double twist I've seen live.

SP music is Zorba the Greek, LP music is Adams Family. And now my friend and I want to skate to both!

Oh, and her solo double axel looked awesome when she warmed it up, very smooth landing, I wasn't holding my breath wondering if she'd land it.

SP I think has a throw 2 lutz, SBS 3 toe (but never saw them both land it), backward inside death spiral, straight line footwork, can't remember details of SBS or pair spins but they were there... am I forgetting an element or two? Oh yeah, a lift of course, I think they'd get a level for that dismount, and a double twist that looked good.

LP, I don't think I saw a full runthrough of it, but did see the double axel double toe attempted, throw 2 loop, and forward inside death spiral, among other elements.

And I'm not responsible for any inaccuracies, I did not take notes so this is 100% from memory, which is hazy considering how late it is and how early I got up.

Overall, I get the impression that this team is going to be good, I think they just need some time to get their timing down, triple twist, triple throws, all that good stuff. I'm impressed by what they've managed in two weeks. Of course, I don't know crap about pairs anyway...

Also saw Mr. Nicks there working with them.

SP is tomorrow afternoon, but I won't be posting until I get home tomorrow night. LP is Sunday afternoon, but I probably won't post again until I get home at night.

So I'll leave it at that for everyone to draw their own conclusions from

[inthemiddle]

Thank you JadeDixon for your report. Hopefully it is going to work for them.

[olympic]

Thank you, JadeDixon

[Iluvid]

Thanks for the report Jade! Throws are so different than singles jumps, the extra height does make it scary. I have only done singles and can't wait to do doubles.

[JadeDixon]

Short program was this afternoon, and it looked a lot better in competition than it did in practice yesterday.

Double twist was great, and I think it's a lutz or flip takeoff, but I wasn't watching close enough.

SBS 3 toe they both went for it and stayed upright, though one of them stepped out, can't remember which.

Throw 2 lutz was landed although a bit pitched forward on the landing, can't remember if she stepped out in competition or just the warm up.

SBS spins were good until the first or second position change, they seemed to be trying to get them back in sync but it just never happened.

Lift may have been slower in competition than practice last night, but I believe they have a one handed dismount, so if the protocols get posted online (Skate SF did it, I dunno if St. Moritz will) then maybe I can test my theory that it could be called as high as a level 2 or 3.

Footwork, death spiral (pretty sure that was backward inside) and pair spin all seemed a bit slow/rusty, I bet time will improve those.

Overall though, I think it was a great showing for only two weeks together and I'm pretty excited to see how they do at sectionals. If they can do this after 2 weeks, I'm really interested to see how they do in 2 months. There's plenty of room to improve, but everything seems to have a good start and they did stay on their feet for the whole program.

According to the schedule there was supposed to be pairs practice ice tonight, but my ride was in a hurry to leave after novice ladies short, and I hadn't spotted Rockne or Mary in the evening, so I decided not to offer to buy my ride dinner to stay longer.

Tomorrow is the free skate, will try to report back in the evening. Assuming I even wake up in time to get to the rink!

[shan]

Wow, very detailed reports!! Thanks JadeDixon!

[stjeaskategym]

Thanks JadeDixon for taking the time to write all of that up

[olympic]

JadeDixon,

Thanks. And I look fwd. to your LP report

[tangerine_dream]

Given the fact that she is continuing, I imagine she pretty much loves what she's doing.

I like how you assume that she has a choice. You clearly aren't familiar with Chinese families.

Caroline's attitude isn't suited to having a partner. Poor guy would have to be put on suicide watch everynight. She already abuses her coaches, and everyone in SoCal knows about it. Let's not let her abuse a partner, too.

Glad he found a partner.

[~tapdancer~]

Thank you, JadeDixon, for your report! It's good to hear something about them. Can't wait to hear more!

[JadeDixon]

Last but not least, quick LP report before I rush off to dinner:

Warmup looked good, think they nailed the double axel/double toe combo among other things.

For the program, double twist was good, more time needed for her to learn how to not grab onto him on the landing so they can get the greater difficulty, but he seemed to catch her rather than having her crash and they seemed to have pretty good height. Of course I saw this from a funky angle because it was right in front of the judges.

SBS 3 toe landed, throw 2 lutz seemed tilted in the air and stepped out on the landing, I'm impressed she stayed on her feet at all. SBS 2 axel/2 toe pretty good but he stepped out on 2 toe.

SBS spins didn't seem to stay in sync until the very end of the combo.

Footwork sequence was pretty good, forward inside death spiral was good once they got going, but I've got a pet peeve about having the butt stick out on the entry, though not as bad as some other pairs I've seen, and at least her skating knee was straight. They seemed to hold it for a while as well.

3 lifts, at least 2 of them looked like they had difficult dismounts to get an extra level for COP, one of them was a very nice transition into a sort of dance lift with a few changes in position (of course, I guess I mean by dance lift that his hands weren't over his head) And compared to the novice pair that skated after them, I was not holding my breath expecting him to lose his footing on the lift. Also had good speed, smooth on the turns, lots of ice coverage (at least in my know almost nothing about pairs humble opinion)

Pair spin had I think 3 changes of position, racking up the points. I think more speed will come with more practice.

Oh, forgot about the throw 2 sal. I thought I'd seen a 2 loop in practice, but maybe I was wrong. I think it was a 2 sal in competition, though maybe a 3? Tough to tell at that angle with all the hockey glass in the way. Hopefully a 3 by sectionals or nationals, I think they've got enough height to pull off throws 3 lutz and salchow and/or loop, it's just a matter of practice. She did nail the final throw, and I think it was late enough to get the bonus points.

Like I told Rockne on his way out, and Mary's mom while I was chatting with her after, I'm really impressed with what they've managed in 2 weeks and I'm excited to see what they do with a few more months before sectionals and nationals. Also, Mary's mom said she passed her first 4 pairs tests w/ a coach before they left Chicago, then her last two tests with Rockne, and spent the last week working on their short and long programs.

So that's my impression of what I saw. Of course, I've never seen a pairs team this good live before, so maybe I'm easily impressed.

Going OT: There were a few other up and coming singles skaters at this competition as well, so pm me if there are other threads discussing novice/junior level singles and I'll check them out and see if there's any observations I can recall for them as well.

[Aussie Willy]

Thanks for all the reports Jade. Much appreciated.

[shan]

I'm so impressed with their accomplishments thus far! Thanks for the reports.