THE LAST NATIONALS (Chapter 164)

One of the nicest things to Sophia and Warren about their last ever National Championships was where it was being held-Boston.

The two of them still kept active in the online skating community. Sophia was responding to a post on the mailing list about what hotel skaters would be staying in while in Boston.

"None, half of them!" Sophia told the folks on the list. "Warren and I are staying at home, as are Ryan and Amy. Tom's staying at Warren's parents' house. You guys'll have to just grab your autographs at the Fleet Center!"

This was true enough, though Sophia and Warren did go into the hotel when everyone arrived, to hang out. They got dinner in the hotel restaurant on that Sunday with Liz and Crash. Crash hadn't returned to law school yet after Christmas break, so would be able to attend.

"What about the Olympics?" Warren asked him.

"I've worked that out. I've told my professors about it, and they're going to have me a bit ahead. Sorry, though, I won't be coming out in time to see you guys-I'm only coming for the ladies' event."

"Ah, well," Sophia said. "Guess you can't miss too much class."

"Exactly."


The competition began on Tuesday, with the first Dance OD, the quickstep. Warren and Sophia had no problems with it, and easily won. Amy and Ryan were second, with Courtney and Evan third.

Wednesday afternoon was the pairs' short program, in which Brett and Andrea romped. Then, that evening, the dancers went back out onto the ice with the Rock and Roll OD.

Warren and Sophie again took first place-and it wasn't close. In fact, the Ramones OD got them straight 6.0 marks for technical merit. The crowd was on its feet 30 seconds before it was over-and they exploded at the end. Amy and Ryan again held off Courtney and Evan for second place.

Thursday afternoon began the men's competition with the short program, and Tom had no challengers. Same went that evening with Brett and Andrea in the pairs' long program, as they easily won the national championship.

The drama started Friday afternoon, with the ladies' short program.

Since raising her technical level four years before, Liz Cushman had practically been unchallenged, up until her loss to Allison Bowman a month before at the Grand Prix finals. Liz had, for those for years, had the most challenging programs technically in the world.

However, Allison had caught up. Especially in the short program, where the jumps were limited. Liz did the hardest combination being done in the short program, triple lutz-triple toe. Only one other ladies' skater in the world was doing that-but that one was Allison. 

This still usually wasn't a problem-because Liz had been the best artistic skater in the world for years. But Allison had caught up there, too.

Liz skated first, and had a little problem. It was the slightest of glitches-her free leg came down early on the back end of her combination. The lutz was clean, the takeoff of the toe was clean, she landed on one foot-but that second foot came right down, and she almost came to a complete stop. It was a clean jump, but it wasn't textbook. The rest of her program was.

Allison's entire short program, however was textbook. The combination could've been used on a jump training film. The rest of the program was just as good. And, after a year and a half of training with Terry and working on choreography with Warren and Sophia, her confidence had increased exponentially. It was close, 6 judges to 3, but Allison defeated Liz in the short program.

Friday night was the free dance.

Sophie and Warren's coronation was never in doubt. The Singing In The Rain program was a wonderfully constructed program, and the duo delivered it flawlessly. This time it was the second mark, the presentation mark, that received sixes, seven out of nine. The technical mark received one six, with the rest 5.9s.

The drama in dance was, who would win the silver? Ryan and Amy had the lead, but, if Evan and Courtney beat them in the free dance, they would win the silver. That's exactly what happened. It was close, but Evan and Courtney won the silver medal, Ryan and Amy the bronze. Both teams would be joining Warren and Sophia at the Olympics.

"Let's see," Courtney said to Ryan afterwards. "You did better in the Grand Prix and made it to the final. We beat you at Nationals. You will, no doubt, beat us at the Olympics; and then we'll beat you at Worlds. And then we'll get to do this for four more years."

"It'll be fun," Ryan laughed. "Hey, at least we're all going to the Olympics. You and I and Amy have never been."

"I know, I can't wait!"

Saturday afternoon was the free skate for the men. Tom wasn't challenged at all, and skated an excellent program, earning an easy victory.

The ladies came down to Allison and Liz. Allison had the lead, but whichever one of them won the free skate would win the National Championship. Allison skated first, and skated wonderfully, earning excellent marks. But then Liz came out onto the ice and skated like a house afire. She landed everything perfectly, and skated the rest of her program with verve and flair. It was a clear victory. Both she and Allison would have their next battle at the Olympics.

Afterwards, sitting with Tom, Kristin, Warren, Sophie, and her boyfriend Eddie, Allison was astounded at how close she came. "Liz Cushman is almost my idol, for goodness' sake. And how close did I come to beating her? One slip-if she had one slip, I would've won. I'm almost stunned."

"I've been watching you skate for years," Eddie told her. "And God knows I'm no expert, but even I can see the difference in the past two years, since you left that Ron Aztov bozo."

"I know, but-getting better is one thing. Getting to Liz Cushman's level, or almost? That's another thing entirely. I know I beat her at the Grand Prix, but that's because she blew up, that's different. She skated clean, and I still took two judges, and was within a tenth with five more. That's unbelievable to me."

"You earned it," Tom told her. "I see the work you put in at the rink every day."

"Thanks," Allison told him.

"We're neutral in all this, obviously," Sophia said, "but the ladies' competition at the Olympics ought to be a barnburner!"

"All I want to do is skate clean and get on the podium. I'm in this for the next four years. I skate two clean programs, I'm happy," Allison said.

"That's the spirit," Eddie agreed.


The exhibitions were Sunday. Warren and Sophia did the two programs they had worked on for the pro-ams: the Beach Boys medley, and the Lisa Lynne/Enya program. Both went over very well. The rest of the skaters also enjoyed the exhibitions, and all went back to their respective rinks to prepare.

The Olympics were a month away.




