Beekman, Nelson advance to sectionals

Ashley Beekman glided into the next round of figure skating competition.

Heidi Nelson literally made it in by the seat of her pants.

Both Spokane skaters, however, finished three days’ competition at the Northwest Pacific Regional Championships at Eagles Ice-A-Rena with the same satisfying outcome: qualifying for sectionals, finishing first and third, respectively, in ladies novice.

Representing the Lilac City Figure Skating Club, Beekman, 17, and Nelson, 13, will compete in the Pacific Coast Sectional, Nov. 14-18 in Seattle. The top four finishers will advance to the 2007 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Jan. 21-28, in Spokane.

In Saturday’s regional – which is one of nine – the long and willowy Beekman left no doubt in the free skate that she was well ahead in the 12-skater field. She began in first place after Friday’s short program, randomly picked the first-skater spot in the second group, and set the bar high with her elegant long program.

Beekman accumulated 101.74 points to second-place finisher Britt Olsen of the Tri-Cities FSC, who was well behind with 86.37 points.

Nelson began in second place and finished in third with 85.53 points. Fourth-place finisher Brett McCoubrey of Highland Skating Club also qualified for sectionals.

Beekman also finished first in artistry (37.18) to Nelson’s second-place 35.59.

Opening with a strong spiral sequence, Beekman’s most noticeable mistake came when she touched her right hand to the ice on a double lutz. But the Shadle Park High senior cleanly landed a double-axel, double-toe combination and a double-flip, double-loop, double-toe combination.

She played it safe late in the 3-minute program, opting for a single axel instead of another double axel.

“I began to relax after the combination (spin),” said Beekman, who always seems to keep her emotions in check.

Nelson, a petite eighth-grader at St. Matthews Lutheran School, got into trouble when she slipped on the takeoff of her death drop and landed on her rear end. Shortly after, while getting set to do a three-jump combination, she fell after the second jump, a double toe, and didn’t get off the third jump, a double loop.

“I still thought it was a good program,” said Randy Clark, Nelson’s coach. “But it wasn’t a clean program like she skated on Thursday and Friday.”

The Pacific Coast sectional is just one of three in the U.S. and will be at the Olympicview Arena in Mountlake Terrace, Wash. Beekman qualified for sectionals last year, finishing ninth after a second-place finish at regionals.

Nelson, a former U.S. Junior Figure Skating Championships competitor, will be a first-time novice skater at the sectional level. The novices are the lowest-skilled skaters who will compete at the Spokane nationals. The other divisions are senior (or Olympic level) and junior.

“Now it’s a whole new ballgame,” said Berkley Villard, Beekman’s coach. “We have a lot of work to do.”

Added Clark about what’s in store for his novice student in the next six weeks: “I just need her to keep being able to handle the pressure. The whole West Coast will be competing.”