Congratulations to Ben Nykiel for successfully passing his Intermediate Moves in the Field test at the recently completed USFSA testing session July 23 at the Gardens Ice House in Laurel.
Six Piney Orchard Figure Skating Team members successfully passed U.S. Figure Skating Association (USFSA) testing during sessions held June 25 at Newark, Delaware and June 28 at Piney Orchard Ice Arena in Odenton.
Evelyn Shapter of Annapolis completed two dance steps -- the Rhythm Blues and Cha Cha, then successfully passed her Pre-Juvenile Moves test. Severn’s Shannon Flood also passed two tests, completing Pre-Juvenile Freestyle and her Juvenile Moves.
Also completing field moves testing were Carli Jenkins of Crofton (Junior Moves) and Devin Brooks of Fort George G. Meade (Pre-Preliminary). Christina Flood of Severn passed her Novice Freestyle test and Arnold’s Kaileigh Hall was successful in her Pre-Juvenile Freestyle test.
Two Piney Orchard Figure Skating Team skaters captured medals at the recently completed Chesapeake Open at Mount Pleasant Ice Arena in Baltimore.
Ashleigh Starr earned a gold medal in girls "no-test" compulsory moves competition, while Gary Cress was a bronze medal winner in boys pre-preliminary freestyle.
Severn’s Christina Flood, who earned a second place finish in the ladies Novice Short Program. Evelyn Shapter of Annapolis also claimed a silver medal, taking second in her Pre-Preliminary Artistic event.
Earning a bronze medal in girls Preliminary Freestyle was Crofton’s Megan Stilling, while Severn’s Shannon Flood earned a bronze in girls Preliminary Freestyle (High). Shannon also earned a fifth place finish in girls Pre-Juvenile Free skate and competed in both Pre-Juvenile spins and Pre-Juvenile jumps.
Kaitlyn Wilson of Pasadena earned a fourth place finish in her Pre-Preliminary group, Suzanne Lardeo of Severn took a fourth place in her Preliminary (Low) Freestyle event and Crofton’s Jessica Kennedy (Pre-Preliminary Freestyle) earned a fifth place finish.
Gary Cress of Crownsville also captured a fifth place finish in boys Pre-Preliminary Freestyle. He also competed in boys Pre-Preliminary jumps.
In “No-test” competition, Pasadena’s Ashleigh Starr earned three “top 5” finishes. She earned a pair of bronze medals for spins and interpretive skating and captured a fifth place in compulsory. Fort George G. Meade’s Devin Brooks earned a fifth place finish in No Test Free skate competition.
Crofton’s Annie Rackley also competed in the three-day competition, as well as Emma Wiemaier, who competed for the first time at the Junior level.
USFSA skaters compete by categories and gender. The categories are No Test, Pre-Preliminary, Preliminary, Pre-Juvenile, Juvenile, Intermediate, Novice, Junior, and Senior.
In winning those medals, the Piney Orchard Figure Skating Team captured second place team honors at its own competition, finishing just after skaters from the Cumberland YMCA Figure Skating Squad. Baltimore’s Northwest Ice Arena finished in third, followed by the Bowie Figure Skating Club and Frederick Figure Skating Team.
Individuals and Pairs
The Odenton-based figure skating team had four skaters who earned multiple medals in either single, couples or ensemble competition. Leading the effort was Audrey Simmons of Odenton, who claimed a gold medal in her Freestyle 1 spotlight competition, then earned a second gold medal by teaming with brother Billy Simmons and father Ron Simmons in their family spotlight.
Mikayla DeBreuil of Fort George G. Meade earned a gold medal in girls Beta Spotlight and a silver in girls Beta. Mikayla Ellis was also a two-medal winner, taking a gold in Freestyle 3 Spotlight and a fourth place in her Freestyle 3 category.
Annie Rackley of Crofton was the only other multiple medal winner from POFST, claiming two silver medals: one in Freestyle 4 Spotlight competition, and a second with Crofton’s Megan Stilling in the couples spotlight event.
Other POFST skaters claiming individual gold medals were Allison Fortney of Millersville (Girls Pre-Alpha), Severn’s Sabrina DiStasio (Girls Freestyle 1), Joey Christie of Stevensville (Boys Freestyle 1), and Odenton’s Cena Rasmussen (Girls Freestyle 2). Also claiming gold medals were Alexandra Barrett of Odenton (Artistic Freestyle 3), Crofton’s Carli Jenkins (Artistic Freestyle 6), Kelly Jeon of Odenton (Freestyle 3), Devin Brooks of Fort George G. Meade (Freestyle 4 Spotlight), Kaitlyn Wilson of Pasadena (Freestyle 4), Crofton’s Jessica Kennedy (Freestyle 4 Spotlight) and Suzanne Lardeo of Severn (Freestyle 5).
Skaters earning individual silver medals were Zainab Abdul-Rahim of Annapolis (Freestyle 1) and Baltimore’s Emily Pringle (Freestyle 2 Spotlight). Stevensville’s Jennifer Christie (Artistic Freestyle 3) and Millersville’s Melissa Stanley (Artistic Freestyle 4) earned bronze medals, while Hannah Farnsworth earned a fourth place medal in girls Freestyle 1.
Awards in ISI competition are presented by age, gender, and category.
Maneuver Squads claim six medals
In events that test squads of skaters on individual movements based on their respective skating levels, Piney Orchard skaters captured two gold medals, a two silvers, a bronze and a four place medal. Alexandra Barrett, Melissa Stanley, Jennifer Christie, and Mikayla Ellis earned the top spot a gold medal in Freestyle 3-4 maneuvers, while teammates Megan Barrett, Kelly Jeon and Devin Brooks earned a bronze medal in the same category.
In Freestyle 5-6 competition, Shannon Flood, Katie Allen, and Alexandra Milito earned the top spot, finishing ahead of Christina Flood, Lindsey Flood, Kaitlyn Wilson and Jessica Kennedy. Earning a fourth place finish was Carli Jenkins, Annie Rackley, Megan Stilling and Suzanne Lardeo.
The team of Joey Christie, Cena Rasmussen, Hannah Farnsworth and Emily Pringle earned a silver medal in Freestyle 1-2 maneuvers.
POFST Syncrho Teams Claim Gold
Piney Orchard’s two synchronized skating team both claimed gold medals in their final performances of the ISI season. The Piney Orchard Icettes captured their four gold medal of 2004 in claiming their senior youth synchro formation competition.
The squad’s members are: Zainab Abdul-Rahim of Annapolis; Devin Brooks and Bryn Murphy of Fort George G. Meade; Kelly Jeon, Leslie Baker and Atheena Boutselis of Odenton; Sabrina DiStasio of Severn; Becca Dyer and Kaylee Gholson of Crofton; Pasadena’s Brittany Uebel; Stephanie Hasson of Gambrills; Severna Park’s Alexandra Milito and Bowie’s Jamie Shavatt.
The Piney Orchard Starlettes were also victorious, winning their first gold medal in two competitions at the Youth Synchro level. The squad included Mikayla DeBreuil, Joselyn and Mikayla Ellis, Emily Pringle, Emily Roberts, Melanie Felix, Hannah Farnsworth and Cena Rasmussen.
Mikayla DeBreuil, Andrey Simmons, and Mikayla Ellis earned individual gold medals for the Odenton-based figure skating squad. DeBrueil took the top position in her Alpha skating category, Simmons was a winner in her Delta Light Entertainment Spotlight event and Ellis claimed the top spot in her Freestyle 3 Spotlight.
The fourth gold medal went to the Piney Orchard Icettes, who claimed an unopposed win in the senior youth synchro formation competition. The squad’s members are: Zainab Abdul-Rahim of Annapolis; Devin Brooks and Bryn Murphy of Fort George G. Meade; Kelly Jeon, Leslie Baker and Atheena Boutselis of Odenton; Sabrina DiStasio of Severn; Becca Dyer and Kaylee Gholson of Crofton; Pasadena’s Brittany Uebel; Stephanie Hasson of Gambrills; Severna Park’s Alexandra Milito and Bowie’s Jamie Shavatt.
Stevensonville’s Jennifer Christie was the only individual silver medallist for Piney Orchard, earning a second place finish in the girls Artistic Freestyle 3 competition.
The other silver medal went to the eight-member Piney Orchard Starlettes Youth Synchro team -- making their competition debut at Annapolis. The squad included Mikayla DeBreuil, Joselyn and Mikayla Ellis, Emily Pringle, Emily Roberts, Melanie Felix, Hannah Farnsworth and Cena Rasmussen.
Bronze medal winners included Hannah Farnsworth (Freestyle 1) and Joselyn Ellis (Delta Spotlight). A fourth place medal was awarded to Kelly Jeon (Freestyle 3), while Melissa Stanley earned a fifth place medal in Artistic Freestyle 4.
In addition to the skaters competing with the team, nine other Piney Orchard skaters earned medals while skating with three separate Bowie Metroliner squads. Crofton’s Carli Jenkins, Heather Calvert of Pasadena, Upper Marlboro’s Emma Wiedmaier and Lindsey Flood of Severn earned gold medals with the 20-member Bowie teen synchro squad. This same team recently returned to the area from San Diego after competing in the 2004 U.S. Junior National Synchronized Skating Competition.
Also taking a gold medals were Evelyn Shapter of Annapolis, Megan Stilling of Crofton, Odenton’s Gina Blades and Laura Seal of Riva, members of the Metroliners’ 12-member Senior Youth Squad. Evelyn Shapter earned a second synchro gold medal, skating with sister Linnea and others on the Bowie’s Youth Synchro Team.
Emma Wiedmaier of Upper Marlboro became the first Piney Orchard skater to pass her Junior Moves test during testing in Laurel and will begin working on her Junior Freeskate and Senior Moves. That same day, Kira Woods of Edgewater successfully passed her Novice Moves and now proceeds to Novice Freeskate and Junior Moves.
Two days earlier, Annie Rackley and Megan Stilling -- both of Crofton -- and Anna Nykiel of Glen Burnie all passed their Pre-Juvenile Moves testing and will move on to preparing for their next tasks -- the Pre-Juvenile Freeskate while also preparing for Juvenile Moves.
USFSA tests figure skaters at a variety levels, ranging from Pre-Preliminary to Senior. The Junior Level is the seventh, Novice the sixth, and Pre-Juvenile is the third of eight skating levels.
The Bowie competition marked the successful debut of the 2004 Piney Orchard Icettes synchronized skating squad. Fielding a team with 13 inexperienced synchro skaters, the Icettes opened their season by claiming a gold medal -- going unopposed in in synchronized formation competition. Icettes members are: Zainab Abdul-Rahim of Annapolis; Devin Brooks and Bryn Murphy of Fort George G. Meade; Kelly Jeon, Leslie Baker and Atheena Boutselis of Odenton; Sabrina DiStasio of Severn; Becca Dyer and Kaylee Gholson of Crofton; Pasadena’s Brittany Uebel; Stephanie Hasson of Gambrills; Severna Park’s Alexandra Milito and Bowie’s Jamie Shavatt.
DiStasio and Jeon also made their POFST debut in individual competition at Bowie. DiStasio earned a gold medal in her girls Freestyle 1 program, and Jeon captured a silver medal for her efforts in girls Freestyle 3. Also making successful debuts for Piney Orchard were Hannah Farnsworth a silver medalist in Freestyle 1 and Mikayla DeBreuil, a gold medalist in Alpha level competition.
Gold medals were also captured by Odenton’s Audrey Simmons (Delta Spotlight) and Stevensville’s Joey Christie (boys Freestyle 1).
Kaitlyn Wilson of Pasadena captured a silver medal in girls Freestyle 4, and Jennifer Christie of Stevensville took a second place finish in her Artistic Freestyle 3 event.
Sisters Mikayla and Joselyn Ellis accounted for four figure skating medals. Mikayla took a silver medal in girls Freestyle 3 stroking and a silver in Freestyle 3 Spotlight. Joselyn earned a silver medal in Delta Spotlight competition, adding to the bronze medal she earned in Delta Stroking.
Eight other POFST skaters earned gold medals as member of two Bowie Metroliners synchronized skating teams. Carli Jenkins (Crofton), Emma Wiedmaier (Upper Marlboro), Lindsey Flood (Severn) and Heather Calvert (Pasadena) earned gold medals as members of the Metroliners’ Juniors Synchro team. This same Metroliners team recently returned from Providence, R.I., with a bronze medal at the United States Figure Skating Association (USFSA) Eastern Regional Synchronized Skating competition and a berth to the national championships in San Diego March 2-7.
Megan Stilling (Crofton), Laura Seal (Riva), Evelyn Shapter (Annapolis) and Gina Blades (Odenton) also earned gold medals as part of an unopposed Metroliner Teen Intro squad, -- a team that finished in sixth place our of 19 teams at the same regional competition in Rhode Island.
Carli Jenkins of Crofton, Heather Calvert of Pasadena, Upper Marlboro’s Emma Wiedmaier and Severn’s Lindsey Flood are four of the 20-member Bowie Junior Squad that captured a third place with their “The Beat Goes On” short program, then used an outstanding performance on their “All That Jazz” long program to secure a slot in the national finals.
In addition to the Junior squad’s success, four POFST members skating with the Metroliners’ Teen Introductory Squad earned a sixth place finish in Providence. There were 19 synchro teams in this category. POFST skaters on the 12-member squad are Laura Seal of Riva, Odenton’s Gina Blades, Crofton’s Megan Stilling and Evelyn Shapter of Annapolis.
The Eastern Synchronized Skating Sectional results also can be found on the USFSA results page.
Only skaters from the Gardens Figure Skating Team and the Columbia Figure Skating Club finished ahead of Piney Orchard. Ten figure skating squads from Maryland, Virginia and Delaware participated in the day-long event.
Pacing the POFST effort was Crofton’s Jessica Kennedy, who captured a gold medal and a bronze medal in the competition. Kennedy edged out a teammate for the top spot in her Freestyle 4 Spotlight competition, then earned a third place finish in Artistic Freestyle 4 event.
POFST had a pair of sibling acts that combined for five individual medals. Sisters Joselyn and Mikayla Ellis earned three medals in their first competition as POFST members. Joselyn captured gold medals in Delta stroking and Delta Spotlight events, while her sister earned first place honors in her Freestyle 3 spotlight event.
The other sibling act was the brother-sister combination of Joey and Jennifer Christie of Stevensville. Joey went unopposed in winning his first POFST medal -- a gold medal in boys Freestyle 1 competition, while Jennifer captured the top spot in her Freestyle 3 spotlight event.
Others completing gold medal performances in Laurel were Devin Brooks of Fort Meade (girls Freestyle 3) and Pasadena’s Kaitlyn Wilson (girls Freestyle 4 Gold).
Silver medal winners include Annie Rackley of Crofton, Pasadena’s Ashleigh Starr (girls Freestyle 3), and Severn’s Suzanne Lardeo (girls Freestyle 5). Taking a bronze medal was Melissa Stanley of Millersville, who finished in third place in her Freestyle 4 event.
The team also earned a gold and silver medal in jump and spin competitions. The squad of Suzanne Lardeo, Melissa Stanley, Jessica Kennedy, Annie Rackley and Kaitlyn Wilson claimed a gold medal in their Freestyle 4 and 5 jump and spin event. Joey and Jennifer Christie, Mikayla Ellis, Devin Brooks and Ashleigh Starr captured the silver medal in Freestyle 1-3 competition.
The next ISI competition for POFST will be February 8 at the Bowie Ice Arena in Bowie, Md.
Odenton's Gina Blades, Crofton's Megan Stilling, Evelyn Shapter of Annapolis, and Laura Seal of Riva were part of a 12-member squad that earned their second "top-three" finish in competition this season. The Teen Intro squad also claimed a bronze medal in Cape Cod, Mass., in December.
Also competing, but not placing at the competition were the Bowie Metroliners Junior Team. POFST skaters who competed with Bowie's 20-member junior team were Pasadena's Heather Calvert, Carli Jenkins of Crofton, Lindsey Flood of Severn and Upper Marlboro's Emma Wiedmaier.
The next competition for the Metroliners' junior squad is the USFSA Synchro Eastern Qualifying competition, slated January 28-31 in Providence, R.I.
While the Intro team was earning a bronze medal, four other POFST skaters competed with the Metroliners’ Junior Squad, earning an eighth place finish with their short program and sixth with their long program. POFST skaters competing with the Metroliners junior team include Severn’s Lindsey Flood, Crofton’s Carli Jenkins, Pasadena’s Heather Calvert and Upper Marlboro’s Emma Wiedmaier.
Nearly 80 synchronized skating teams from across the Nation competed in 12 levels, during the four- day competition.