Skate America Recap

Men:
The biggest surprise of the men's event was Adam Rippon's melt down in the free skate and Armin Mahbanoozadeh skating two clean programs to win the bronze medal.  Overall the men's event was a mess with falls and errors all over the place.  None of the competitors were able to beat previous scores or break into the top 10 scores for the year.  Oda missed out on a gold medal by improvising his jump and doing an extra combination.  Takahashi continued to impress with his performance and was rewarded with stellar program component scores.  Daisuke Murakami proved how deep the Japanese men's field is by finishing 5th here (he is rankee 19th in Japan).  Stephen Carriere showed some good qualities but his jumps continued to fail him here.

I predicted 2/3 exact placements and 2/3 podium finishers.  My fantasy skaters finished 1st, 6th and 10th.

Ladies:
She didn't win the short program or the free skate but Murakami's consistency won her the gold medal in only her second Grand Prix event.  This young lady is one to watch out for, but it will be interesting to see how she does next to a tougher pool of skaters at the Grand Prix Final.  Rachael Flatt's injury affected her performance here, but if she can get that straightened out she should be a podium threat in the future.  Carolina Kostner continues to lack the technical difficulty to match up with the top ladies but her program components keep her in the mix.  She'll likely need surgery at some point this season.  Joshi Helgesson was a surprise 4th here and Amelie Lacoste had another strong showing finishing 5th. 

I predicted 0/3 exact placements and  3/3 podium finishers.  My fantasy skaters finished 2nd, 5th and 4th.

Pairs:
After a blah short program, Savchenko and Szolkowy impressed with their free skate.  Their scores are the best of the year so far and bode well for this team to climb back to the top of the podium at Worlds.  Moore-Towers and Moscovitch proved that their Skate Canada finish was not a fluke and set themselves up to be the team to beat at Canadian nationals.  Sui and Han had another strong outing and another medal at their 2nd Grand Prix event.  Denney and Barrett finished off the podium again but had a stronger showing than their first Grand Prix. 

I predicted 1/3 exact placement and 3/3 podium finishers.  My fantasy team finished 1st, 2nd and 8th.

Dance:
Despite uncharacteristic mistakes and falls, Davis and White again won the gold medal and qualified for the Grand Prix Final.  They finished 7 points ahead of Crone and Poirier, proving that no one is in their class except for Virtue/Moir.  Crone and Poirier had another strong outing to with the silver medal and also qualify for the Grand Prix Final.  The Shibutanis had a minor bobble in the short dance but were able to put out another strong free dance to win their 2nd bronze medal in two Grand Prixs.  They finished less than 5 points behind Crone and Poirier and if they can go clean on their Short Dance, they have the chance to move up the podium.  Weaver and Poje finished 4th after a mistake on one of their lifts. 

I predicted 3/3 exact placements and 3/3 podium finishers.  My fantasy team finished 1st, 3rd and 7th.

Overall, I predicted 6/12 exact placements and 11/12 podium finishers.