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LISC ARTICLES & PRESS
RELEASES
~~~Year 2008~~~
March, 2008 -
Figure Skating in
Harlem: Much more than skating - Article and video on LifeSkate.com
about the wonderful program called Figure Skating in Harlem. February,
2008- Articles and mentions for the
2008 World
Junior Championships - Sofia,
Bulgaria
(Chelsi
Guillen w/Danny Curzon)
-
Tucsonan, partner finish
10th at world junior figure skating championship
staff and wire reports
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 02.28.2008
Tucsonan Chelsi Guillen and partner Danny Curzon finished 10th overall
Wednesday at the World Junior Figure Skating Championships in Sofia,
Bulgaria, with 123.93 points.
After placing sixth in the short program Tuesday, the highest finish of any
American team, the pair skated a 12th-place free skate that included a
double twist, throw triple toe and a throw double Salchow.
They also landed side-by-side double flips but could not perform their
planned side-by-side double axel-double toe combinations after Guillen
popped her axel.
U.S. junior pairs champions Jessica Rose Paetsch and Jon Nuss of Colorado
Springs, Colo., were fifth overall with 133.12 points.
World Juniors is the last junior competition for Guillen and Curzon. The
team will compete on the senior level for the first time next season.
-
Russian teams dominate pairs at junior worlds
Ksenia Krasilnikova and Konstantin Bezmaternikh lead
By Klaus Reinhold-Kany, special to icenetwork.com
(02/26/2008) - The pairs short program ended the first day of
competition at the
2008 World Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria. Grabbing the lead
early, were three Russian teams, with Ksenia Krasilnikova and Konstantin
Bezmaternikh winning the short program.
The best of the three U.S. teams were
Chelsi Guliien and Danny Curzon, who sit sixth. The landing of their
throw toeloop was a bit shaky, but they executed their other elements
without incident.
The difference between the third and the 12th place is only five points.
-
Guillen team in world field
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 01.28.2008
Tucsonan Chelsi Guillen and partner Danny Curzon are one of three pair teams
headed for the World Junior Championships, U.S. Figure Skating announced
Saturday.
The World Championships will be Feb. 25-March 2 in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Guillen and Curzon will be joined by U.S. junior pairs champions Jessica
Rose Paetsch and Jon Nuss of Colorado Springs, Colo., and Southern
Californians Bianca Butler and Joseph Jacobsen, who placed ninth in senior
pairs.
Guillen and Curzon earned a spot on the team based on their bronze medal
performance in the junior pairs event at the U.S. Championships. It will be
their third international event together.
– Jamie Blanchard
January,
2008- Articles and mentions for the
2008 United States National
Championships
(Rohene
Ward, Eliot Halverson,
Carolyn-Ann Alba and Chelsi
Guillen w/Danny Curzon)
-
Team with Tucson native
takes bronze
(Chelsi
Guillen w/Danny Curzon)
staff and wire reports
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 01.26.2008
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Two errors in the free skate Friday knocked Tucson native
Chelsi Guillen and partner Danny Curzon into third place in the junior pairs
event at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
"I'm not disappointed at all by how we skated. I felt like we went out there
and did the best we could," Guillen said. The team finished with 134.58
overall points.
The Scottsdale-based team entered Friday's program with the lead. But they
finished fourth in the free skate after Guillen, who tore her posterior
cruciate ligament in August, had trouble on the side-by-side double
axel-double toe combinations.
She also fell on the throw quadruple Salchow but landed a throw triple toe
earlier in their skate. Guillen and Curzon, an ASU student, also performed a
double twist.
"It felt amazing being on the podium," Guillen said. "It feels nice to win
my first medal at nationals."
Their bronze medal performance keeps them in contention for a spot on the
World Junior Championship team. U.S. Figure Skating is expected to announce
the three pair teams following the senior pairs free skate today.
-
Paetsch, Nuss surge to junior pairs gold medal (Chelsi
Guillen w/Danny Curzon)
Internationally experienced couple
prove to be too strong
By Mickey Brown, special to icenetwork.com
01/25/2008) -
The favorites coming into the
junior pairs competition at the
2008 U.S. Figure Skating Championships could be determined just by
looking at the number of Junior Grand Prix appearances made by the teams in
the field.
Jessica Rose Paetsch and Jon Nuss
-- six. Rest of field -- six.
Paetsch and Nuss,
representing the venerable Broadmoor Skating Club, didn't skate perfectly in
Friday's free skate, but they didn't have to as the quality of their skating
is just that much better than that of their competition. Their overall score
of 143.19 bested that of silver medalists
Tracy Tanovich and Michael Chau (Southwest Florida FSC) and bronze
medalists and short program-winners
Chelsi Guillen and Danny Curzon (Coyotes SC of Arizona).
Of the six other JGP
assignments in the rest of the field, Guillen and Curzon had two of them,
finishing ninth in
Estonia and 10th in
Great Britain last fall. They only attempted one throw triple in their
The Legend of Zorro free skate at those competitions, but they
decided to add a second at this event.
"The second throw has gotten better throughout the year," Curzon said. "The
fact that it was good enough to put it in is a good sign for next year."
The team, in their second year together, earned Level 4 for its Group 4
lift, spiral sequence and pairs combination spin. They are going to need to
gain more consistency on their jumps and throws, however, as they plan on
moving up to the senior ranks next season.
-
Tucson
native and partner win junior pairs short program
Staff and wire reports
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 01.25.2008
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Tucson native Chelsi Guillen and her partner Danny Curzon
are one step closer to becoming national champions.
Thursday at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, the Scottsdale-based team
won the junior pairs short program with 53.65 points.
"It's exciting for us. It feels great to be leading," Guillen said. She
landed a throw triple toe, and the team also performed a double twist and
side-by-side double axels.
"We feel really confident with that program so we knew if we skated well, we
could be up there," Curzon said. "Tomorrow we are going out there to do our
job."
The pair led 2007 bronze medalists Jessica Rose Paetsch and Jon Nuss of
Colorado Springs, Colo., who scored 52.13 points.
Star sports reporter Jamie Blanchard contributed to this story.
-
Guillen, Curzon take lead after junior pairs short
(Chelsi
Guillen w/Danny Curzon)
By Becca Staed, special to
icenetwork.com
(Photo: Chelsi Guillen and Danny Curzon carry a slight lead over the rest of
the junior pairs field into the free skate. (©Paul Harvath))
(01/24/2008) - When Chelsi Guillen and Danny Curzon (Coyotes SC of Arizona)
chose "Adagio for Strings" from the Platoon soundtrack for their short
program, they were aiming for something a bit mature, something they could
build on. The commanding, yet haunting piece has a way of pleasantly
surprising listeners, in the same way that Guillen and Curzon did in taking
first place after tonight's short program at the 2008 U.S. Figure Skating
Championships.
"We really wanted to go for a mature, elegant look this year," Curzon said.
"So we picked this piece, knowing that at the beginning of the year, it
might not fit, but we would grow into it. And luckily, our work paid off
here."
If battling a torn posterior cruciate ligament in Curzon's right knee and
finishing ninth and tenth place in two Junior Grand Prix events this year
once worried the pair, it doesn't show. In fact, it seems to have made them
stronger.
Their short program earned a total score of 53.65. They got a level-three on
their first element -- a double Lutz twist -- and deductions on their next
two, a double Axel and triple toe loop. Their Group 5 lift received a
level-three. They brought in a level-three and a level-two with their final
step sequence and death spiral, respectively.
Most noticeable, however, was the incredible harmony of their spins, both of
which gained level-fours.
"We've had pretty good luck with our spins from the beginning," Curzon said.
"We just understand that we don't have to be the best spinners out there to
get high marks. You just have to be together, and if that means slowing
down, you slow down."
In no way is slowing down on the agenda for Jessica Rose Paetsch and Jon
Nuss (Broadmoor SC). Their 52.13-point short program is close enough to give
the leaders something to worry about. With no more than doubles throughout
their short program, the pair has yet to bring out their bag of tricks.
"Our triple throw just hasn't gotten strong enough yet, so we couldn't put
it in," Paetscsh said. "This is our first year doing double Axels, so we
just wanted to focus on getting the double Axel going."
Instead, they played it safe, earning a level-three on their double Lutz
twist, which featured a footwork entrance, a split by Paetsch and Nuss'
catch at the hips. Next was a clean double toe loop, a double Axel and a
Group 5 lift well worthy of level-five. Their side-by-side combo spin got
off when Nuss lost his position, giving them only a level-two. But their
final three elements were all level-threes and enough for second place.
"Our experience at the Junior Grand Prix helped us work harder for here,"
said Paestch.
The couple will be eligible for the Grand Prix series next year, which they
said they hope to attend.
The crowd went wild for third-place pair Tracy Tanovich and Michael Chau
(Southwest Florida FSC). They finished strong in their Harry Potter short
program with superior side-by-side combo spins and a Group 5 lift, which
earned a level-four.
"We were pretty pleased," said Chau, a Minnesota-native. "It was probably
one of the best short performances we've done all year. There were a few
little hiccups here and there, but we covered them over pretty well. It was
really nice to have the crowd behind us, so I am pretty happy with it."
It's the pair's first year at the junior level, but they are not unfamiliar
with the top of the leaderboard. Last year, they took home gold in novice
pairs at this event.
"It's nice, because we kind of have no pressure [since] we won last year,"
Chau said. "That's a big deal, but it's a new slate at the junior level. I
think we are ready with the long. It's a program we are pretty comfortable
with, and I think we are ready to go."
With that attitude, Tanovich and Chau could easily add another medal to
their collection. Their 50.83-point short program puts them more than
three-and-a-half points ahead of the rest of the field.
In fourth are Lisa Moore and Justin Gaumond (ISC of Fort Collins/All Year
FSC) after their "Nights in White Satin" short program that brought in 47.14
points.
This year's junior pairs national champions will be determined after
Friday's free skate competition.
-
Tucson native
figures to win junior pairs title
(Chelsi
Guillen w/Danny Curzon)
By Jamie M. Blanchard
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 01.23.2008
A torn posterior cruciate ligament in her right knee and two top-10 finishes
in world figure skating competition in the last year have helped prepare
Tucson native Chelsi Guillen for this week's U.S. Figure Skating
Championships.
Guillen, 14, and her partner Danny Curzon, 20, will compete Thursday and
Friday in the junior pairs event in St. Paul, Minn.
Guillen, who now lives in Scottsdale and attends Desert Mountain High
School, worked with Curzon four hours a day leading up to the competition.
"I think we can definitely take the junior event," she said
The pair has momentum after making their international debut in the fall.
"It really prepared me, because it showed me what else is out there," she
said. "It made me think, 'Nationals is easy compared to this.'"
Despite the injured knee, the pair won November's Pacific Coast Sectional
Championships to qualify for nationals. They also finished ninth at the
Junior Grand Prix in Tallinn, Estonia, and later placed 10th in Junior Grand
Prix in Sheffield, Great Britain.
"We had to take out a lot of jumps from our programs and eliminate jumping
in practices," because of her knee, Guillen said.
After four months of physical therapy, she said her knee is almost back to
normal.
Three reasons Guillen and Curzon could win the national title
1. They know what to expect.
The pair finished eighth at the 2007 U.S. Championships. "Last year, we had
no expectations, because it was my first year ever going to nationals. My
first year with Danny," Guillen said. "We feel really prepared this time. We
feel like we can go and do great programs. … We know that what we're really
going there for is to medal."
2. They do impressive tricks.
Over rotating on the throw triple toe loop — a difficult element that most
competitors do not attempt — is how Guillen injured her knee.
3. They want to take on the world.
Three teams will advance to the World Junior Championships in Sofia,
Bulgaria. "It's one of our biggest goals," Guillen said. "We have a really
good shot at making the team. … It would be the icing on our season."
-
KSTP-TV -
Video and Story -
St. Paul
native to take the ice at U.S. championships (Eliot
Halverson)
Some Minnesotans are out on the ice, competing in the U.S. Figure Skating
Championships in St. Paul.
Skaters started qualifying back in October for a ticket to this event and
these are some of the best ice skaters in the world, back in St. Paul for
the first time since 1939.
Many eyes will be on St. Paul native Eliot Halverson Friday night, when he
performs before the hometown crowd at 7:00 p.m.
At 17-years-old, Halverson already has a lengthy resume: A Junior National
Champion in 2007, who began skating at the age of six on a frozen Minnesota
pound.
He has dreamed about this week for years.
Halverson is one of several young Minnesotans competing in the
championships.
-
It’s got a good
beat, but can you axel to it? (Eliot
Halverson)
Many figure skaters are looping away from classical warhorses and into the
pop charts or modern experimental compositions.
By
Bill Ward, Star
Tribune
Last update:
January 21, 2008 - 12:58 PM
Local phenom Eliot Halverson has selected pieces by contemporary Asian
composers Shigeru Umebayashi and Maksim Mrvica for this week’s nationals.
Another Twin Cities skater, Molly Oberstar, will perform to a jazz-guitar
rendition of Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time.”
“With lower-level skaters, I tend to come up with the ideas,” said Ann
Eidson , who coaches local skaters Oberstar and Halverson. “But most of the
skaters who qualify for nationals know what they want. Eliot, for example,
he’s not going to like what I bring in, but he’s going to love what he
brings in.
“As a coach, you just want something that helps them develop and stretches
them artistically.
“When you talk about the great programs, it’s because the skater had a big
part in it, because they feel like they had ownership of it. It has to be
music that the skater can relate to and loves to skate to.”
Tell Tchaikovsky the news.
-
Burnsville teen and
her coach have a special bond (Rohene
Ward)
A Burnsville High teen and her coach, 8 years her senior and still
competing, have formed a special bond.
BY KELSIE SMITH
Pioneer Press
Article Launched: 01/20/2008 10:01:00 PM PST
(Photo -
Kirsten
Olson of Savage talks with coach Rohene Ward before performing her short
program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Sunday night. (©SCOTT
TAKUSHI, Pioneer Press)
If you didn't know him, it might have been hard to pick out Kirsten Olson's
coach rink side Sunday night.
You did, more than likely, notice a young man with braided hair, wearing
jeans, a hooded sweatshirt and tennis shoes. You might have seen Olson, 16,
and that young man - 24-year-old Minneapolis native Rohene Ward - do a
little dance (rapper Soulja Boy's signature jig, Ward said) before Olson
went on the ice for her junior women's short program at the U.S. Figure
Skating Championships.
And if you spotted that exchange, you saw Olson working with her coach.
It is an unconventional match, made even more so by the fact that Ward still
skates competitively. At this week's nationals at Xcel Energy Center, Olson
is competing in the junior women's category, Ward in the senior men's.
"It's very uncommon," said Olson, who is in seventh place after her short
program Sunday night. "There's definitely nobody else here that is a coach
and an athlete teaching somebody and also in the competition."
Olson and Ward have only been coach and student for about seven months, but
for three years before that, Ward choreographed all of her programs. Last
summer when Olson needed a practice rink, she headed over to the Parade Ice
Garden in Minneapolis. Also in the market for a coach, she quickly thought
of Ward. The chemistry, which Ward calls "fabulous," was instant.
"Whenever you get a new coach, you always think, 'What if you guys don't
click or get along?' " Olson said. "There's just always a worry that
something won't be right, but from the first time I was there, you could
just tell it was perfect."
Already they've adjusted Olson's jumping style and technique on the ice and
developed a unique bond - including a shared love of rap music.
"(Our chemistry) has something to do with the fact that I'm younger and my
style is a little different," Ward said. "I'm a little edgy, and she's
comfortable with it because she's edgy herself. We listen to the same music,
and it's really rare that I find a student who likes rap music.
"We have our own little language almost, when it comes to competitions. I'll
say something to her, and she'll know exactly what it means, even if no one
else around us does. It has nothing to do with skating; it's more of a
feeling or a personality. Like when I tell her to work it, I might say '12
for the kids' and that means for her to go out there and let them have it."
Ward admits that Olson, a sophomore at Burnsville High School, had no clue
what "12 for the kids" meant the first time she heard it, but Ward said
that's part of the youth connection, coded phrases and all. It's clear that
is part of what Olson enjoys about her coach.
When asked how Ward is different from her previous coaches, Olson showed an
obvious sense of relief as she speaks.
"He's very positive," she said. "It was just really different. We address
the negatives about my skating but it is always much more focused on the
positives and what we could do to fix things. It wasn't focusing on the
negative, which a lot of times you will find in skating."
Perhaps that positive vibe Olson feels is just part of Ward's self-described
"good energy." Whatever it is, Ward said, it's rubbing off.
Ask Olson what's changed in her skating since Ward took over as her coach,
and she'll say her technique. Ask Ward, who calls Olson a "diva" (in a good
way), and he'll say her attitude, that she now realizes she can't always be
perfect, that skating doesn't have to be so hard.
That lesson was evident Sunday night, when Olson spoke calmly after her
short program, during which she fell on a triple loop but landed a clean
triple-loop, triple-loop combination, about all the progress she's made in
the past year.
"Everything has just gotten better," she said before her practice Saturday
night at Xcel. "I feel a lot more confident in my skating and just a lot
more sure in my abilities."
Kelsie Smith can be reached at
ksmith@pioneerpress.com.
-
In sync with
herself - Star Tribune Article (Rohene
Ward)
Kirsten Olson is competing with a renewed sense of excitement thanks to her
experience on a movie set and her switch to a new club and coach.
By
RACHEL BLOUNT,
Star Tribune
Last update: January 21,
2008 - 5:02 PM
People still remember Kirsten Olson from her role as "Nikki the Jumping
Shrimp'' in the 2005 Disney movie "Ice Princess.'' Those expecting a rerun
of that performance -- or even a repeat of her earlier appearances at the
U.S. Figure Skating Championships -- are seeing a new side of the Savage
teenager at this week's nationals.
Olson never shared much with her snippy movie character, save for their
skating ability. But her on-set experience turned the shy girl into a
performer, and this year's switch to a new club and coach renewed her zeal.
With local star Rohene Ward choreographing and directing her programs,
Olson, 16, began the latest test in her developing career Sunday with a
seventh-place finish in the junior women's short program.
Ward, 24, also is competing at nationals, putting him in the very unusual
position of simultaneously preparing himself and someone else for their most
important competition of the season. He and Olson have drawn strength from
each other's successes and support, giving them a sense of teamwork in their
individual pursuits.
"Rohene is a very positive person, which has really helped me with the
mental and emotional part of skating,'' said Olson, a sophomore at
Burnsville High School. "And because he's a skater, we have a friendly
competition on the ice; I want to do the things he does, and he can show me
how. Not many people are lucky enough to relate to their coach like that.
"It's been a really great year for me. Coming [to train at Parade Ice
Garden] took my love of skating to a completely new level. And my skating
has been really consistent. I've been through a lot of changes this year,
but I've really grown.''
Olson has competed at nationals twice before, finishing ninth as a junior
last year and fifth as a novice in 2005. She remains best known for her film
role. She answered a Twin Cities casting call in January 2004 after winning
the silver medal in the intermediate women's division at the U.S. junior
championships.
Playing a teenage diva -- and doing so on a crowded film set -- eroded
Olson's natural shyness. Learning how to perform on a sound stage
transferred to the ice, enriching her ability to connect with an audience.
Olson's alliance with Ward, a true showman, has encouraged her to continue
her attention to artistry.
Olson moved in 2006 from the Figure Skating Club of Bloomington to
Shattuck-St. Mary's School in Faribault. She thrived as a skater, winning
the Upper Great Lakes Regional and finishing third at the Midwestern
Sectional. But as a boarding student, she became homesick; last summer,
Olson returned to the Twin Cities and began skating at Parade Ice Garden.
She was well acquainted with Ward, who had been choreographing for her. At
Parade, where Ward trains, Olson found a welcoming, low-key environment that
instantly felt comfortable.
"I'm very excited for her,'' Ward said. "She made some mistakes in her long
program at sectionals, but she fought through them. Last summer, she
wouldn't have been able to do that. She knows who she is as a competitor and
a skater.''
Olson and her coach have grown together in that regard. Ward, a dynamic and
charismatic skater, has worked for two years to improve his discipline and
determination. Being responsible for Olson's development as well as his own
kept him on track.
When Olson began crying after her first rocky skate under Ward's watch, he
gave her some tough love. "I said, 'Stop,' '' he recalled. "'I don't do
tears. Leave it on the ice.' I remind her she has to suck it up and get
through it, and that reinforces that lesson with me. I have to be a role
model and lead her by example. And that's been good for me.''
Both of them followed that advice as they qualified for nationals. Olson
earned personal bests in the short and long programs at the regionals, then
topped those scores at the sectional.
Her emotional short program is set to music from "Schindler's List," a
mature piece she has wanted to interpret for years. Olson will perform
Tuesday's free skate to "Libertango.'' Ward choreographed both programs.
Ward will watch her from the other side of the boards, then concentrate on
his own preparations for the men's short program Friday and the free skate
Sunday. While he switches personas from coach to competitor, Olson will
transform from student to supporter -- after giving what she hopes will be
the performance of a lifetime in her favorite role.
"I have my sights set on winning,'' she said. "It will be hard. There are a
lot of really good girls. But I've been training so hard this year, I really
want to go for it.
"This year has been absolutely amazing. I love where I'm at. I'm so happy to
be in a position to chase my dreams.''
January,
2008- Articles and mentions in anticipation of the 2008 United States
National Championships
(Rohene
Ward and Eliot
Halverson)
-
Skating Home - Article in Minnesota Monthly
(Eliot
Halverson)
Can Eliot Halverson make it to the Olympics—without leaving St. Paul?
By Pat Borzi
(Photos © Photo by Joe Treleven & Paul Harvath -
courtesy U.S. Figure Skating)
FROM THE AGE of 7, Eliot Halverson had craved the spotlight. So this was
perfect. On a steamy afternoon in August, he stood on a stage at the
Minnesota State Fair alongside two of the world’s best—and best-known—figure
skaters: two-time Olympic medalist Nancy Kerrigan and 2006 Olympian Emily
Hughes. Halverson, now 17, was there to promote the
U.S. Figure
Skating Championships, which take place this month at the Xcel Energy
Center. He was the local connection, the fresh-faced St. Paul kid everyone
(the organizers hoped) wanted to see.
Seven months earlier, Halverson had won the national junior men’s
championship, just one year after he’d won a national novice title. It was a
remarkably swift, though not unprecedented, ascent for a male skater, and
his success was already garnering attention outside the cloistered world of
figure skating. The city of St. Paul, where he lived with his mother, older
brother, and younger sister, declared April 21 as Eliot Halverson Day.
Now, for the state fair’s figure-skating day, he was on stage in Carousel
Park, where 300 people had crammed onto benches to see a program emceed by
KARE-11’s Eric Perkins. Skyride gondolas slid by overhead; the aroma of
cooked sausage wafted across the park. Kerrigan, who once famously called a
Disney World parade “corny,” smiled diplomatically through the decidedly
corny ceremony. But Halverson couldn’t stop beaming. That he was still
months away from actually qualifying for nationals seemed to worry only his
mother, Deborah, who sat in the crowd trying to look inconspicuous. When
Perkins asked Halverson about training at the
St. Paul Figure Skating
Club, he grinned even wider. “There’s no other place I’d rather be,” he
said.
That gave some comfort to his coaches, Ann Eidson and Ted Engelking, who
have never trained an Olympic skater, which many believe Halverson has the
potential to be. If Halverson makes it to the 2010 games, it will be
historic. Since 1952, only one figure skater from Minnesota has qualified
for the event: Minnetonka’s Jill Trenary, who finished fourth at Calgary in
1988. And Trenary, the 1990 world champion, had to leave home to do it. As a
teenager, she moved to Colorado to work with the legendary Carlo Fassi, who
had coached Peggy Fleming and Dorothy Hamill to Olympic gold.
Yet Halverson is determined to become an Olympian while living and training
in St. Paul, and not just because it could be prohibitively expensive for
Halverson’s parents to pay for his training elsewhere. “I feel very
fortunate,” he says. “I have all my family and all my friends here, and I’ve
never had to change anything to better my skating.”
Sitting in the dining room of the Arts and Crafts–style bungalow in St. Paul
she shares with her kids, two golden retrievers, a cockatiel, and a fish,
Halverson’s mother, Deb, puts it another way: “Joe Mauer’s from here,” she
said. “We don’t have to go to a big training center to do it—and we want to
prove it.”
A LITTLE SIGN
marks the switchback turn off St. Clair Avenue that leads to
Pleasant Arena, home of the St. Paul Figure Skating Club. A parking lot
separates the drab two-story building from the Ramsey County compost site,
with railroad tracks and I-35E beyond.
For years, hockey players termed the place Unpleasant Arena for its
bone-chilling cold. Now, an overhead heating element keeps the air inside
the rink at a consistent 55 degrees, perfect conditions for figure skaters,
who need softer ice to ease the jolt of landing jumps.
On this August morning, Halverson takes the ice shortly before 10 a.m. His
sleek, black workout clothing makes the lithe Halverson, who is 5-foot-7 and
130 pounds, appear scrawny. Yet it quickly becomes obvious that Halverson is
the most accomplished skater on the ice. He glides through the first lap of
his warm-up skate faster and smoother than any of other teens and preteens
with whom he’s sharing this session.
Adolescent figure skaters can often be self-absorbed and surly, the
predictable result of constantly being told how special they are. Not
Halverson. In between spins and jumps, he stands and applauds other skaters.
“He always cheers for the other kids,” says Eidson, who is also the club’s
program director. “Some rinks, they’ll just cheer for the good kids. He
treats them all as equals, and with respect.”
Club skaters are required to formally thank their coaches before leaving the
ice. Halverson does so with a flourish, skating to Eidson and raising his
right arm as if finishing a dance move in a Broadway show. “You never have
to remind him to do that,” Eidson says. “Some kids do it because they have
to. When Eliot does it, it’s genuine. He really means it. That’s one of his
best qualities in identifying him and working with him—and one of his best
qualities when he competes. The judges can see that.”
That Halverson took to skating at all still stumps his parents. Born in
Colombia, Eliot is the middle child of three unrelated South American kids
adopted by Phil and Deb Halverson. The 18-year-old Ian, Eliot’s older
brother, was also born in Colombia, while Mariah, 13, is from Paraguay. Both
parents say that at 6, Eliot began imitating figure skaters he saw on
television. Not long after, he asked for ice skates, which he taught himself
to use on the pond behind their house. Each year on Super Bowl Sunday, the
Halversons and their neighbors held a mini-Olympics. Eliot quickly became
the star attraction. “His mother and I would watch him skate, and look at
each other when he would do things, and say, ‘Did you see that?’” says Phil
Halverson. “He was doing jumps and spins, and I’m thinking to myself, Do
other kids do these things? I had no frame of reference. I was thinking
that it seemed quite remarkable.” When Deb took Eliot to Minnetonka for his
first lessons, he saw pictures of Trenary. Amazed that someone from
Minnesota had skated in the Olympics, he soon made it his goal, too.
His parents, who separated in 1999 and divorced in 2003, have remained
supportive. Phil, an allergist who lives in Maple Grove, has since
remarried, and Eliot spends every other weekend with the family. Deb sold
her Maple Grove townhouse three years ago to buy the St. Paul bungalow,
which is within walking distance of Pleasant Arena. She works two part-time
jobs and home-schools Eliot and his sister. “My parents were separated when
I was 8,” says Eliot. “I had to go through things a lot of 8-year-olds
didn’t have to go through...[but] I’m lucky I have two different families
that want the best for me—on and off the ice.”
PICK AN ICE RINK anywhere in Minnesota, and chances are it was once home to
a future Division I college hockey or NHL player. But a world-class figure
skater? You’d have better luck finding a world-class mountain climber.
Though Minnesota has produced novice and junior champions, few have seen
success as seniors, the top level.
At Pleasant Arena, 70 banners hang from the rafters, honoring the St. Paul
Figure Skating Club’s national champions and international qualifiers going
back to 1939. But the club’s Olympians fit on one banner: John Lettengarver,
a fourth-place finisher in 1948, and the pairs team of Janet Gerhauser and
John Nightingale, who were sixth in 1952.
Gerhauser, now Janet Carpenter, still lives in the Twin Cities and has been
a skating judge for many years. She has no explanation for the dearth of
Minnesota Olympians, but believes Halverson has a good shot to make the
games. “It’s really unlimited what he can do,” she says.
What he has done already is extraordinary. Halverson is one of only nine men
since 1932 who’ve won national novice and junior titles in back-to-back
years, a list that includes two-time Olympic gold medalist Dick Button,
Lettengarver, and defending senior national champion Evan Lysacek.
Not unlike their young peers in tennis or gymnastics, ambitious young figure
skaters often relocate to find the right coach, the right training site, the
right choreographer. But no one who knows Halverson expects that to happen.
Part of the reason is that Halverson feels he doesn’t need to. Until last
year, world-famous Russian coach Alexei Mishin made annual visits to the
Twin Cities for clinics, which Halverson relished. Last summer, when
Halverson had trouble mastering a triple axel—a jump he needed to be
competitive as a senior—Engelking and Halverson flew to Colorado Springs to
work with respected coach Kathy Casey at the Olympic Training Center.
Several years ago, Eidson tapped Svetlana Kulikova, a young Russian ice
dancer-turned-choreographer based in Connecticut, to work with Halverson.
“Two peas in a pod,” Eidson calls them. Last summer, Halverson flew to
Connecticut to work with Kulikova, and she came here in October. “If Eliot
needs something, we’ll get it for him,” says Eidson.
This season, Halverson took an important developmental step by moving up to
the senior level in national competitions, though he still competes as a
junior internationally. That’s not unheard of—Michelle Kwan did it, too—but
it comes with financial risk. As the U.S. junior champion, Halverson earned
a $10,000 stipend from U.S. Figure Skating toward his yearly expenses. To
maintain that funding, he must finish at least fourth at the St. Paul event
this month, which will be difficult. It took Lysacek, for example, five
years to make the top four at the highest level after winning a junior
title. “It’s a little scary, I guess,” Halverson says, but “I needed a new
goal.”
Last year, Halverson earned bronze medals in his first two international
events. This year, attempting more difficult programs, he took fifth and
seventh. “We didn’t place as well as last year,” Engelking says, “but we’re
happy with the improvement in his skating.”
The seasons ahead will get tougher for Halverson, competitively and
financially. Halverson says he is looking toward the 2010 Olympics in
Vancouver, though 2014, when he’ll be 23, may be more achievable. Unlike
their female counterparts, male figure skaters take longer to develop.
Halverson doesn’t yet have the strength to hang with the world’s best.
This month’s U.S. Figure Skating Championships will provide Halverson his
biggest exposure yet. It will also be the biggest test of Halverson’s
hometown strategy, perhaps giving hope to those who’d like to see another
Olympian’s banner hang from the rafters of Pleasant Arena.
Pat Borzi is a Minneapolis-based
freelance writer. He wrote about the Olympic curling team for the February
2006 issue of Minnesota Monthly.
-
 Star
Tribune Video - (Rohene
Ward)
Figure skater Rohene Ward, 24, from
Minneapolis' North Side talks about his start on the ice and his hopes for
the future, including the 2010 Olympics. Ward will compete next week in the
U.S. Figure Skating Championships in St. Paul.
-
KARE
Channel 11 Extra video feature titled "Practice
Makes Perfect" (Jan. 17, 2008): (Rohene
Ward)
This five-minute story on Rohene includes footage of him skating in April
1996 as well as practicing for 2008 Nationals, a visit to his old
neighborhood, and quotes from his coach, Page Lipe.
Story -
Figure
skater from North Minneapolis is ready to "Xcel"
By
Scott Seroka,
KARE 11 News
There was no roadmap to figure
skating glory, yet, somehow, Rohene Ward has found his way down that path.
With the help of dozens of people along the way, the kid from North
Minneapolis will have yet another big night on the ice, under the lights,
next week. But this time, he'll be home.
"Skating is a privilege, it kept me out of the streets, it was an escape
route for me really, ultimately," Ward says. He's skated in national
competitions, starred in international shows and competitions, and now has
his sights set on the Olympics.
As a ten-year-old, a wide-eyed Ward arrived at the Parade Ice Garden.
Instead of grabbing a hockey stick, Ward worked on speed and spins and
jumps. Gailene Norwood noticed Rohene's drive and desire right away. "He's
got it, he loves it, he's got the determination," she told KARE 11 in 1996.
Norwood introduced Ward to fellow coach Page Lipe. "He has a lot of joy to
him that he passes on to other people which is what I saw in him when he was
little," Lipe told us after one of the pair's grueling practice sessions.
It hasn't always been easy, but it's been easier for Ward, with Lipe by his
side for the past 13 years.
"It's been very challenging to watch somebody go through so many ups and
down. With the grace of a lot of people he was able to continue, there were
times he almost gave up on himself and he didn't," Lipe recalled.
A number of people have helped Ward with the financial struggles that came
with paying coaches and buying ice time.
The thing about Ward is that he tends to wear his heart on his sleeve. You
can see it in the way he skates with passion. When asked about Coach Lipe,
Ward also gets a little emotional.
"If I was ever to disappoint her, I think that I would probably never
forgive myself. I think that's why I changed my life around in the last
couple of years," Ward explained.
While Page Lipe's support and guidance is one constant in his life, other
aspects have changed dramatically. Walking by his old home in North
Minneapolis, Ward was disappointed with the way his old neighborhood looked.
"It looks dead, there's not anything going on, everything's boarded up,
everything is for sale and foreclosed," he said. "Skating was my motivation,
I just lived over here, I just grew up and this is where I came from, I'm
definitely not ashamed of it. You learn how to deal with adversity and you
learn how to stand up for yourself. That's how you become who you are and
who you want people to know you as," Ward explained.
Kirsten Olson certainly knows who Rohene is, and where he came from. Olson
is Ward's student, and a world-class skater herself. Like her mentor, she
will also be competing at the National Figure Skating Championships at the
Xcel Energy center later this month.
"He has such style and presence on the ice that it's almost ridiculous,"
pupil said of her coach.
Ward will have the chance to show the world once again why he's inspired so
many people over the past 13 or 14 years.
"Whether I skate well or skate bad, I'm still sharing my gift with other
people. I believe I'm successful already," Ward said.
-
Local
Skater Becomes Mentor For Fledgling Skater (Rohene
Ward)
Jan 14, 2008 8:23 am US/Central
Mike Max
 ST.
PAUL (WCCO) ― Rohene Ward was just a young and upcoming skater when we first
met him 10 years ago. Now, at the age of 24, he is set to compete in the
upcoming U.S. Figure Skating Championships at the Xcel Energy Center in St.
Paul.
At the same time, he's also coaching another young skater anxious for her
moment in the spotlight.
When we caught up with Ward, he had just begun his second practice session
of the day at the Parade Ice Garden, putting the final touches on his long
and short programs that he'll perform later this month.
It will be his fourth appearance in the championships but his first in front
of friends and family on home ice.
"It's been a long time coming for this moment," said Ward. "I'm not putting
pressure on myself, I just want to enjoy being prepared for once."
Page Lipe, who has been coaching Ward for 13 years, said his creativity is
one of his greatest assets.
"With the new judging system, we've actually had to take out some of his
amazing things that he does, just because there's no time with all the
bullet points and the checklists of what you have to go through. But still,
his artistry is amazing and little nuances and how he carries himself," she
said, noting one of his more unusual moves: a dancer's split on the ice.
Not everybody can compete and coach at the same time, either, but Rohene is
both a pupil and a teacher these days. He started coaching Kirsten Olson
this past June, his first competitive skater in five years of coaching.
Rohene also choreographs programs for both Olson and himself as well. His
dual role as a student and teacher has appeared to be beneficial for
everyone on and off the ice.
"She's helped me out a lot on the ice, because I have to make sure that I
have to show her that what I'm telling her is true," said Rohene. "You know
how people say, 'Do as I say, not as I did?' I don't want that to be the
case."
"It's nice to have somebody who I know has been there, and been there now,
in the present time, to be there and be able to do all of this crazy good
stuff on the ice," said Olson.
"Watching him coach her on all the technical stuff and training programs has
been really fun for me because I'll skate by them and I'll hear him telling
her something that I told him this morning," said Lipe. "That process of
having him tell her the same thing, I'll know it's in his head."
After countless hours spent at the rink practicing and now coaching, Ward
said he feels he's ready for the home ice edge in St. Paul.
-
KSPT-TV - Video
(Rohene
Ward and Eliot
Halverson)
MINNPOST.com:
All eyes on Mpls. figure skater
In the time it took Rohene Ward to hand the CD with his program music to an
Xcel Energy Center worker and skate onto the ice, six people took seats
about 15 rows up, at the end of the rink where one of the hockey goals is
usually anchored.
They anticipated magic.
That's the effect the athletic, enigmatic Ward has on people. Of the eight
Minnesotans who qualified for next week's U.S. Figure Skating Championships
at Xcel in junior and senior events, the 24-year-old Ward is the one with
the chance to make the biggest splash among the spectators, even if he
doesn't come within 10 places of the senior men's medal stand.
Ward's spectacular jumps and undeniable charisma have long made him a crowd
favorite. In this specially arranged practice session last month for six of
the qualifiers, Ward stood out, and not just because he was the only skater
of color in the house.
Minnesotan Rohene Ward likely to wow folks
Dressed in a gray sleeveless shirt and black tights to accentuate his
muscular build, Ward stumbled trying to land a quadruple toe loop, the most
difficult jump in his program. But otherwise, his speed and grace brought
smiles to the faces of those watching, even several members of the event's
media relations staff.
If you follow figure skating and have never heard of Ward, who grew up in
North Minneapolis, there's an explanation. For a variety of reasons — a lack
of maturity and shaky confidence, to name two — Ward has never excelled on a
big stage, despite potential that persuaded Robin Wagner, who coached 2002
Olympic gold medalist Sarah Hughes, to train him for a short time. Ward
washed out in two previous appearances at nationals, finishing 16th in 2004
and 17th in 2006. He failed to qualify in 2005 and again last season.
But after rededicating himself to training for more than a year, Ward
secured a St. Paul berth with a strong second at the Midwestern Sectionals.
Now, Ward feels primed to put on a show next week.
"You can expect a lot of energy," Ward said. "You can expect to have a good
time, because I'm going to have a good time. My goal is to rock out and have
fun."
For Ward and the rest of the Minnesota qualifiers, the championships, which
begin Sunday and run through Jan. 27, should provide a glimpse into how much
elite figure skating is progressing here.
Since 1952, Minnesota has sent only one figure skater to the Olympics,
Minnetonka's Jill Trenary in 1988. And that came with an asterisk. Trenary
moved to Colorado Springs, Colo., to train with the legendary Carlo Fassi,
who helped turn Peggy Fleming and Dorothy Hamill into gold medalists and
American icons.
State's coaching and training ranks stand out
It's far too early to say whether any of this year's Minnesota qualifiers
will be in the mix for the 2010 or 2014 Games. But the success they've had,
mainly at the novice and junior levels, indicates the kind of coaching and
training available in clubs throughout the state.
"Figure skating is a big thing here," said Kirsten Olson, 16, of Savage, who
qualified in junior ladies. "I don't think people really realize it here, if
they aren't skaters. It's a completely different world."
(Perhaps you've seen Olson before. In the 2005 movie "Ice Princess," a
Disney skating vehicle starring Joan Cusack and Kim Cattrall, she played
little Nikki Fletcher, the so-called "jumping shrimp.")
The U.S. Figure Skating Association website lists 54 Minnesota clubs from
all parts of the state, from Albert Lea to Thief River Falls to
International Falls. Twenty-three are based within 50 miles of the Twin
Cities, including Shattuck-St. Mary's, the boarding school in Faribault
better known in athletic circles for producing such hockey players as Sidney
Crosby and Zach Parise.
Five Minnesota clubs contributed to the national contingent — St. Paul,
Braemar-City of Lakes, Duluth, Red River Valley and the Starlight Ice
Dancing Club. Olson, who transferred from Shattuck-St. Mary's to Burnsville
High for this school year, lists no club affiliation, while two others train
with a fast-rising elite club in Ellerton, Fla., near Bradenton.
"It's not like one club has so many skaters," said Minnetonka's Alex
Johnson, 17, the national novice men's runner-up in 2007 and this year's
Midwestern Sectional junior champion. "Many clubs are getting where they
have a few top skaters who compete at this level."
A few clubs even draw from out of state, the surest sign of an up-and-coming
program. St. Paul Figure Skating Club director Ann Eidson says her
organization, based at Pleasant Arena, has skaters from South Africa and
England, as well as Alaska, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Iowa and Florida. Novice
ladies qualifier Samiera Abou-Nasr is from Montana. But the club's brightest
prospect lives within walking distance of the arena — 17-year-old Eliot
Halverson, who won national novice and junior championships the last two
years and will compete as a senior at nationals.
Three years ago, Shattuck hired nationally respected coach Diana Ronayne to
start the figure skating program, the nation's first at a private boarding
school. The 13 girls and two boys in the program come from as far away as
Japan, Mexico and Mongolia. Ronayne, who formerly coached in Colorado
Springs, is impressed with what she sees from Minnesota clubs.
"To produce top-level figure skating, you need the right mixture of arena
situations, where arena management and the figure-skating community work
together," she said in a telephone interview. "And you have to have a
qualified and interested coach to build skaters to that level. It's a real
elusive combination." Ronayne said she sees that in several Minnesota clubs,
among them St. Paul and Braemar.
Minnesota skaters root for each other
Minnesota's skaters are a tight-knit bunch, too, having built bonds at
previous competitions. At the Xcel practice, Olson politely stopped an
interview to take a cell phone call from Halverson, who was helping track
down a misplaced camera. Johnson, a Braemar member, said the skaters
generally ignore club affiliations and root for each other.
"It's really good," Johnson said. "When we go to competitions, it's like
Minnesota pride."
"Pretty much all of the skaters from Minnesota are pretty good friends with
each other," added Olson. "Most of us made it out of sectionals, which is
great, just awesome. Last year, at (nationals in) Spokane, I think there was
only one skater from Washington. We have a lot more than that."
A few could find themselves on the medal podium, too. In a sport where two
or three points generally separate finalists, Johnson won his junior
sectional by nearly 33 points. He could give Minnesota its second
consecutive junior men's champion. In senior pairs, Moorhead's Mark Ladwig
and his partner, Amanda Evora of Sugar Land, Texas, were fourth at nationals
last year.
Oakdale's Michael Chau and partner Tracy Tanovich won the national novice
pairs title last year when Tanovich, of Bradenton, Fla., was just 10. (He
was 16). This season, they moved up to junior pairs and won the Eastern
Sectional.
The senior ladies draw features two skaters from the Duluth Skating Club.
Molly Oberstar, the Midwestern Sectional champion who also trains in St.
Paul, should be a medal contender. Angie Lien, 27, will be the oldest
competitor in the Minnesota contingent.
Among the senior men, the 5-foot-6 1/2 Halverson finds himself among the
youngest and lightest skaters in the division, which puts him at a
disadvantage. But after his Xcel practice, Halverson — born in Colombia and
adopted by Minnesota parents as an infant — took in the scene and imagined
skating in front of a filled arena, he couldn't stop smiling.
"You have no idea how excited I am," he said.
Expect Halverson and Ward to be among the crowd favorites. Ward, the son of
an African-American father and Puerto Rican mother, is actually pulling
double duty. He also coaches Olson, which Ward credits with helping his own
skating. Ward had to be the mature, responsible, resilient one in their
coach-student relationship.
Ward said he even altered his diet, though he made an exception to devour
the slice of pepperoni pizza his cousin Riana Aulet handed him after he
skated.
"Years ago, I would convince myself I was prepared when I wasn't," Ward
said. "Now, I am prepared. Now, it's a true, real belief. In the back of my
mind, I was always like, 'Are you ready?' I don't have that doubt anymore."
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Latino International Skating Coalition