James "Jimmie" Santee is an American former competitive figure skater. He is the 1981 Golden Spin of Zagreb champion, 1982

Ennia Challenge Cup The International Challenge Cup (formerly the Ennia Challenge Cup and the Aegon Cup) is an annual figure skating competition generally held during the last week in February, up till the 2021 edition held in The Hague, Netherlands. Since the 2022 ...

silver medalist, and 1983

Prague Skate The Prague Skate (sometimes titled Golden Skate; from 1994: Czech Skate) is an international figure skating competition. It was a senior event from the 1960s to 1997, usually held in November or December in Prague. Medals were awarded in the discip ...

silver medalist. Since 2006, he has served as the executive director of the

Professional Skaters Association The Professional Skaters Association International is the largest figure skating coaches association in the world. The PSA was founded on August 10, 1938, in Lake Placid, New York, as the American Skaters Guild, just two years (1936) after the Ice ...

Personal life

James Santee was born 1962, the son of RoseMary and Neil Santee. His mother served as a judge for U.S. Figure Skating and his elder brother,

David Santee David Neil Santee (born July 22, 1957 in Oak Park, Illinois) is an American former competitive figure skater. He finished fourth in the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, and is the 1981 World silver medalist and an eight-time U.S. national ...

, competed internationally in figure skating. In 1987, he married Jamie-Lynn Kitching, who won the silver medal at the 1981 World Professional Championships and performed with Disney on Ice as a principal skater from 1983–95. They had their first child, a son named Ryan, around 1995, and then two daughters, Sarah and Jessica. Ryan Santee competed at the junior national level in the United States.

Career

Competitive

Santee began skating when he was three years old, following his elder brother. They trained at various rinks, including the Oakton Ice Arena in

Park Ridge, Illinois Park Ridge is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, and a Chicago suburb. Per the 2020 census, the population was 39,656. It is located northwest of downtown Chicago. It is close to O'Hare International Airport, major expressways, a ...

, Randhurst, Polar Dome in East Dundee, Rolling Meadows, Northbrook, and Niles Ice Land. In addition to his career as a figure skater, Santee qualified to the 1975 U.S. Speed Skating Championships and 1975 North American Speed Skating Championships. Competing at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Santee won the novice men's title in 1977 and the junior men's title in 1979. He finished 7th at the 1979 World Junior Championships in

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ...

, Germany. Santee began appearing on the senior level in 1980. Internationally, he won gold at the 1981 Golden Spin of Zagreb in

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

, silver at the 1982

in the

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, and silver at the 1983

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. He finished fourth at the

1982 Skate America The 1982 Skate America was held in Lake Placid, New York on October 6–10. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipli ...

Post-competitive

After retiring from competition, Santee worked for

Walt Disney's World on Ice Disney on Ice, originally Walt Disney's World on Ice, is a series of touring ice theatre, ice shows produced by Feld Entertainment's Ice Follies, Ice Follies And Holiday on Ice, Inc. under agreement with The Walt Disney Company. Aimed primarily a ...

, appearing as a principal performer (1985–95) and then as a coach (1987–95). He later served as the skating director and facilities coordinator for Park Ridge Recreation & Park District in

. From 1996 to 2005, he was the head coach for the Park Ridge speed skating team. He was named the 2002 Employee of the Year. In 2006, Santee became the executive director of the

Competitive highlights

; Other * 1979 Coupe Des Alpes Team Trophy, 1st place * 1984 Golden Skate Award, Oakton Ice Arena * 1999 Ice Skating Institute District 8 Merit Award * 2004 Ice Skating Institute Great Skate Award * 2008 Ice Skating Institute Presidents Award

References

External links

Professional Skaters Association

{{DEFAULTSORT:Santee, James 1960s births American male single skaters Living people Sportspeople from Park Ridge, Illinois