News
March 1, 2008
SCOB skaters give solid performances at Four Continents
Representing the best of the US, SCOB members Stephen Carriere and Katrina Hacker turned in solid performances at the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, held February 11-17, 2008 in Goyang, South Korea. Four Continents is an annual competition that features elite representatives of North America, South America, Asia and Australia. Along with the European Championships, Four Continents is normally a preview event leading up to the World Championships, slated to begin mid-March in Gothenburg, Sweden.
In the men's event, newly crowned US bronze medallist Stephen Carriere presented a clean short program earning a fourth place footing with 74.08 points behind Daisuke Takahashi, Evan Lysacek and Jeffrey Buttle. He landed a triple Axel, triple flip-triple toe and triple Lutz while his step sequences earned level 3s and his spins were called as level 4s. In the freeskate, a popped triple axel at the front of his program was Carriere's only flaw, and he earned positive GOEs on all his elements. He landed seven triples, with five placed after the midpoint for bonuses, earning 144.22 for a total competition score of 118.30.
Consistency, particularly in the triple Axel, is Carriere's focus this season. "I want to continue to put up clean programs and big scores," says Carriere, "particularly going into Worlds." As one of the top three finishers as US Nationals, Carriere will make his first trip to the World Championships in March.
In the ladies' event, newcomer Katrina Hacker, who surprised the skating community by finishing sixth ahead of former US Champion Kimmie Meissner at Nationals, gave her senior international debut at Four Continents. Refusing to play it safe, Hacker chose to attempt a triple Lutz combination for the first time in her Love Story short program. Although the opening element was unsuccessful, Hacker rallied to complete the rest of her program cleanly and earned level 4s and high GOE for her spirals and spins. A score of 49.86 left the always-upbeat Hacker in tenth place.
In the freeskate, Hacker landed all five of her planned triple jumps, including the elusive triple Lutz-double toe. Her level 3 and level 4 elements were each awarded positive GOE marks, as Hacker proved to the world and to herself that her breakout performance at Nationals was no aberration. With a segment score of 104.00 and a total competition score of 153.86, Hacker finished in sixth place overall and earned the highest placement among the US women this year.
Congratulations to Stephen and Katrina for their excellent performances on the world stage, and for continuing to be an inspiration to SCOB members young and old.
