Can you believe it’s been 16 years since Nationals were held at San Jose’s HP Pavilion, where the hometown star Rudy Galindo became the men’s champion?

So far in this competition, we’ve seen some very impressive skating. The novice and junior competitions wrapped up yesterday. Congratulations to Riedell skater Ernie Utah Stevens, and his partner Christina Zaitsev, for finishing 4th in novice pairs. Emmanuel Savary, our junior men’s skater, placed 12th.

We’d also like to applaud Riedell skater Kate Charbonneau for her strong 6th place finish at the Canadian Nationals held last week in Moncton, New Brunswick. Great job, Kate! 

Today marks the beginning of senior-level events. The ladies’ field is full of former national champs, which should make this event even more interesting. The 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 champions are competing this year! Rachael Flatt, who is settling into her second quarter as a full-time student at Stanford, won the 2010 national title and the silver last year. In addition, Kiri Baga and McKinzie Daniels will both be competing at the senior level. We’re also excited to see Cassie Andrews and her pairs partner Timothy DeLuc today.

Friday the men hit the ice! William Brewster, Alexander Johnson, Richard Dornbush and Joshua Farris will all be proudly sporting their Riedells!

Here is a schedule of what we have to look forward to for the rest of the week:
Today: Senior pairs short, senior ladies short
Friday: Senior short dance, senior men’s short
Saturday: Senior free dance, senior ladies free skate, senior pairs free skate (groups 1 and 2)
Sunday: Senior men’s free, senior pairs free skate (groups 3 and 4)

Events that will be aired live on NBC:
Saturday: Senior free dance, 4-6pm ET
Saturday: Senior ladies free skate, 9-11pm ET
Sunday: Senior men’s and pairs free skate, 3-6pm ET

Who will 2012’s senior champions be?

If you’re at the event, please stop by and visit our Riedell booth! And keep tuning into Facebook and Twitter for more updates.