Halverson skates like a dream in short program

There is nothing more Eliot Halverson would like to do than see double.

The 16-year-old from St. Paul, Minn., was cool, calm and positively pleased Wednesday afternoon after taking the lead after the Junior Men’s short program before a standing room crowd of 4,000 at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships at the Convention Center.

“When I finished and heard the crowd, I definitely felt like it was how I wanted it to go,” the 2006 Novice champion said. “Through the whole year I try to envision what it’s going to feel like, what it’s going to look like at the end of the year. I try to keep that picture in my mind. This matched it perfectly.”

Emily Samuelson and Evan Bates were also poised, skating an outstanding final dance to win the Junior Dance by .17 points over the sister-brother pair of Madison and Keiffer Hubbell.

Samuelson and Bates dropped into second after falling during their original dance but rebounded to score 81.27 points for a total of 167.65. The Hubbells scored 78.86 points, but it wasn’t quite enough to hold off their rivals.

A crowd of 6,280 was on hand at the Arena for the Junior Dance finals.

Repeat performance

Halverson hopes for déjÀ vu after the long program at the Arena Friday morning.

“I can say I’m not being pressured from anyone else, but as figure skaters we put pressure on ourselves,” he said. “I have more pressure on myself to skate two clean programs. I’ve made half my goals.”

Halverson scored 65.12 points, good for a healthy but not insurmountable lead over Brandon Mroz from St. Louis.

Mroz, second to Halverson last year, was at 61.76.

There was another gap to a tight group for third.

Douglas Razzano, 18, of Chandler, Ariz., is at 58.31, followed by Curran Oi of Wellesley, Mass., at 58.27 and Princeton Kwog of Fremont, Calif., at 57.39.

Halverson was in control from his slow, grand entrance and he was elegant throughout his skate to Hana’s Eyes.

Mroz, 16, who skated to Improvisio just before Halverson, was fast and powerful but not quite as controlled in his spins.

“I think it turned out very strong,” Mroz said. “It’s been gradually getting better every time I skate it. There are a few flaws in it. I could have maybe attacked it a little better, but I got better levels in this program. It turned out really strong. I can’t complain.”

The biggest difference was Halverson using a difficult entry into his triple lutz-triple toe combination.

“It’s something that’s always worked for me and when I feel comfortable I skate better,” he said.

Only six of the 15 skaters successfully hit their triple-triple jumps.

Neither Halverson nor Mroz are quite ready to put a triple axel into their long program.

“For my confidence level, I just wanted to skate a clean program and be happy with the end results,” Halverson said. “The triple axel, it’s still a new jump, it’s still a big jump, it’s still a scary jump. Definitely in the future I’ll be doing a triple axel.”

Too close to call

Samuelson, 16, and Bates, 17, led after the two compulsory dances but trailed by more than three points entering the finals.

“It was a close competition, we were very lucky,” Bates said after their free dance to a Latin medley.

They were second at Nationals last year – as were the Hubbells at the Novice level.

“We were very happy,” Madison Hubbell said. “We didn’t have any expectations about placement. There are many amazing teams. We were really just coming here hoping to improve upon our performance.”

The Hubbells skated to Josh Groban’s “Canto Alla Vita.”

The battle for bronze, though 15 points back of the leaders, was just as tight.

The new pairing of Lynn Kriengkraiut and Logan Giulietti-Schmitt scored 142.92 to edge Piper Gilles and Tim McKernan by .15 points. Shannon Wingle and Ryan Devereaux were just another .39 back.

“It was nerve wracking,” Giulietti-Schmitt said. “We skated very well.”

They performed to the “Take the Lead” soundtrack.

“We didn’t have any expectations we just wanted to skate our best,” Kriengkraiut said. “This being our first year, it’s fun being at nationals competing.”