U.S. Nationals Senior Pairs Preview

Evora and Ladwig are the veterans of this event, having competed at nationals since 2003 and claiming four medals.  They've never won gold and were runner up to two different teams over two seasons.  While they finished just off the podium at both of their Grand Prix events this is looking like their year to finally claim the national title, especially if they can land their side by side jumps.

Denney and Coughlin teamed up at the end of last season and their partnership came together quickly.  They finished 4th and 5th at their two Grand Prix events but seemed to slip a little in their second event.  They have big throws and lifts as Denney is nearly a foot shorter than Coughlin but are still working on smoothing out the edges on some of their other elements and making their skating as seamless as possible.

Marley and Brubaker took home the pewter medal from nationals last season only months after starting their partnership.  They made their Grand Prix debut this season and won bronze at Coupe de Nice, a senior B event.  Marley was injured at the beginning of the season, causing them to withdraw from Nebelhorn Trophy, but since then they've improved between competitions as they had more training time behind them.  One of their weakest elements is the twist but that has been showing improvement at each event.  Marley has put her singles career on hold to focus on pairs this season.

Donlan and Speroff are a beautiful team to watch with great lines which leads to wonderful positions in their lifts.  They play on this strength with a ballet themed free skate that showcases them perfectly.  Their biggest weakness is their side by side jumps.  If they can land them they could really make a run at the podium and put themselves in contention to be a top U.S. pair team.

Cain and Reagan made history when they became the first pair team to win Novice and Junior titles in consecutive seasons.  They went on to finish 4th at Junior Worlds last season behind a trio of teams that already had Junior World titles and competed on the senior level.  They debuted on the Grand Prix this season, finishing 6th.  They had a nice outing on their short program but really struggled on their free skate.  Cain is tall with long legs which lends to some nice positions in their lifts.  She is also pulling double duty, competing in the junior ladies event at nationals.

Castelli/Shnapir, Vise/Baldwin and Poapst/Knierim are also in the mix.

My podium predictions:
Gold: Evora/Ladwig
Silver: Denney/Coughlin
Bronze: Marley/Brubaker
Pewter: Cain/Reagan

Bios of the competitors:
Kloe Chanel Bautista/Tyler Harris: She is 19 and represents the All Year Figure Skating Club.  He is 23 and represents the Skating Club of Boston.  They finished 10th in Juniors in 2011.  They won bronze at Eastern Sectionals to qualify for nationals.  

Gretchen Donlan/Andrew Speroff: She is 18 and represents the Skating Club of Boston.  He is 23 and represents the Skating Club of Boston.  They finished 8th in Juniors in 2010 and 8th in 2011.  They won gold at Eastern Sectionals to qualify for nationals.

Alexa Scimeca/Ivan Dimitrov: She represents the DuPage Figure Skating Club.  They won pewter at Eastern Sectionals to qualify for nationals.

Felicia Zhang/Nathan Bartholomay: She is 18 and represents the Skating Club of New York.  They won silver at Eastern Sectionals to qualify for nationals.  

Cassie Andrews/Timothy LeDuc: She is 18 and represents the Indiana World Skating Academy Figure Skating Club.  He is 21 and represents the Eastern Iowa Figure Skating Club.  They placed 9th at Junior Worlds last season.  They are the reigning Junior bronze medalists.

Ashley Cain/Joshua Reagan: She is 16 and represents the Stars Figure Skating Club of Texas.  He is 22 and represents the Stars Figure Skating Club of Texas.  They finished 4th at Junior Worlds last season.  They placed 6th at Rostelecom Cup and 4th at Coupe de Nice.  They are the 2010 Novice Champions and reigning Junior Champions.

Marissa Castelli/Simon Shnapir: She is 21 and represents the Skating Club of Boston.  He is 24 and represents the Skating Club of Boston.  They placed 7th at NHK Trophy and 4th at Ondrej Nepela Memorial.  They are the 2009 World Junior bronze medalists.  They placed 9th in Novice in 2007, are the 2008 Novice bronze medalists, the 2009 Junior bronze medalists, placed 10th in 2010 and 5th in 2011.

Caydee Denney/John Coughlin: She is 18 and represents the Panthers Figure Skating Club.  He is 26 and represents the Kansas City Figure Skating Club.  They finished 4th at Skate America, 5th at NHK Trophy and won bronze at Nebelhorn Trophy.  They have the 10th best short program score, 8th best free skate and 9th best total score internationally.

Amanda Evora/Mark Ladwig: She is 27 and represents the Southwest Florida Figure Skating Club.  He is 31 and represents the Red River Valley Figure Skating Club.  They placed 11th at Worlds and 6th at Four Continents last season.  They placed 4th at Cup of China and Trophee Eric Bompard.  They placed 12th in 2003, 10th in 2004, 5th in 2005, 7th in 2006, are the 2007 pewter medalists, finished 5th in 2008, are the 2009 pewter medalists, 2010 silver medalists and are the reigning silver medalists.

Rita Fehr/Peter Biver: She is 15 and he is 35.

Mary Beth Marley/Rockne Brubaker: She is 16 and represents the DuPage Figure Skating Club.  He is 25 and represents the All Year Figure Skating Club.  They finished 8th at Four Continents last season.  They placed 7th at Skate America and won bronze at Coupe de Nice.  They are the reigning pewter medalists.

Andrea Poapst/Christopher Knierim: She is 19 and represents the Broadmoor Skating Club.  He is 24 and represents the Broadmoor Skating Club.  They won gold at Ice Challenge.  They are the reigning Junior silver medalists.

Tiffany Vise/Don Baldwin: She is 25 and represents the Broadmoor Skating Club.  He is 34 and represents the Los Angeles Figure Skating Club.  They finished 6th at Skate America and 7th at Nebelhorn Trophy.  They placed 8th in 2011.

Ice Challenge Pairs Results

Pl.	Name	Nation	TSS =	TES +		PCS +	SS	TR	PE	CH	IN	Deduction -	StN.
1	Andrea POAPST / Chris KNIERIM	USA	51.72	29.13		22.59	5.82	5.39	5.68	5.71	5.64	0.00	#1
2	Mari VARTMANN / Aaron VAN CLEAVE	GER	46.86	25.64		21.22	5.43	5.14	5.39	5.32	5.25	0.00	#6
3	Danielle MONTALBANO / Evgeni KRASNOPOLSKY	ISR	45.14	25.07		20.07	5.11	4.75	5.11	5.04	5.07	0.00	#4
4	Tatyana NOVIK / Andrey NOVOSELOV	RUS	43.94	24.17		19.77	5.25	4.79	4.96	4.89	4.82	0.00	#2
5	Evgenia TARASOVA / Egor CHUDIN	RUS	43.78	24.86		19.92	5.21	4.79	4.86	5.07	4.96	1.00	#3
6	Elizabeta MAKAROVA / Leri KENCHADZE	BUL	35.46	19.06		17.40	4.46	4.07	4.43	4.46	4.32	1.00	#5

Pl.	Name	Nation	TSS =	TES +		PCS +	SS	TR	PE	CH	IN	Deduction -	StN.
1	Andrea POAPST / Chris KNIERIM	USA	91.42	44.65		49.77	6.29	6.07	6.11	6.32	6.32	3.00	#5
2	Mari VARTMANN / Aaron VAN CLEAVE	GER	91.38	45.62		46.76	6.00	5.71	5.86	5.86	5.79	1.00	#6
3	Danielle MONTALBANO / Evgeni KRASNOPOLSKY	ISR	85.81	44.74		41.07	5.25	4.93	5.21	5.14	5.14	0.00	#4
4	Tatyana NOVIK / Andrey NOVOSELOV	RUS	81.81	42.92		39.89	5.25	4.75	4.93	5.00	5.00	1.00	#2
5	Evgenia TARASOVA / Egor CHUDIN	RUS	77.46	42.21		37.25	4.96	4.54	4.68	4.64	4.46	2.00	#1
6	Elizabeta MAKAROVA / Leri KENCHADZE	BUL	65.75	33.37		33.38	4.36	4.00	4.25	4.18	4.07	1.00	#3

FPl.	Name	Nation	Points	SP	FS
1	Andrea POAPST / Chris KNIERIM	USA	143.14	1	1
2	Mari VARTMANN / Aaron VAN CLEAVE	GER	138.24	2	2
3	Danielle MONTALBANO / Evgeni KRASNOPOLSKY	ISR	130.95	3	3
4	Tatyana NOVIK / Andrey NOVOSELOV	RUS	125.75	4	4
5	Evgenia TARASOVA / Egor CHUDIN	RUS	121.24	5	5
6	Elizabeta MAKAROVA / Leri KENCHADZE	BUL	101.21	6	6

US Nationals: Junior Recap

Men:

Max Aaron was able to come from behind after the short program to win the junior mens title by almost 6 points.  He was able to land a triple axel in combination in his free skate but fell on his second triple axel.  He'll be competing senior next season and the more mileage he can get on the triple axel the better, as many new seniors struggle with this element or only do double axels.  He'll be heading to Junior Worlds later this month.

Alexander Zahradnicek took the silver medal after winning the short program.  He had one triple-triple combination in his free skate with two other solo triples and two triples in combination.  He only performed double axels in his programs.  Overall he looked very solid but he has aged out of the junior ranks and will need to step up some of his content to really make the jump to the senior level especially with such a deep, young field.

Alexander Aiken took the bronze with a 3rd place finish in both segments.  He had one triple-triple combination, one additional triple in combination and three solo triples along with double axels in his free skate.  This was his first national medal since 2005.  He is too old to compete as a junior internationally, and I think he'll move up to seniors nationally next season.  He had a few jump errors and I'd like to see him get more consistent and add a triple axel to his arsenal.

Emmanuel Savary could have a bright future as he is quickly rising through the ranks and has just turned 13 years old.  He finished 5th in his first season as a junior and I predict he'll stay at this level next season.  He has triple-triple combinations and Level 4 spins.  With some more experience and a triple axel he could have a good shot at the junior title next season, but he'll have to fend off 2 time novice champ Nathan Chen.

Ladies:

Courtney Hicks blew away the field to win gold by almost 20 points and post the highest score ever for a junior lady under the Code of Points (beating the record set last season by Agnes Zawadzki).  Her signature spin, the Tw-Hicks wowed the crowd and she landed triple-triple combinations in both of her programs (which none of the medal winners in senior ladies executed).  She had three solo triples in her free skate and three triples in combination.  She has been compared to Sasha Cohen but she seems to be able to stay on her feet.  She has earned a spot on the Junior Worlds team and this will be her first international competition.  It will be interesting to see if she follows Zawadzki onto the Senior Grand Prix next season or elects to complete a year on the Junior Grand Prix.

Lauren Dinh pulled up to finish 2nd in the free skate and second overall with three triples in combination and three solo triples in her free skate.  She had a solid performance and was enjoyable to watch, but lacks some maturity in her performance skills.  She has not competed internationally and I'd like to see her complete a season on the Junior Grand Prix and stay as a junior next year before moving up to the senior ranks.

Katarina Kulgeyko fell to 3rd in the free skate and 3rd overall after popping her opening jump and receiving no credit.  She showed great maturity to come back from that mistake and complete the rest of her skate with no errors.  She didn't have very high GOEs and I'd like to see her really land her jumps and gain more confidence in landing them so she can get more points.  She does have a double axel-triple toe combination which many of the senior ladies execute.  She'll be 15 in May and I'd like to see her get a little international experience after her success nationally (three medals in three years in three different levels).

Mary Beth Marley and Ashley Cain were doing double duty with pairs and singles and finished 5th and 6th respectively.

Pairs

Cain and Reagan won both segments to win the gold medal in juniors only one year after taking the novice title.  For such a young team I was impressed with their poise and maturity on the ice and they have a very nice look together.  They had two throw triples in their free skate but only have a double twist.  She is 15 years old and he turned 21 in November.  They competed in the Junior Grand Prix Final and are headed to Junior Worlds.  Unfortunately, this is their final season of junior eligibility so they'll need to work on the triple twist to be able to keep up at the senior level.

Poapst and Kneirim pulled up after a 6th place short program to win the silver medal.  They have a triple twist but only one throw triple.  They are in their first season together but their options for international development are slim as Chris is too old to compete at the junior level.

Andrews and LeDuc won the bronze medal after a 2nd place short program and 5th place free skate.  They have one throw triple and a double twist.  They'll need to really up their technical content to compete as seniors.  This is their first season together and they'll be heading to Junior Worlds later this month.  They only had one Junior Grand Prix assignment this season and I'd like to see what they could do with two assignments.

Dance:
Lichtman and Copely were the favorites going into the event after their trip to the Junior Grand Prix Final and were able to deliver and win the gold medal.  They have several of the Zoueva/Shpilband trademarks including great twizzles, interesting lifts and amazing choreography.  They'll be going to the Junior World Championships this year, but will be competing as seniors next season.  They are older than Chock/Zuerlein and the Shibutanis and with Samuelson and Bates also returning it will be interesting to see where this team factors in to the national picture.

Bonacorsi and Mager won the silver medal and a trip to Junior Worlds.  With the senior ranks becoming increasingly croweded, I'd like to see them stay on the Junior Grand Prix next season.  They won one medal this season and I think they'd have a good shot at two medals and a trip to the Junior Grand Prix Final.  They have a very nice quality about them and they train at IceWorks with some of the top dance teams in Europe. 

Cannuscio and McManus won the bronze medal with their entertaining high energy programs and are also going to Junior Worlds.  I think their programs are very fun and Anastasia has a ton of personality on the ice but as they transition to the senior ranks, I'd like to see them inject a little maturity into their programs while also keeping the qualities that make them unique and will help them stand out in a crowded field.

Yang and Baker were one of the younger  teams in this field and the surprise leader after the short program.  A costly mistake on the twizzles in the free skate dropped them to 6th overall.  I think they have a good future ahead of them as they have very nice flow and a very pleasant persona on the ice, but their music choice could be better.

McNamara and Carpenter are only going to be 12 and 16 this month.  Some of this immaturity began to show in their free skate as they lacked some of the flow and edge work of some of the older teams, but for their age they are very advanced and have made a lot of progress in only a years time.  They'll have some time before they can compete internationally to really work out these kinks but by the time they're ready for the Junior Grand Prix they should be a solid team.