2006 - 2007 Competition News...
Masha's biographical information on US Figure Skating's 2007 Nationals page
Tampa Bay SC member, Masha Leonov was in Spokane, Washington at the end of January to compete in the US National Figure Skating Championships. She placed 12th in the Novice Ladies Short program on Sunday and 12th in the Free Skate on Monday to finish 12th overall.
Other Florida Skaters at Nationals...
Tracy Tanovich and Michael Chau (Southwest Florida FSC) won the Novice Pairs title. Bronze medalists in 2006, they easily took the lead with a short program filled with level 3 and 4 elements. The packed crowd was on its feet during the final minutes of their program. The strong free skate to music from the ballet Don Quixote, again brought the crowd to their feet and clinched the victory for Tracy and Michael.
Tanovich and Chau are the second pair team from Florida to win the national novice pairs title. The first to do so were the pair team of Brandi Seabol and Cheyne Coppage (Tampa Bay SC) at the 1996 Nationals in San Jose, California.
Junior Ladies - Sherry Barnes (Citrus FSC) placed 9th in the short program and 7th in the free skate to finish 7th overall.
Championships Pairs - A former TBSC member is highly visible and enjoying the spotlight at US Nationals this week. Themistocles Leftheris (Themi to his friends) competed in Senior Pairs with his partner, former ladies competitor Naomi Nari Nam. Themi, a native of Tarpon Springs, got his start in skating right here at our club and rink. To see photos of Themi, visit US Figure Skating's US Nationals sub-site.
In their second nationals together as a team, they are making quite the media splash and are proving to be fan favorites. During Wednesday evening's short program, there was booing from the crowd when Themi & Naomi's scores came up placing them in second behind veteran competitors Rena Inoue and John Baldwin, who has several errors in their program. Unfortunate falls on two throws in the Free Skate on Friday evening left them to be content with third place, just missing a trip to the World Championships this year.
Amanda Evora and Mark Ladwig, who train at the Igloo in Ellenton, finished right behind them in fourth.
Naomi and Themi were featured in the Kids Questions column in the December 2006 issue of Skating Magazine. Click here to learn more about them.
TBSC Dance Team wins Silver Medals at Junior Nationals
| Two more TBSC members are making their mark in the competitive skating world, meeting with success at national competition! Sister & brother ice dance team Elicia Reynolds & Stephen Reynolds competed at the US Junior National Championships this past week in Cleveland, Ohio. They represented our club well by placing second overall in the Juvenile Dance event. In route to their finish, they placed first in their qualifying round (1A). In the compulsory dance segment, they placed second in the Cha Cha and first the Ten Fox and placed second in the free dance to capture their silver medal placement. According to TBSC member Andy Meng, who was in attendance there as a music coordinator, the Reynolds had a excellent free dance performance and were just over one point behind the winners. Elicia and Stephen Elicia Reynolds and Stephen Reynolds won the Juvenile Dance title at the South Atlantic Regional Championships back in October by winning both the compulsory dance and free dance rounds. |
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TBSC Skater Qualifies for US National Championships
Masha competed in Novice Ladies at the 2007 Eastern Sectional Figure Skating Championship this past week in Atlanta, Georgia. She finished third overall, which qualifies her to go on to compete at the 2007 US National Figure Skating Championship to be held in Spokane, Washington in January.
Despite a hand touch down on the landing of a triple toe loop from footwork, Masha completed her other elements including some high level spins to finish third in the short program. She had a very good free skate to finish third in that section to earn the bronze medal.
Masha qualified to compete at sectionals by competing at the 2008 South Atlantic Regional Figure Skating Championships back in October. There she won her qualifying round; then placed second in the short and second in the free skate to earn a silver medal.
Masha's other competitive accomplishments this year include winning the Boston Open, Liberty Open and Orange Blossom competitions and at the Atlanta Open (mid-June) - 4th in the Short and 1st in the Free Skate.
Who says skaters from Florida don't know how to skate......
In addition to Masha's successful run to earn a spot at Nationals, there were other Florida based skaters who also qualified.
Sherry Barnes, representing the Citrus FSC in Kissimmee, won the Junior Ladies title. In the short program, she had a little difficulty with a triple lutz combination and was only able to pull off a single toe loop on end. This resulted in her placing 4th. She more than made up for that with a solid performance in the free skate, placing first to take the title. The junior ladies field was the deepest it's been in years with some very techinically and artistically strong competitors such as SC of Boston's Brittany Rizo, the balletic Michaelee Scarincio and the elegant Blake Rosenthal (SC of Wilmington, Delaware).
The pairs teams from Southwest Florida FSC in Ellenton dominated. In Novice Pairs, 10-year old Tracy Tanovich and Michael Chau skated two technically challenging programs to place first in both short and free skate to take the title. Their team mates, Amanda Evora & Mark Ladwig (who represents the Red River Valley FSC in Fargo, ND) also skated two difficult programs, placing first in both to win the Senior Pairs title.
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