Skating champs dazzle crowd at Penn Skate

National and international figure skating champions performed in PennSkate at the Class of 1923 ice rink Friday night. Pennskate, which Alpha Phi organized and which will benefit the Special Olympics of Philadelphia, marked the opening of the rinks 1993-'94 season. The program featured several different skating styles. It began with Robin Heckler and Jeff Tilley, who won the silver medal in junior pairs at this year's Olympics festival. Their first performance included a maneuver that helped pairs skaters Natalya Mishkutienok and Artur Dmitriev of the Unified Team win the gold medal in the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France. Karen Courtland and Todd Reynolds, winners of the pairs division, turned in a strong showing in both of their programs. The highlight of their performance was a complicated jump which required a precise toss of Courtland in the air as well as hitting side-by-side double toe loops. Musical difficulties plagued the night, with several performers returning to the side of the rink to clarify which selection should be played. Some of the loudest applause were reserved for the youngest skaters. Shevia Zandi, age five, skated for the second year in a row at PennSkate. Shevia was so tiny even her short skating dress hung below her knees. "I like skating when there are a lot of people watching," she said. Peter Shoemaker, 10, presented a very funny routine to Elvis Presley's "Jailhouse Rock." One of the best performances of the evening belonged to Derrick DelMore, 14 who is a member of the 1993 U.S. national team. DelMore hit four of his five jumps and drew an enormous response from the audience. "I've been skating for about six and a half years and I practice about an hour and a half a day," DelMore said as he signed autographs for the crowd. "My ultimite goal is to compete in the Olympics, but right now I hope to make it to the Junior Worlds Competition." The top three skaters in the World Junior Team Selection Competition in October go on to the world competition which is held in Colorado Springs. Other types of skating featured were a speed skating demonstration, as well as ice dancing. Carissa Green and Greg Maddalone, fourth place winners in U.S. Junior Dance, showed the beauty and grace in the event which requires that all moves in the program can also be performed on a dance floor. Another crowd favorite was College senior Heather Hughes, who was responsible for several of the skaters' appearances at PennSkate. Hughes, a member of the 1991 U.S. national team, turned in a graceful program which was well received. Other interesting performaces were 1993 Eastern Junior Men's champion Phillip Dulebohn, whose second program featured an inflateable shark and goggles while skating to the Jaws theme, and Aren Nielsen, the men's silver medalist at the 1993 Olympic festival who did a perfect back flip on the ice.