LOCAL SKATERS IN TOP DOZEN AT NATIONALS

Matt Buttrey and Sarah Booth placed 12 at the U.S. Figure Skating National Championships held in Rhode Island last week.

The team performed their long program Thursday.

In a telephone interview from Rhode Island, Buttrey's mother Betty Buttrey said, "Twelfth in the nation isn't bad."

The skaters faced stiff competition in their first year at the junior level. Fourteen pairs skated at their skill level. Olympic skaters compete at the senior level.

"They have a lot of work to do at the junior level," Betty Buttrey said.

Buttrey, 18, is a senior at Notre Dame High School. Booth, 13, is in seventh grade at Woodland High School.

Betty Buttrey said Friday, "They were really pleased with long program."

The national competition this year was less eventful than last year. Buttrey and Booth earned a bronze medal at their skill level in the national championships in Detroit in 1994. The day after they competed, figure skater Nancy Kerrigan was assaulted.

Last year they skated in the novice division. Over the summer they tested to compete at the junior level.

"That's the biggest jump you have," Matt Buttrey said before he left, "bigger even than from junior to senior. As a novice you can only do three lifts; as a junior you can do as many lifts and throws as you want, and they add a minute to the program."

The skaters will return to their training regimen. Buttrey also has the lead in Notre Dame's spring play.