2010 U.S. Junior Figure Skating Championships in Strongsville, Ohio this week
US Figure Skating December 14, 2009
Colorado Springs, Colo. - The 2010 U.S. Junior Figure Skating Championships will take place this week, Dec. 14-19, 2010, at the Hoover Arena, operated by IceLand USA, in Strongsville, Ohio. Approximately 300 figure skaters from across the country are expected to compete at the four-day event, which is being presented locally by University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital and hosted for the second time since 2007 by The Greater Cleveland Council of Figure Skating Clubs.
Six returning champions and 16 skaters with Ohio ties will compete in the event, which kicks off Wednesday with the intermediate men's and ladies qualifying rounds. Competition concludes Saturday with the intermediate ladies free skate.
Tickets may be purchased at the arena box office during the event, or by completing the order form on the event web site, www.clevelandskating.com/jrnationals, and submitting it via fax to 440.777.1706 or e-mail to info@clevelandskating.org. Individual event tickets begin at $15. All-event passes are $50 (Wednesday-Saturday) and $35 (Thursday-Saturday). Discounted tickets are available for senior citizens and children ages 6-12. All seats are general admission.
Icenetwork.com will provide live and on-demand video coverage of the event for "Season Pass" subscribers within the contiguous United States. The site will also feature live results, recaps and photo galleries for subscribers and nonsubscribers. Once icenetwork.com's video schedule is confirmed, it will be available at http://web.icenetwork.com/events/detail.jsp?id=65670.
The U.S. Junior Figure Skating Championships crown the U.S. champion in ladies, men's, pairs and ice dancing in the first two levels of the U.S. Figure Skating competitive structure: juvenile and intermediate. The remaining three levels - novice, junior and senior - will compete Jan. 14-24, 2010, at the 2010 AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Spokane, Wash.
Singles skaters qualified for the U.S. Junior Championships by finishing in the top four at one of nine regional championships held throughout the country in October, while pairs and ice dancing teams qualified by finishing in the top eight at one of three sectional championships held throughout the country last month.
Past champions of the event include reigning World champion and two-time U.S. champion Evan Lysacek, and 2009 U.S. and Grand Prix Final ice dancing champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White.
The U.S. Junior Championships were held in Strongsville once before, in 2007. The 2009 U.S. Championships took place in neighboring Cleveland, Ohio, which also hosted the event in 2000, 1964 and 1940.
An official events schedule can be found on the Greater Cleveland Council of Figure Skating Clubs' event web site at www.clevelandskating.com/jrnationals.
About U.S. Figure Skating
U.S. Figure Skating is the national governing body for the sport of figure skating in the United States as recognized by the United States Olympic Committee and the International Skating Union. U.S. Figure Skating is comprised of more than 700 member clubs, collegiate clubs, and school-affiliated clubs and more than 900 registered Basic Skills skating schools representing approximately 170,000 members. U.S. Figure Skating is charged with the development of the sport on all levels within the United States including athletes, officials, sanctioning of events and exhibitions, and establishing the rules and guidelines by which the sport is governed.