CLEVELAND – Joylyn Yang and Jean-Luc Baker didn’t need years of practice to develop into a winning ice dance team.
Yang and Baker, both of Mukilteo, placed first among 30 teams in the Juvenile Dance category at the U.S. Junior National Figure Skating Championships held Nov. 29-Dec. 2.
The 10-year-old Yang and 13-year-old Baker, who practice at the Olympic View Training Center in Mountlake Terrace, have been skating together just 20 weeks. In fact, Yang relocated from San Francisco in July after the pair clicked during a two-day tryout, their coach, Sharon Jones Baker, said in a press release.
Sharon Jones Baker, a former Olympian, is Jean-Luc’s mother.
More than 370 skaters competed at the junior nationals, an annual event that crowns the national champion in ladies, men’s, pairs and ice dancing in the first two levels of U.S. Figure Skating’s competitive structure: juvenile and intermediate.
The remaining three levels – novice, junior and senior – are scheduled to compete at the 2007 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in January in Spokane.
Skaters qualified for the junior championships by finishing in the top four at one of nine regional competitions held throughout the country.
Gymnastics
Leading Edge teams sweep state championships: All three teams from Everett’s Leading Edge Gymnastics placed first in their respective levels at the Fall State Gymnastics Championships held Dec. 2-3 in Bellevue.
The Level 4 team finished with 114.20 points – the highest team score of the competition. The Level 5 team placed first with 112.45 points, and the Level 6 team finished first with 109.85.
The highest individual score was recorded by Brooke Allen of Mill Creek, who won the Level 4 10-year-old division with 38.225 points. Allen placed first on the bars (9.5), beam (9.75) and floor exercises (9.8).
Allison Moses of Everett won the Level 4 8-year-old division with 37.625 points, including firsts on the bars (9.5) and floor (9.45).
First-place finishes on the bars (9.4), beam (9.5) and floor (9.45) lifted Anna Mancao of Everett to an overall victory in the Level 4 11-year-old division.
Paula Parker of Everett was first on the bars (9.4) and the vault (9.5) en route to winning the Level 4 12-year-and-up division with an overall mark of 37.175.
In the Level 4 6-7-year-old division, Katrina Mueller of Lake Stevens placed first with a score of 37.125. She placed first in the beam (9.55) and floor (9.325).
Samantha Podlucky of Redmond placed first in the Level 5 10-year-old division with an overall mark of 37.95 after winning the bars (9.7), floor (9.3) and vault (9.425), and tying for first on the beam (9.525).
First-place finishes on the beam (9.550) and floor (9.325) helped lift Danielle Wilson of Marysville to an overall victory in the Level 6 11-year-old division.
Cross country
Youth runners shine at nationals: Two 11-year-olds, Jack Pearce of Lynnwood and Amy-Eloise Neale of Snohomish, placed in the top five of their respective divisions Saturday at the U.S. Track and Field Junior Olympic National Championships in Spokane.
Pearce, who runs for the Seattle-Based Rain City Flyers, was fourth out of more than 230 runners in the Midget Boys Division, finishing the 3,000-meter course in 10 minutes, 24.83 seconds.
Neale, who runs for the Snohomish Track Club, was fifth out of 232 competitors in the Midget Girls division, completing the 3,000-meter course in 11:04.53.
It was a big day for Snohomish Track Club runners, with Briahna Gibson, Sarah Whybark and Chase Byrd – all from Snohomish – also competing.
Gibson, 9, was 80th out of 173 runners in the Bantam Girls division, finishing the 3,000-meter course in 13:26.
Whybark, 13, was 80th out of 240 competitors in the Youth Girls division, completing the 4,000-meter course in 16:17.31.
Byrd, 13, placed 57th out of a field of 239 runners in the Youth Boys division, finishing the 4,000-meter course in 13:01.
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