Dube and Davison Split

Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison, the 2008 world bronze medalists, have announced their split.  He has been off the ice all season due to injury.  She is going to focus on school and her singles career and he is interested in coaching and skating pairs again.

Here is their last performance at the 2010 Worlds to "The Way We Were."

In other news, Felicia Zhang and Taylor Toth, the 2010 US Junior National Champions have also split.  She is looking to continue in singles and pairs and he is looking for a new pair partner.

Last month 2010 US National Champions Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett announced their split.  He has retired and she is looking for a new partner.

US Nationals: Senior Recap

Mens:

What an event!  Ryan Bradley put together a clean short program complete with a quad and his signature personality weaved throughout to take the lead in the men's event.  His free skate wasn't pretty, including a miss on both of his quads but he hung on and even executed a Triple Axel + Triple toe combination to finish 4th in the free skate.  His scores were good enough to give him his first national title at 27 years of age.  He thought about retiring after last season and sat out the Grand Prix but was convinced to come back by fans.  At the press conference after the event he declared that he was open to making a run at the 2014 Olympic team.  These programs were not as well trained as they could have been, and if he can skate clean, he could place well at worlds.  With three quads he has the technical skills and he's one of the best performers in the world. 

Richard Dornbush is the reigning Junior Grand Prix Final champion and after a 7th place short program, he had an impressive outing of his Sherlock Holmes Free Skate and placed first in the segment and won the silver medal.  While many were predicting him to win a medal at Junior Worlds, he'll instead be heading to Senior Worlds.  At both the JGP Final and Nationals his free skate was able to carry him to the top after a less than stellar short program.  His JGP Final scores put him amongst the top 10 in the world.  If he can clean up his short program, he could have a stellar debut at Worlds.

After skating on the Grand Prix for the first time, Ross Miner decided to go home and train harder.  He wanted to bring himself up to the level of the top skaters he was competing against.  These results paid off as he skated a gorgeous free program to edge out Jeremy Abbott for the bronze medal.    He has been named to the Worlds Team and will be competing in Tokyo in May.

Jeremy Abbott skated a beautiful short program full of passion and fire and put himself in a good position to defend his national title.  Unfortunately, he wasn't able to keep it together in his free skate and was plagued with falls, downgrades, under-rotations and doubling of his jumps.  He finished only .19 behind Miner, but USFSA elected to send Miner to Worlds and Abbott to Four Continents in Taipei.  When he is on, he is truly one of the best male skaters out there today but he can't always seem to get past his mental block.  He'll be going up against the top Japanese men at 4Cs so he'll have a chance to redeem himself there.

Adam Rippon had a disaster of a short program, including a fall on his signature Rippon Lutz.  He rebounded in his free skate to place 3rd in the segment and finish 5th overall.  I was especially impressed in how he refocused himself after a mistake on his opening jump combination and was able to go clean for the rest of the program.  He's now had one bad short program (nationals) and one bad free skate (Skate America) so hopefully he can put this behind him and skate like he did at Skate America.  He'll be skating at 4 Continents along with Armin Mahbahnoozadeh.

The trooper of the year award goes to Joshua Farris.  He finished 13th in the short program in his first senior nationals.  He tore a muscle in his leg practicing quads and then suffered an allergic reaction that kept him in the hospital almost all night the day before the free skate.  Then, during his free skate, he broke his ankle in the middle of the program.  He kept skating and went for all of his elements, including the triple jumps.  He has the rest of the season to heal and we'll see him back on the Junior Grand Prix circuit next fall.

I had no correct exact predictions, but I picked two of the medal winners (Abbott and Bradley).

Ladies:

Alissa Csizny put together two clean programs to reclaim the national title she last won in 2009.  Her levels on her step sequences were greatly improved from her outings on the Grand Prix and her only mistake in the free skate was an under-rotated jump.  Reports from the arena were the crowd went silent because they were so captivated by her performance.  In the press conference, Alissa said this victory was sweeter and gave credit to her new coaches for believing in her when no one else did.  She'll be competing at Four Continents where she'll face off against the Japanese ladies again before taking on the world in Tokyo.  If Alissa skates like she has been for most of this season, she should land on the World podium in March.

Rachael Flatt debuted her new short program in Greensboro and Lori Nichol hit a home run on the choreography.  I've never seen Rachael so committed to her performance or so free in her movement as during her step sequence at the end of her East of Eden program.  I think this program really suits her and I'm interested to see how it's received by the international judges.  Her spins have long been a weakness for her, and a Level 1 on her layback spin made the difference between being 1st or 3rd in the short program.  She's working on some more difficult jump combinations for the next two competitions.  With a great new program and a renewed love of skating, Rachael looks ready to take on the world and attempt to win back three spots for US ladies at next years worlds.

Mirai Nagasu skated a clean short program to land in first place.  Unfortunately, she couldn't keep it together and let her nerves take over.  She looked terrified before she started her free skate and it showed in her program.  She botched her flying sit spin so badly that she ended up receiving no credit for the element.  Frank Carroll revealed after the event that she didn't start training seriously until a few weeks before Nationals.  In the press conference, Mirai was upset about not going to Worlds because she wanted to go to Japan to see her family.  I'm not sure how much her heart is into skating and while she can be a lovely skater, she doesn't seem to be mature enough to handle the pressure of training and competition.  Hopefully she'll do some soul searching before next season and decide what direction to take her career.

Agnes Zawadzki and Christina Gao both had solid outings to claim spots on the Junior Worlds team.  Agnes has struggled with her long program all season, and it was great to see her execute a good program here.  Christina has really grown up and matured since last season.  I think she's still getting used to her new height, but she definitely is beginning to skate like Yuna Kim.  Both these young ladies have a bright future ahead of them and are armed with a full technical arsenal including triple-triple combinations.  They'll take on the young Russian prodigies for spots on the Junior World Podium.

Ashley Wagner was battling the flu and wasn't able to put out the two clean programs necessary to medal in this extremely competitive field.  She seemed to have a good attitude after the event, and hopefully we'll see her next year, healthy and fighting for a spot on the World team.

Vanessa Lam who won her only JGP assignment this season and Yasmin Siraj, the youngest senior competitor, finished 7th and 8th at their first senior nationals.

I had one exact prediction (Alissa won gold) and picked 3 out of the 4 medalists (Alissa, Mirai and Rachael).

Pairs:

Caitlin Yankowskas and John Coughlin had the arena and the television in audience in tears after their moving free skate to Ave Maria, a tribute to John's mother Stacy who passed away last February.  Besides their amazing emotional performance, they solidly executed all of their elements to finish 1st in both segments and earn their first trip to Worlds.  I have been impressed with this team for several years and it was nice to see everything come together for them in such a trying year.  They also won their first Grand Prix medal this season and I think their programs can carry them to the podium at 4 Continents as well.

Evora and Ladwig debuted their new short program here and it seems to suit their personalities much better and the judges agreed.  They showed off their signature lifts in the free skate and won their second consecutive silver medal.  If both of these teams skate their best at Worlds, there is a small chance that the United States could earn a 3rd pairs slot for next years Worlds. 

Denney and Barrett were able to rebound from the mistakes in their short program and only erred on the side by side double axels in their free skate to claim the silver medal.  They have now won a medal at nationals in each of their three seasons together.  They'll be heading to Four Continents but not Worlds.

Mary Beth Marley and Rockne Brubaker have only been skating together for a few months but already showed some of the maturity and polish of the top teams.  I can't wait to see what they look like next season with more training under their belt and some international assignments.  They finished 4th in their first competition.

Castelli and Shnapir had some troubles in both their skates but still finished 5th overall.

I had 1 exact prediction (Yankowskas and Coughlin won gold) and picked 3/4 of the medalists (Yankowskas/Coughlin, Evora/Ladwig, Denney/Barrett)

Dance:

While the final results were what many predicted, the dance event was still full of surprises.  Davis and White won their third consecutive national title.  They received Level 3s and 4s on all the elements in their free dance with all positive GOEs.  Their free dance was full of difficulty and passion and their program showed all the potential of being a world championship winning program.

The Shibutanis were absolutely charming in both of their programs and performed with maturity beyond their years.  They finished only 6 points behind Davis and White in the short program and beat them on the technical score in the free skate.  They also received all Level 3s and 4s and positive GOES on their program.  They looked like completely different skaters than on the Grand Prix, where they already shined as the only team to win two medals in their senior debut.  If they continue their growth and perform like they did at nationals they should have a great debut at senior worlds and it won't be long before they're on the medal podium at Worlds and possibly even passing up their training mates.

While Chock and Zuerlein had two solid programs, they fell far behind the rest of Team Canton, nearly 20 points out of second place.  They had similar scores as the Shibutanis on the Grand Prix and their programs were cleaner here than on the Grand Prix.  I don't particularly love their short dance, but their free dance is phenomenal and they completely embrace their roles and put on a great performance. 

The Hubbells were able to grab the pewter medal after an unusual fall by Kriengkrairut/Giuletti-Schmitt in the free dance.  Cannuscio and Lorello had a good senior debut to finish 6th.

I had three exact predictions (gold-bronze medals) and picked 3/4 medalists.

Overall: I had 5 exact predictions and picked 11/16 of the medalists.  My USFSA Fantasy Team finished 6th.

U.S. Nationals: Senior Pairs Preview

This is going to be an extremely close event as the top teams are within only a few points of each other and one mistake could cost a team a spot on the podium and one of the two 2 spots on the Worlds team.  With Russia only sending two pairs to Worlds and leaving two of their top teams home, there is a chance that our pairs could do well enough to earn a 3rd slot next year so which two teams go will be very important.

Yankowskas and Coughlin have had a great season so far, winning one Grand Prix medal and setting some of the top scores in the international field.  They have the 8th best short program, 10th best free skate and 8th best overall score this season.  They have the top international scores in this field and they beat out both Denney/Barrett and Evora/Ladwig in direct competiton this season.  I believe this gives them an edge and will land them on top of the podium for the first time.

Denney and Barrett are the defending champions.  I wasn't fond of this team in the past, but they have really grown a lot this season and Caydee has tons of energy and personality on the ice.  They used to be known for their consistency but that seems to have been a problem for them this season, especially in the free skate.  They have the 8th best short program score and 9th best total score for the season.  If they can correct their jump problems they could regain their title but they'll also have to match artistically with the other teams in the field and they lack some of the maturity the other top teams have, mostly because their partnership is only in its third season.

Evora and Ladwig have a great connection on the ice and have some of the best lifts in the world.  They had good placements at the Olympics and Worlds and won their first Grand Prix medal this season.  Their scores improved between their two events but only in their Free Skate, which is ranked 8th best for the season.  Their short program has been receiving low scores and has kept them from truly competing for the top spots at their events.  If they can find a way to up their short program scores they will be solidly in contention for the title here.

Castelli and Shnapir are a younger team that has had a solid Grand Prix season.  They need to work on their consistency as mistakes at both their events cost them placements.  They do have some great elements and have been training a throw triple axel which very few teams can execute and has a high base value.  They are definitely in the mix for the race for the podium and can capitalize if one of the top teams makes mistakes.

Marley and Brubaker are a new team this season and have put up some impressive scores internationally.  Their short program seems to be their strength at this point as they are executing a few easier elements in their free skate such as a double throw that may keep them off the podium.  If they do two throw triples here, they could easily find themselves with a medal.  This is definitely a team to watch.

A few other teams to watch are Vise/Baldwin, Katz/Lynch and Aaron/Cohen.

You can see an analysis of all the best and worst scores of the season here: http://backstagebarbie.blogspot.com/2011/01/us-nationals-preview-senior-pairs-best.html

My podium predictions:
Gold: Yankowskas/Coughlin
Silver: Denney/Barrett
Bronze: Evora/Ladwig
Pewter: Castelli/Shnapir

My USFSA Fantasy Picks:
A) Yankowskas/Coughlin
B) Marley/Brubaker
C) Aaron/Cohen

Denney/Barrett: They finished 13th at the Olympics and 7th at Worlds with personal best scores across the board.  They finished 5th place at NHK Trophy and 4th at Skate America.  They are the 2009 National silver medalists and the reigning National Champions.

Evora/Ladwig: They placed 10th at the Olympics with personal best scores in the short and free programs and 9th at the World Championships.  They finished 5th at Cup of China and and bronze at Cup of Russia.  They are the 2007 and 2008 National pewter medalists.  They are the reigning National silver medalists.

Yankowskas/Coughlin: They placed 4th at the Four Continents Championships with personal best scores in the short and free skate.  They finished 4th at NHK Trophy and won bronze at Cup of China.  They finished 6th at nationals last season.

Vise/Baldwin: They finished 8th at nationals last season.

Castelli/Shnapir: Castelli and Shnapir placed 10th at Four Continents.  They are the 2009 World Junior Bronze medalists.  They finished 4th at Skate Canada with personal best scores across the board and 6th at Skate America with a personal best free skate.  They are the 2009 National Junior bronze medalists.  They finished 10th at nationals last season.

Davis/Leftheris: This is their first season together.

Marley/Brubaker: This is their first season together.  Marley is also competing in junior ladies.

Smith/Bartholomay: They qualified with a 1st place finish at Eastern sectionals.  They are the reigning National Junior bronze medalists.

Katz/Lynch: They qualified with a 2nd place finish at Eastern sectionals.  They finished 6th at nationals in 2009.

Aaron/Cohen: They qualified with a 1st place finish at Midwestern sectionals.  They finished 9th at nationals last season.

Bereswill/Young: They qualified with a 2nd place finish at Midwestern sectionals.  This is their first season together.

Moore/Gaumond: They qualified with a 3rd place finish at Midwestern sectionals.  They finished 15th at nationals last season.

Scimeca/Dimitrov: They qualified with a 3rd place finish at Eastern sectionals.

Donlan/Speroff: They qualified with a 4th place finish at Eastern sectionals.  They finished 8th at nationals at the junior level last year.

Simpson/Miller and Zhang/Toth had qualified but had to withdraw due to injury.

Skate America Pairs Short Program

Warm up group is on the ice.  Zhang/Toth practice their throw and look great in their gray/blue costumes.  Castelli/Shnapir rehearse their triple twist.  Moore-Towers/Moscovitch run through a lift.  The Russians have a two footed and a turned out landing on their throw element.  I like the simple but elegant look of Marissa's dress.  Shnapir stumbles on the side by side jumps.

Group 1

Felicia Zhang/Taylor Toth, USA

• In only their second season together, Taylor/Toth are making their senior Grand Prix debut.  They both look nervous as they wait for their names to be announced.
• They are skating to Clare de Lune
• She really crashed into him on the landing of the twist
• The side by side triple toes looked clean
• She could use some more extension through her legs and arch in her back in the overhead lift
• Nice ride out on the landing of their throw salchow but i think it may have only been a double
• Very in sync on the pairs spin
• Nice unison on the step sequence
• Legs could be a little more stretched out in death spiral
• Overall a very pretty routine and they look very comfortable with each other and have a good connection.

26.82 TES + 21.31 PCS = 48.13 and into 1st place

Kirsten Moore-Towers/Dylan Moscovitch, CAN

• With Dube and Davison out the top Candian Pairs spot is open and this team seems poised to take it
• Fun, upbeat folk music with some arms that match
• Crash landing on the triple twist
• She puts a hand down on the side by side triple toes
• Overhead lift from the knee and he releases her to a one arm hold and flip exit--all looks very effortless
• Great ice coverage on the throw triple loop and she landed it nicely
• I hate the upside down death spiral position
• Great use of the ice and their positions in the step sequence
• Spins are fast and in unison

35.33 TES + 26.31 PCS =61.64 new seasons best and into 1st place

Ksenia Stolbova/Fedor Klimov, RUS

• Asurias is their music
• Double twist with her arms over her head
• Throw triple flip with a nice ride out by Stolbova
• Side by side triple toes looked clean
• They're a little far apart in their step sequence and she does a partner cartwheel over him which I haven't seen before--I'd like it to be a little fiercer with this Spanish music as well
• She has an interesting air position that doesn't look fully developed and she may have crashed into him during the exit
• The spins are unison and close together but seem to lose speed toward the end
• Very different entrance into their death spiral from a backward lunge position and it looks like he almost drops her for a second at the very end
• Their program lacked some of the polish of the other Russian teams but they have room to grow
• Long wait for their scores, possible jump downgrades?

30.67 TES + 23.06 PCS = 53.73 into 2nd place

Marissa Castelli/Simon Shnapir, USA

• Music is Money by Pink Floyd and the Apprentice theme song
• He takes a bad fall on the throw triple salchow
• Nice height and catch on the triple twist
• Unison is slightly off on the spins
• Nice closeness ans unity on the step sequence
• She lands on her knees on the throw triple salchow but it had huge height
• They go into their signature leg hold position in the overhead lift
• Death spiral was nice
• Not as clean as Skate Canada with the two falls.  I wonder if nerves are a factor in front of the home crowd as they are still a young team.

26.50 TES + 22.74PCS -2.00 deduction = 47.24


Warm up group is on the ice.  Sui and Han seem to really be going through their program.  Cadee Denney looks like she's got a tissue stuck in her bodice.  The rest of the teams just seem to be skating around and I don't see many elements being warmed up here.  Jumps from Denney, Barrett and Savchenko. 

Group 2

Stacey Kemp/David King, GBR

• Their music is Clocks by Coldplay (Yay Vitamin String Quartet!)
• Nice triple twist but it look like she might have two footed the landing and crashed into him a little bit
• Double Flip for their side by side
• Throw triple loop was landed nicely
• Nice stretched out position in the death spiral
• The footwork seems slow and a little repetitive
• Their spins are off unison and it looks as if at one point they were doing two completely different spins
• Overhead lift with a catchfoot position for her

22.60 TES + 19.40 PCS = 42.00 into 5th place

Wenjing Sui/Cong Han, CHN

• Country Dance is their music
• She turned 16 since Cup of China
• She has so much personality on the ice!
• Great side by side double Axels
• She gets great height on the triple twist
• Huge throw triple flip!  She holds the ending forever as well--great control.
• Great speed and energy through their step sequence and it really plays into the character of the routine and the crowd is really behind them
• Nice unison on the spins but they lost it a little bit at the end--great speed through the spins
• She could use a little more arch through her back in the overhead lift and they use the same split position as Castelli/Shnapir.  There was a little bobble getting into it but he got her up there.
• Nice death spiral position
• Great routine from them with no errors and the crowd is screaming!  They should get a huge score. 

32.02 TES + 25.51 PCS = 57.53 into 2nd place (and a lower score than Cup of China where they had 2 falls)

Caydee Denney/Jeremy Barrett, USA

• Love Theme from Cousins
• A little bit of a crash landing on the triple twist and she didn't get great height
• Side by side triple toe loops were clean and well done
• Throw triple lutz was good but didn't get the height or ice coverage that some of the other teams do
• Her death spiral position is very ugly and she doesn't get as low as Moore-Towers did
• Side by spins were good and in unison
• They seem a little far apart at times on their footwork but they have nice movements and speed and flow through this section
• She could use a little more arch in her back in the overhead lift position
• I like this softer side to their skating that we haven't seen before

32.46 TES + 26.03 PCS = 58.49 new seasons best and into 2nd place

Aliona Savchenko/Robin Szolkowy, GER

• Korobushko by Bond is their music
• I'm not quite sure what the story a the beginning was supposed to be
• Throw triple flip was huge and she really held on to the landing
• Triple twist was good
• Double toe--it looks like Savchenko was a little tilted in the air and couldn't do the 3rd rotation
• Nice over head lift and he tosses her into the flip exit
• Great death spiral position
• The music for their step sequence lends itself to clapping and could be a real crowd pleaser but the steps are not as exciting as they could be
• Spins are good but the unison is slightly off but they get them back together
• Overall a solid program, but not my favorite from them and I think it doesn't really give them the chance to perform

32.84 TES + 31.15 PCS = 63.99 and into 1st place

Top 3 are Savchenko/Szolkowy, Moore-Towers/Moscovitch and Denney/Barrett
Moore-Towers/Moscovitch had the top elements score
Savchenko/Szolkowy had the top program components score