A different beat
Hartsells lead pairs at U.S. national championships
Posted: Thursday February 11, 1999 11:47 AM
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The Hartsell's said they were shocked by the victory. AP Contrib |
SALT LAKE CITY (Reuters) -- Danielle Hartsell and
Steve Hartsell led the pairs at the U.S. national figure skating
championships after Wednesday night's short program.
The 1997 world junior champions, he is now 20 and she is 18
as they try to fill a void left when world silver medalists
Jenni Meno and Todd Sand decided to tour professionally and U.S.
national champions Kyoko Ina and Jason Dungjen split.
The Hartsells claimed their first-place votes with a jazzy
spiral sequence and a set of innovative spins that never lost
speed.
"This is a big shock," Danielle Hartsell said. "We are
just looking to be on the world team."
Ina also hopes to be on the three-couple team going to the
world championships and retain her national title with a new
partner, but placed second with John Zimmerman going into
Friday's long program.
"Our spins were really off," Ina said. "It was
first-national jitters. A new team like us, we have to keep
going."
Zimmerman had previously won a bronze medal at the U.S.
championships with another partner and placed only 15th at the
1997 world championships.
A team together two years, J. Paul Binnebose and Laura
Handy, placed third.
After two rounds of competition in ice dance, Naomi Lang and
Peter Tchernyshev stood in first place. Eve Chalom and Mathew
Gates were second and the team of Deborah Koegel and Oleg
Fediukov enter Friday's free dance final in third.
Among the top three men, Tchernyshev, who immigrated in 1993
from Russia, has been in the United States the longest.
Fediukov is also from Russia and Gates is from Britain.
Only eight couples are competing as opposed to last year's
14. "After the Olympics, that happens a lot," Lang said.
"Couples drop out. They don't want to make the commitment for
another four years."
The last time only eight ice dance couples competed in the
U.S. championships was 1971, seven years before Lang was born.
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