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.

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

U.S. Nationals: Junior Pairs Preview

Most of the competitors here have competed internationally this season.  Cain and Reagan qualified for the Junior Grand Prix Final and placed a respectable 5th.  They also won a silver medal at one of their assignments.  They are also one of two novice medalists from last season competing here at the junior level.  They should be the favorites here, but they don't have a large margin of error, having been beat by Duarte/Grafton at one of the JGP assignments.  This should be a tight race for the podium as there are 5 teams with sectional scores within 10 points of each other.   Only two teams are returning to the junior level, having competed here last season, and this experience could pay off, but their scores at sectionals have them toward the bottom of the group.  Carman and Reiss are the only ones in this field to have competed at the Junior World Championships, which could be in their favor.  I think there will be 1-2 spots for junior pairs teams on the Junior Worlds team so it will be important to finish not just on the podium, but at the top of the podium.

The teams:

Cain/Reagan: They finished 6th at JGP Great Britain and 2nd at Czech Republic to qualify for the Junior Grand Prix Final where they finished 5th.  They are the reigning national champions at the novice level.

Garza/Frazier: They finished 8th at JGP Austria. They qualified with a 1st place finish at Pacific Coast sectionals.  They are the reigning national bronze medalists at the novice level.

Poapst/Knierim: They qualified with a 1st place finish at Midwestern sectionals.

Calalang/Sidhu: They finished 10th at JGP Czech Republic.  They qualified with a 2nd place finish at Pacific Coast sectionals.

Sowa/Leenen: They finished 7th at JGP Pokal der Blauen.  They qualified with a 1st place finish at Eastern sectionals.  They finished 9th last season at nationals at the novice level.

Duarte/Grafton: They finished 5th at JGP Great Britain and 7th at Czech Republic.  They qualified with a 2nd place finish at Eastern sectionals.  They are the reigning national pewter medalists at the novice level.

Andrews/LeDuc: They finished 8th at JGP Great Britain.  They qualified with a 2nd place finish at Midwestern sectionals.

Carman/Reiss:  They finished 12th at the Junior World Figure Skating Championships.  They finished 5th at JGP Austria and 8th at Pokal der Blauen.  They qualified with a 3rd place finish at Pacific Coast sectionals.  They finished 5th at nationals last season as juniors.

Denney/Raad: They qualified with a 3rd place finish at Eastern sectionals.  They finished 7th last season at nationals at the junior level.

Bautista/Harris: They qualified with a 4th place finish at Eastern sectionals.

Oltmanns/Santillan: They finished 11th at JGP Austria.  They qualified with a 3rd place finish at Midwestern sectionals.  They finished 6th at nationals last season at the novice level.

Guterres/Schumann: They qualified with a 4th place finish at Pacific Coast Sectionals.  They finished 7th at nationals last season at the novice level.

Rybka/Blackmer qualified but the team has since split up and there is no alternate.