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Major League Figure Skating(R) |
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MLFSkating.com - The Official Site of Major League Figure Skating |
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MAJOR LEAGUE FIGURE SKATING
CHAMPIONSHIPS |
By: Claudyne Cassella Hutchinson
The Major League Figure Skating Championships and
Extravaganza was recently held at the Lakeland Center in
Lakeland Florida from June 4-6 featuring 30 professional skaters representing the
United States, Canada, Russia, France, and Germany
competing not individually but in a “Team Format”. It
was sizzling hot outside while inside, spectators cooled
off and enjoyed watching talented skaters in all phases
of the competition. Norm Proft and Craig Heath had to
withdraw due to injuries. Technical Judge for this event
was Jim Millns. The Quality Judges were Kerry Leitch,
and Cindy Baranowski. Referee for the event was Founder
and Commissioner of MLFS, Jon Rubin. Ryan Hunka,
Director of Athletes and Program Development announced
the event. Official photographer for this event was Andy
Meng. |
> These teams were indeed exciting as their names- ADRENALINE headed by Captain Kurt Fromknecht 11 times U.S. National Competitor ALLIANCE headed by Captain Katherina Rybowski (Germany Bronze Medalist) FIRE headed by Captain Jeff Langdon 1998 Olympian and 1997 Men’s Canadian Silver Medalist FUZION headed by Captain Scott Davis, 1993-94 U.S. National Men’s Champion and Three Times World Team Member QUANTUM headed by Captain Petr Barna, 1992 Olympic Bronze Medalist and European Men’s Champion VELOCITY headed by Captain Tonia Kwiatowski, 1996 Silver Ladies Medalist and Three Times World Team Member Other skaters who participated were Shepherd Clark the 1998 U.S. Pewter Medalist, and USFSA Gold Medalists, Meegan McDonald, Stephanie Sobota, and Melissa Gravell. We were treated to skaters who represented various ice shows such as Disney on Ice, Footloose on Ice, Beauty and the Beast, Holiday on Ice, Cinderella on Ice, Moscow Ballet on Ice, Footloose on Ice, Wizard of Oz on Ice, and other touring professional skating shows. What this competition featured was not only jumps and spins but also the versatility of skaters such as Jason Graetz’s awesome cantilever move, pair team of Svetlana Butova and Max Formin’s overhead lifts, and the team group numbers! > The inaugural event for team practice started on Thursday, June 3rd with an open clinic which explained the rules and format for the competition. On Friday and Saturday, June 4th and June 5th, teams skated head to head on six different events of the competition on approximately 2/3 of the rink surface. Each team wore team jackets and color coordinated costumes. Each team competed in the following events. The TEAM FREESKATE featured each team skating to a medley of the following popular artists, ADRENALINE skated to BILLY JOEL, ALLIANCE skated to QUEEN, FIRE skated to ELTON JOHN, FUZION skated to TOM JONES, QUANTUM skated to ROD STEWART, and VELOCITY skated to CHER. The teams also competed in the Jump Face Off, Spin Face Off, Technical Showdown, Artistic Interpretative, and the Add On Challenge. Each event was awarded specific points with teams skating against each other. (See Results above) During the intermissions and skating under Individual US Figure Skating ESCA and ISI Sanctions, skaters representing the Tampa Bay Skating Academy Countryside, Tampa Bay Skating Academy, Central Florida Figure Skating Club, Florida Goldcoast Figure Skating Club, Southwest Florida Figure Skating Club, Red River Valley Figure Skating Club and the Panthers Figure Skating Club were invited to participate in exhibitions. The Major League Figure Skating Ice Extravaganza scheduled for both Saturday and Sunday was a non-stop show of fantastic skating under show lights. Directed by Ryan Hunka, skaters were featured in solo and group numbers. Each number featured titles such as EXCITEMENT, DREAMS, AMAZEMENT, HOPE, INSPIRATION, FUN, UNITY, ENERGY, and CELEBRATE. The audience was treated to a performance by Albert Lucas, Juggling World Record Holder. It was amazing to see him juggle balls, hoops, rings, and other items on skates! Southwest Florida Figure Skating Club U.S. Senior Pairs competitors and 2003 Golden Spin Pair Champions Amanda Evora and Mark Ladwig, and 2004 U.S. Junior Pairs Champions Shantel Jordan and Jeremy Barrett, and Daniel Raad, U.S. Novice Men’s Competitor all skated to “Dreamweaver”. It was great for the audience to see how two pairs can skate simultaneously with lifts and death spirals while soloist Daniel Raad incorporated his program around the two pairs. After the show, the audience was invited to come down rink-side to take photos of the skaters and to have their program books autographed. In conclusion, the skaters really enjoyed this new team format of skating competition, featuring the strengths of each individual skater. Tonia Kwiatowski trained for six weeks prior to the event in between coaching and really didn’t feel the pressure of a solo competition. She enjoyed the team aspect of the event and had a wonderful time and hopes to see future events with Major League Figure Skating. Scott Davis who hopes to attend medical school in the fall also enjoyed the team format supporting other skaters on his team. It was a pleasure to see Petr Barna again, skating with controlled ease on the ice.
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MLFS Championship Teams
MLFS announces the
six Team Captains
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Scott Davis |
Tonia Kwiatkowski |
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Petr Barna 1992 Olympic Bronze Medalist |
Jeff
Langdon |
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Katharina Rybowski |
Norm Proft |
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| (c) Photo of Scott Davis by J. Barry Mittan |
For an overview of the "New and Improved" MLFS Match click here -> Event Overview
Major League Figure Skating was conceived to enhance, strengthen and grow the sport of Figure Skating. Major League Figure Skating is not a competitor to US Figure Skating, the ISU or any other skating organization. The fact is that almost 90% of skaters drop out of competitive figure skating between the ages of 13 and 20. With the additional opportunities Major League Figure Skating offers, a significant number of skaters will remain members of these organizations.
The more skaters we keep in skating, the stronger the top skaters will become. For example, the US Olympic Basketball and Hockey Teams are stronger because of the NBA and the NHL. This can be true for the US Figure Skating Team as well.
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MLFS Insider An Interview with Ryan Hunka - 1992 US Junior Men's Champion By Sylvia Rodemeyer |
MLFSTM Discussions Forums |
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| Ryan Hunka has already accomplished more on the ice and behind the scenes then most people involved in figure skating could ever aim to. Over the course of his career he won two National titles (junior and novice) and was a member of three World Junior Teams......Continue |
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| Copyright 2003 Major League Figure Skating, LLC. All rights
reserved. No portion of Mlfskating.com may be duplicated,
redistributed or manipulated in any form Major League Figure Skating and MLFS are Trademarks of Jonathan Rubin |
