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US Figure Skating News and Videos from Skate America The US Figure Skating website has several videos, pictures, and stories posted about Skate America which concluded Saturday, October 22nd, in Atlantic City, NJ. There are several videos of Amanda and Mark there as well so check out the link below to see all this great information. New photos and interviews are added everyday so check back often to find out more about the skating in Atlantic City. US Figure Skating-Skate America News and Photos Thoughts and Perspective about SA from Amanda & Mark (after the LP) Amanda Evora and Mark Ladwig had a rough first half to their Prokofiev's “Romeo and Juliet” routine. “Obviously our beginning was nothing how we wanted it,” Evora said. “I had a hard time recuperating during the slow part. I kept thinking ‘Oh my gosh, we've already fallen three times.' We calmed ourselves down, and we knew at the end we [needed] a strong finish. Finally we did. We did a strong ending.” “It was a great crowd,” Ladwig said. “I think I probably got too friendly with everybody instead of keeping myself within the boards.” For their first Grand Prix, the team looked at this as a learning experience. “We grew very well on practices, getting use to practices with a bigger stage,” Ladwig said. “The two of us really stepped up on the practices. Now putting it together with the program, we'd like to have done that. We've got a second chance, basically, next week*.” *Amanda & Mark will compete at Skate Canada in Newfoundland next weekend, Oct. 26th-29th, 2005. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Evora/Ladwig Replace Orscher/Lucash at Smart Ones Skate America (9/26/05) - U.S. Figure Skating announced today that U.S. pairs skaters Amanda Evora & Mark Ladwig will replace Katie Orscher & Garrett Lucash at 2005 Smart Ones Skate America. Orscher sustained a foot injury in June that prevented her and Lucash from training for much of the summer. The pair plans on skating at their next Grand Prix assignment, the Cup of China in Beijing, China, Nov. 3-6. Skate America, taking place in Atlantic City, N.J., Oct. 20-23, brings Evora & Ladwig's Grand Prix appearances this season to two. The pairs team will also compete at Skate Canada in St. John's Newfoundland, Canada, Oct. 27-30. Evora & Ladwig placed fifth at the 2005 State Farm U.S. Figure Skating Championships before placing fifth once again at the 2005 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships. Skate America is the first of six international stops in the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series. Each athlete is eligible to score points in two of the six scheduled events. The top six point-earners in each of the four disciplines then qualify for the Grand Prix Final in Tokyo, Japan, Dec. 16-18. Athletes will vie for a total of $180,000 at Skate America and $1.35 million in prize money throughout the series and the Grand Prix Final. Tickets for Skate America are now on sale and may be purchased at the Boardwalk Hall Box Office, all Ticketmaster locations, by calling 800.736.1420 or at www.ticketmaster.com. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Four Continents Articles and Review Reigning U.S. pairs champions Katie Orscher and Garrett Lucash took seventh at last year's Four Continents, but they are on a recent surge that could earn them a spot on the podium with a strong finish. The relatively new team of Amanda Evora & Mark Ladwig will be taking their first shot at a Four Continents Championships after placing fifth at the 2005 U.S. Championships. It is just their third international event following a first-place finish at the 2003 Golden Spin of Zagreb and a fifth at the 2004 Nebelhorn Trophy. Short Program: Amanda Evora & Mark Ladwig are in sixth after an up and down program. They had a nice double twist and spin, but they had trouble on the jumps. She fell on the throw triple loop, and both skaters underrotated the side-by-side triple Salchows. Long Program: Amanda Evora & Mark Ladwig moved up to fifth overall with an overall nice performance. They landed a triple twist, throw triple loop and throw triple Salchow. They also had an Axel lasso lift with a difficult entry. However, she landed forward on the side-by-side triple toes (into a double toe combination) and it was downgraded to a double. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nebelhorn Trophy Article and Review In their third season as a pair, Amanda Evora (Sugar Land, Texas) and Mark Ladwig (Fargo, N.D. & Moorhead, Minn.) will look to build upon their success from last season. They started strong with a gold medal performance at the Golden Spin of Zagreb and finished with a respectable 10th place finish at the 2004 U.S. Championships. Short Program: The U.S. pairs had a great showing on the first night of competition with Marcy Hinzmann and Aaron Parcham winning the segment with 42.77 points. Amanda Evora & Mark Ladwig finished third with a total score of 37.15. Both couples skated under the new judging system for the first time. Evora and Ladwig executed an interesting overhead lift in their short program. The pair said they planned the program with the new judging system in mind. "Making the elements more difficult so that the total score goes up — that's the only way to win.” Long Program: The U.S. team of Amanda Evora and Mark Ladwig, third after the short program, risked a lot in the free skate but had some mistakes. They came in fifth overall with 128.50 points. "For our next competition — the U.S. sectionals — we've got to work on our jumps and concentrate on continuing to improve on our good points like our death spirals and the side-by-side spins," Ladwig said. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Information Courtesy of US Figure Skating |