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UD’s Kimmie Meissner leads after short program
9:08 a.m., Jan. 26, 2007--World Champion Kimmie Meissner of the University of Delaware Figure Skating Club leads the senior ladies competition after skating a strong short program Thursday night at the 2007 State Farm U.S. Figure Skating Championships being held in Spokane. Meissner, who finished second in the 2006 national championships and sixth in the Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy, before winning the world title, scored a personal best 65.69 points to take the lead over second place Bebe Liang (62.66 points) and third place Emily Hughes (62.32). The senior ladies free skate will be held Saturday. Two of Meissner's UD teammates also competed in the short program, with Melissa Bulanhagui finishing eighth with 52.64 points and Megan Williams-Stewart 17th with 44.95 points. The senior ladies free skate will be broadcast live by ABC from 4-6 p.m., Saturday. The network will air a championship recap from 12:30-2:30 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 4. Also Thursday, the men's senior short program was skated and UD's Shaun Rogers finished in fifth place with 67.34 points. UD's Jordan Miller is in 13th with 57.32 points, Craig Ratterree is in 14th with 55.80 points and Geoffry Varner is in 18th with 47.66 points. The senior men's free skate will be held Saturday following the senior ladies competition. It will be televised live by ESPN from 11 p.m.-1 a.m. Saturday. In senior dance, UD's Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov scored 91.10 points and stand second to Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto, with 100.84 points entering the free skate to be contested Friday night. UD teammates Kimberly Navarro and Brent Bommentre are in fourth place with 87.48 points and Kate Slattery and C.G. Lee are in 11th place with 66.94 points. Senior pairs skaters Bridget Namiotka and John Couglin will take the ice for their free skate on Friday afternoon. They are in seventh place with 50.91 points following the short program. ESPN2 will air the pairs free skate and the free dance from 11:30 p.m.-2 a.m., Friday. UD skaters Kaela Pflumm and Chris Pottenger finished fourth and Meg Byrne and Nate Bartholomay finished sixth in the junior pairs competition completed late Thursday afternoon. Photo by Kathy F. Atkinson |
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