The Mixed pairs division shows how freestyle can integrate the beauty of all forms of jamming. There is no gender gap as the awesome performances bear out. It offers avenues not as available in the other divisions. All the finals teams were strong with any of them capable of taking home the cake. It was a lot of fun to watch as the audience response attests to. With that said, let’s look at the performances.

Lisa Hunrichs-Silvey and Erwin Velasquez came out of the box with a "striptease" song and hit a bunch of quick catches to many music cues. They used a strong double disc block following this to get the party started. Highlights included Lisa’s big phlaud off a strong combo and Erwin’s double spinning flamingosis off an excellent lead in set of moves. It was clear that Erwin’s pulled muscle, which forced him to bail later in open pairs was bothering him as he held back from his legendary megamoves.

Judy Robbins Chest Roll w/ Steve Hanes

Although finishing 6th, they still had a great routine and had the crowd into it.

Defending mixed champs Mary Lowry and Dan Yarnell also came out with a strong double disc intro including some cool technical transfers to a James Bond groove thang. Their chest roll exchange was particularly tasty. Some other highlights included Dan’s phlaud pull, scarecrow brush to Mary and an indigenous pull. Mary plays so relaxed and comfortable, her partners always play well. The former champs finished 5th, another indication of the depth of the field.

In a partner swap, Lori Daniels paired up with Jeff Kruger and came out with big energy, playing to Cheryl Crow. They started strong with a good coop intro. Lori had a behind the neck catch off a sweeping leg pull sequence while Jeff fired up the crowd with a big air under leg catch right on a music cue. They also inspired with a fun multiple under leg coop transfer and ended the routine with a large gitis to end the festivities. This fun team finished 4th.

With an excellent 3rd place finish to take bronze, Anne Graves and Carlos "Pipo" Lopez, playing to Dave Matthews, had a pleasant jam, playing cleanly and relaxed. Anne finished a nice combo with a chair catch and made a nice save of a wayward set from Pipo. Pipo showed his patented set of big moves including the Tempest and Piposis. These two played very well together and also had the biggest travel hurdle to overcome with Anne from California and Pipo back east in Puerto Rico.

Judy Robbins and Steve the Hanes came out in their strong and smooth manner playing to Seal (the musician and the act of catching). These strong seasoned veterans really got hot as Judy’s milky rolls and Steve’s gymnastics captivated the large fan base. Particular highlights included Steve’s cartwheel turnover and back to an Olivia and Judy’s dizzying spinning combo. Another tasty exchange was Steve’s spinning downwind kick right into Judy’s chest roll. This team set the bar high and resulted ultimately in 2nd place to take silver.

Playing last, taking 1st place and taking home the gold, was the second partner exchange team of Cindy Kruger and Paul Kenny. Playing off Aquarius from the movie Hair, including appropriate period clothing and, well, hair, this team went big out of the box. A long double disc beginning with complex coops culminated in a tasty catch to a big music cue. Other highlights included a buildup to 5 discs, Paul’s gitis from Cindy’s set and Cindy’s spinning catch on a later music cue. The ending was particularly cool with Paul doing a twisting turnover to an upside down gitis, Cindy’s phlaud off Paul’s set with the crescendo being Cindy’s massive and dramatic flying planted (oxymoron?) gitis right at the 4 minute mark to end it. The team was featured on NPR radio as well. 1) Paul Kenny / Cindy Kruger 2) Steve Hanes / Judy Robbins 3) Carlos 'Pipo' Lopez / Anne Graves 4) Jeff Kruger / Lori Daniels 5) Dan Yarnell / Mary Lowry 6) Erwin Velasquez / Lisa Hunrichs-Silvey

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