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HARWICH
Eldredge Returns To Home Rink
For Lower Cape Figure Skating Show
Eric Adler
Todd Eldredge’s skating career has taken him across
the globe, from the world championship in Edmonton to the Olympic games
in Nagano, Japan. Now it’s taking him to a more familiar place – home.
The Chatham native, six-time national
champion and 1996 world champion will perform in the Lower Cape Figure
Skating Association’s annual ice show, "Rhythm Around The World," at
Charles Moore Arena next weekend.
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| Todd Eldredge. |
Eldredge’s return to the local rink
marks the first time in a long time he’s skated at his home arena.
“It feels like it’s been a
million years,” said Eldredge during a phone interview on Tuesday. “I’ve
been so busy with so many other things, but I think it’ll be fun to get
back and see the kids, how their program is going and all the family I
haven’t been able to see lately. It’ll be fun to skate at the rink where
I started.”
Eldredge was just five
years old when he first laced up his skates. Now, 31 years later, he’s
earned a world-renown reputation as one of the sport’s elite skaters,
though his ascent to the skating stratosphere wasn’t an easy ride.
Financial hardship almost
forced Eldredge to quit the sport at an early age. That was until
Chatham Youth Hockey came to the rescue and aided Eldredge’s training
during his formative years.
For Eldredge, who plans to
skate his solo acts to the Moody Blues’ “Nights In White Satin,” and The
Goo Goo Dolls pop-single “Better Days,” in next weekend’s two-day show,
giving back was a no-brainer.
“They agreed on a certain
fee [$3,500] and I told them whatever fee they came up with, I’m going
to turn around and give that money back to the Chatham Rec fund,” said
Eldredge. “Hopefully, one of the athletes from Chatham can pursue their
goals and dreams like I did.”
A resident of Michigan
where he lives with his wife, Megan, Eldredge won the national
championship in 1990, ’91, ’95, 97, ’98 and 2002, and last year was
elected to the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame.
It was after the 2002
Winter Olympics games when Eldredge began touring with Stars On Ice.
Following a recent show in Providence, he was asked to perform for the
LCFSA by a family friend, Joyce Hussey, whose father, Norman Howes, was
a driving force behind Chatham Youth Hockey.
“I looked at my schedule
and fortunately I had that weekend free,” said Eldredge, who’s
enthusiasm was matched by LCFSA shows organizers.
“Todd has always been our
first choice of skaters to perform at our show, and if we could have had
him every year, we would,” said Hussey, Skating Director For Charles
Moore Arena and Lower Cape Figure Skating Professional. “We’re
absolutely thrilled he’s coming and the kids are very excited.”
All that buzz means tickets will be
going fast.
“I have a sneaking suspicion many more
people will be coming to the show this year,” said Hussey. “We always
get a good showing when we have a knowledgeable skater, but I think more
are going to come out because Todd doesn’t get to come back to the Cape
that often.”
Case in point, Eldredge’s most recent
routine was at the Japan Open two weeks ago, when he performed with Team
America, which placed third in the event.
Though Eldredge’s seven-year contract
with Stars on Ice recently ran out, he said he’s hoping to extend it for
a few more years, though he has no timetable on when he’ll end his
career.
“I’ve been skating for 31 years, so
there are some days it gets old and the monotony gets to you,” said
Eldredge with an innocent laugh. “But the good thing about skating is
that you can skate to different music, different routines and play
difference characters. It’s kind of like a combination of theater and
sports. You get to change things up from year-to-year and show-to-show.
“So I really don’t know
when I’ll hang up my skates and stop doing shows. As long as I enjoy
performing and the audience enjoys watching me perform, I’ll continue to
go out there and do my best.”
The Lower Cape Figure
show, "Rhythm Around The World," a journey around the globe celebrating
the music and festivals of different countries, will run May 10 at 7
p.m. and May 11 at 2 p.m. at Charles Moore Arena. Ice table seating will
be available, $100 for a 4-top and $50 for a 2-top. General admission
tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for students.
Eldredge will be
holding a “meet and greet” at the Chatham Town Office at 10 a.m. during
Saturday’s Spring Fling event.
Nauset’s
Smith Silences Harwich Softball Squad
by Eric Adler
NORTH
EASTHAM — Early last week, the Harwich softball team was on cloud nine.
By the end of it, they came crashing back down to Earth.
The Lady Rough Riders’ ascent occurred
last Tuesday when they posted one of their most impressive wins in
recent years, a 5-4 victory over a Division Two Dennis-Yarmouth team
that was 6-1 coming into the non-league affair.
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| Harwich’s Casey Mullen is able to
elude the tag of Nauset’s Sarah Porteus and slide safely
into second in the Rough Rider’s 12-0 loss to the Warriors
on Friday. Harwich is 5-4 heading into the second half of
the season. ERIC ADLER PHOTO. |
Sophomore slinger Nell
O’Connor struck out five and held the Dolphins to five hits, and
Harwich, up 5-1 entering the seventh, showed poise under pressure by
surviving a late scare.
“We got hits, made great
plays in the field, and even though D-Y came back on us, we were able to
seal the deal in the end,” Harwich coach Stacy Brunell said. “It was
definitely a great win.”
Those feelings of delight diminished
rather rapidly on Friday, however, when Harwich – doing its best Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde act – fell flat in a 12-0 loss to host Nauset.
The Warriors hit O’Connor like no other
team has this year, chipping away early before erupting for nine runs in
the third. But the real story was O’Connor’s counterpart Kristyna Smith,
who tossed seven spotless frames in no-hitting Harwich.
The Warrior’s woman inside
the circle, who struck out eight and walked five, retired the side in
order in the first and second and, in a fitting finish, assisted the
final out.
Smith, swarmed by her
teammates, seemed mildly surprised when she realized she threw a no-no.
Brunell, by contrast, was almost beside herself after watching her Rough
Riders reduced to rubble.
“I have absolutely no idea
who that team was,” said Brunell, taking about her own
club, “especially coming off the D-Y game where we
hit the ball and played tight D.”
The outcome was all the
more bracing given the first game, won by the Warriors, was decided by a
single run.
“We’ve progressed every game this year
by cutting down on our strikeouts and getting more hits in each game
than the last, so I have absolutely no idea what happened today,”
Brunell lamented. “I don’t understand why we didn’t get a hit. That’s
something I’d never picture happening to my team.”
In trying to offer an
explanation, as much to herself as others, Brunell chalked part of her
team’s poor play up to Smith, who she said “pitched a really good game,”
and the other part to her team’s “lack of focus.”
The latter was evident
from the start, as an erroneous throw to first allowed Sara Roderick and
Jen Evans (4-for-4) to score, giving Nauset all the runs it would need.
The Rough Riders (5-4)
gave away another run in the second when they failed to cover third base
during a throw in that direction, enabling Amy White to come home from
second.
While the early errors
didn’t help, they were of little consequence after the Warriors’
fireworks the following frame.
Victoria Sundby and White
ignited the charge with RBI singles, Roderick smacked a two-run single
to center, and Katee Varley delivered the final blow to the solar plexus
with a bases-clearing triple that put Harwich in an insurmountable 12-0
hole.
“Once we got down on
ourselves, it was hard to pick ourselves back up,” Brunell said.
“Hopefully this will be a wake-up call that we have to step up and shut
down other teams when the momentum is in their direction. That’s
something we didn’t do today, but it’ll be a lesson learned.”
Despite the ugly loss,
there were a few positives for Harwich. Among them was the strong
throwing arm of centerfielder Shelby Chipman, who helped turn a double
play in the fourth and in the sixth, when she threw out a runner heading
home on a potential sacrifice fly.
5/1/08 |
