Shibutanis Claim Second Straight U.S. Title with Novice Win
By Daphne Backman
Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani captured the audience and the gold medal in the novice ice dancing event at the 2007 State Farm U.S. Championships Monday night at Spokane Arena, scoring 108.42 points for their “Memoirs of a Geisha” program.
The team was surprised with its win in its first U.S. Championships.
“Just being here is a privilege itself,” Alex said. “I’m really proud of the way we skated. This week has been a wonderful experience. Right now, I’m just in a little state of shock.”
The Shibutanis, who won the 2006 U.S. intermediate title, skated an elegant and technically sound performance that included effortless lifts and good speed.
The program had special meaning for Maia and Alex.
”We kind of tossed (the “Geisha” program idea) back and forth with Tom (Dickson),” Maia said.
”We were trying to come up with something that would be unique, something that we could really feel a connection to,” Alex said. “With our Japanese heritage, we thought we could make a connection to the audience – and between ourselves – that would really make the program something special for us.”
Winning the gold medal earned the Shibutanis an opportunity to skate in the Exhibition of Champions on Sunday. The duo said it is excited to be sharing the ice with so many of the athletes they have been watching on television.
Sara Bailey (Charter Oak FSC) and Kyle Herring (University of Delaware FSC) finished second with a score of 106.36. Their performance to “Harem” by Sarah Brightman was well choreographed and appealing to the audience, but was marred by an unexpected stumble by Herring just before the ending. The relatively new team had limited expectations heading into the season and was pleased with its results at these championships.
“At the start of the season, we really weren’t even thinking about nationals,” Herring said. “As our season progressed, we were hoping to skate our best and maybe be middle of the pack and hope for good results.”
Two additional University of Delaware FSC teams took the final two steps on the novice ice dancing podium. Anastasia Cannuscio and Dean Copely won the bronze (101.40) with their energetic performance to music from “Mr. and Mrs. Smith.”
Isabella Cannuscio and Ian Lorello finished third in the free dance and fourth overall, scoring 100.78.
Cannuscio and Copely watched “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” and put themselves into character when skating based on the performances of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, who portrayed assassins in the film.
Madison Chock and Greg Zuerlein finished fifth with Canton, Mich., training mates Megan Evans and Nathan Truesdell rounding out the top six.
Bailey and Herring were proud of their accomplishments and those of their training mates at this event.
“It’s amazing,” Bailey said. “It’s very exciting. Through the whole year we help to motivate and also be supportive of each other.”
“I think it’s really helping to bring dance back to University of Delaware with some big name teams to look up to while we’re there, and now we have each other to keep pushing further,” Herring said. “There was a time period where there were only a few dancers, and now it’s starting to build back up again.” |