US Nationals: Junior Pairs Short Program

1. Denney/Raad: 24.46 TES + 18.39 PCS = 42.85
1. Her sister is Caydee Denney, reigning national pairs champ
2. They are 15 and 23 years old
3. Nice double twist with a clean catch
4. Nice sbs double axels
5. Nice overhead lift with a flip exit but I'd like to see her have more stretch in her air position
6. She two footed the landing on the throw double and was a little forward
7. Nice death spiral position
8. Good timing on their sbs spins but they lose it in the middle.  Nice positions with good flexibility
9. I'd like to see more performance from them here in the step sequence and to really attack these steps
2. Duarte/Grafton: 23.69 TES + 21.66 PCS = 45.35 and into 1st place
1. Nice sbs double axels
2. Nice double twist with a clean catch
3. Nice air position in the lift with a nice exit
4. Very clean throw double
5. Nice sbs spins with good unison and good positions, they start to lose their unison at the very end
6. I like the weaving in this step sequence and their connection with each other
7. Really pretty death spiral position but they only hold it for one or two rotations
3. Sowa/Leenen: 23.64 TES + 18.52 PCS = 42.16 and into 3rd place
1. They are 17 and 21
2. I like their intensity but some of their moves seem overly stiff and placed and don't really flow
3. Nice solid sbs double axels to start their program
4. She can't get her free leg back on the landing of the throw jump but otherwise it was nice
5. Nice one armed overhead lift but she bends her leg on the exit
6. Double twist was good, not as clean of a catch and I'd like to see her get her free leg higher on the landing
7. She seems a little hunched over in some of these moves in the step sequence and her arms don't always fully extend to the end of the movement
8. Their sbs spins started out off but they got back together to be on the same timing
9. Nice death spiral position with an interesting exit
4. Carman/Reiss: 24.38 TES + 20.88 PCS = 45.26 and into 2nd place
1. I like that they are in character before they start their program
2. She is 16 and he is 18
3. Nice high double twist with clean catch
4. These two skate with so much speed
5. Clean sbs doubles
6. Nice death spiral position
7. There's a lot of personality and nice touches in the choreography of this program
8. Nice easy throw double
9. Good unison on the sbs spins until the change of the foot when they get off
10. The first position in their lift is odd but she has a nice position after the change
11. They're both moving so fast on the footwork and a little far apart so it was hard to see how together they were at the start but the second half is nice
5. Poapst/Knierim: 23.80 TES + 20.54 PCS = 44.34 and into 3rd place
1. She is 18 and he is 23 and they are skating to Papa Can You Hear Me
2. Really high double twist with a nice clean catch
3. Really pretty throw double
4. She singles the sbs double axel and two foots the landing
5. She needs a little more arch in her back in the first air position but the change of position is nice and they have a nice exit
6. I really like her death spiral position
7. They're not hitting the same positions in some of their sbs spins and they're really off unison
8. I like the connection they have with each other in this step sequence and it goes really nicely with their music
6. Bautista/Harris: 19.62 TES + 19.00 PCS = 38.62 and into 6th place
1. She is 18 and he is 22
2. I'd like to see her really get into the choreography in the beginning and let the moevements flow instead of being so tight and placed
3. Nice double twist
4. Nice sbs doubles with a good landing
5. Good unison on the sbs spins with some difficult positions--probably the best unison thus far
6. The positions in the air were nice but it looks like they lost their grip on the change of position to the one arm hold and he had to set her down
7. I like this step sequence but I'd like to see her get a little more into the ice because she's kind of bouncing on top of it now and it makes her edges not as clean
8. Nice clean throw double
9. She has a nice death spiral position but they don't do many rotations
7. Calalang/Sidhu: 25.12 TES + 18.51 PCS = 43.63 and into 4th place
1. She is 15 and he is 19
2. Nice side by side double axels
3. Nice high double twist with a clean catch
4. Really nice throw double
5. She has a nice air position in the lift but with a little more arch in her back and extension in her legs it could be a great air position
6. Nice step sequence with great flow and eash of movement
7. Off a little on the unison of the sbs spins but they get back together and lose it again at the end
8. Really nice death spiral position for her
8. Cain/Reagan: 25.74 TES + 21.89 PCS = 47.63 and into 1st place
1. A really nice throw double to start off their program
2. She has a really nice air position and a nice position change in the lift
3. This team looks so mature and polished considering they were only novices last season
4. Nice double twist but she may have come a little too close to his chest on the catch
5. Nice clean sbs double axels
6. Really nice sbs spins with good unison
7. Nice step sequence but it comes at a down part of the music which I don't like.  It is neat to really hear their blades on the ice though.
8. She has no arch in her back in the death spiral position
9. Garza/Frazier: 24.24 TES + 20.60 PCS = 44.84 and into 4th place
1. She is 14 and he is 18
2. Super high double twist with a nice clean catch
3. A nice throw double but she didn't really have much height
4. Nice sbs throw doubles
5. She had a bit of an awkward position in the overhead lift
6. Nice spirals into a pretty death spiral
7. Nice unison on their sbs spins but a few awkward positions
8. It looks like they were a little ahead of their music and started the fast section of their step sequence before the music changed
9. I'd like to see a lot more energy in this step seqeuence
10. Andrews/LeDuc: 26.07 TES + 21.33 PCS = 47.40 and into 2nd place
1. She is 17 and he is 20
2. Nice high double twist with a clean catch
3. Nice side by side doubles with a tano arm
4. Nice overhead lift with one arm hold and a one arm exit
5. The throw double jump looked a little two footed to me
6. Nice unison on their sbs spins and their positions show off great flexibility from both
7. She has a nice death spiral position
8. I like that their step sequence has moments when they're doing different steps and then they come together at the end
9. They even had a set of twizzles that would make the ice dancers proud
11. Oltmanns/Santillan: 19.32 TES + 18.55 PCS = 37.87 and into 11th place
1. She puts her hands down on the throw double
2. Interesting entry into their sbs spins and for the most part they have good unison.  I don't like their transitions between the spins as they get into some awkward positions
3. Double twist with a clean catch but she doesn't get much height
4. Sbs double axels lacked unison
5. I'm not crazy about her death spiral position and she seems to be wobbling a little bit
6. Their lift positions aren't great and he sets her down so low that she has to bring her knees in to get her skates on the ice
7. I'd like to see her really extend her free leg in this step sequence
12. Guterres/Schumann: 19.40 TES + 16.54 PCS = 35.94 and into 12th place
1. She is 18 and he is 20
2. She doesn't seem to get both of her legs in the same position in the lift and I think her legs are just a little bit too far apart
3. A little crash on the landing of the double twist but I think this could be rectified by him throwing her higher
4. He had a little bobble on the landing of their sbs doubles but held on to it
5. Nice throw double
6. Lack of unison on their sbs spins throughout and they get very slow at the end
7. She has no arch in the death spiral position and is almost laying on the ice