Gardena Spring Trophy Senior Men's Results

Pl.	Name	Nation	TSS =	TES +		PCS +	SS	TR	PE	CH	IN	Deduction -	StN.
1	Takahiko KOZUKA	JPN	81.18	43.43		38.75	8.17	7.67	7.58	7.83	7.50	1.00	#12
2	Brandon MROZ	USA	68.84	34.26		36.58	7.25	7.17	7.33	7.50	7.33	2.00	#6
3	Adam RIPPON	USA	63.64	29.39		36.25	7.33	7.17	7.00	7.33	7.42	2.00	#3
4	Stèphane WALKER	SUI	62.75	33.26		30.49	6.33	6.08	6.17	6.08	5.83	1.00	#11
5	Abzal RAKIMGALIYEV	KAZ	58.71	28.38		30.33	6.00	5.67	6.33	6.08	6.25	0.00	#14
6	Maurizio ZANDRON	ITA	55.95	28.20		28.75	5.92	5.42	5.75	5.83	5.83	1.00	#4
7	Antonio PANFILI	ITA	54.46	25.30		29.16	5.83	5.58	5.75	5.92	6.08	0.00	#1
8	Kevin ALVES	BRA	54.15	26.07		28.08	5.50	5.42	5.83	5.50	5.83	0.00	#15
9	Maverick Clint EGUIA	PHI	51.95	23.95		28.00	5.75	5.42	5.75	5.58	5.50	0.00	#8
10	Sargis HAYRAPETYAN	ARM	50.95	24.20		26.75	5.50	5.33	5.50	5.25	5.17	0.00	#10
11	Slavik HAYRAPETYAN	ARM	48.75	23.50		27.25	5.58	5.17	5.67	5.50	5.33	2.00	#7
12	Osman AKGUN	TUR	47.08	23.00		25.08	5.50	4.50	5.08	5.00	5.00	1.00	#2
13	Alessandro PEZZOLI	ITA	41.37	18.29		24.08	4.75	4.58	4.92	5.08	4.75	1.00	#5

Free Skate

Pl.	Name	Nation	TSS =	TES +		PCS +	SS	TR	PE	CH	IN	Deduction -	StN.
1	Adam RIPPON	USA	155.52	74.18		81.34	8.08	7.92	8.25	8.17	8.25	0.00	#10
2	Takahiko KOZUKA	JPN	147.45	70.45		79.00	8.00	7.67	7.83	8.17	7.83	2.00	#9
3	Stèphane WALKER	SUI	130.96	62.96		68.00	7.00	6.50	7.08	6.75	6.67	0.00	#11
4	Abzal RAKIMGALIYEV	KAZ	125.74	57.56		68.18	6.75	6.42	6.92	7.08	6.92	0.00	#13
5	Brandon MROZ	USA	121.42	51.42		71.00	7.08	6.92	7.08	7.25	7.17	1.00	#12
6	Maurizio ZANDRON	ITA	108.71	49.37		60.34	6.42	5.83	5.92	6.00	6.00	1.00	#7
7	Kevin ALVES	BRA	103.89	47.89		56.00	5.83	5.25	5.92	5.58	5.42	0.00	#6
8	Antonio PANFILI	ITA	102.83	46.67		57.16	5.75	5.58	5.75	5.75	5.75	1.00	#8
9	Osman AKGUN	TUR	100.49	51.65		48.84	5.42	4.58	4.92	4.75	4.75	0.00	#4
10	Maverick Clint EGUIA	PHI	95.03	40.21		55.82	5.75	5.17	5.83	5.83	5.33	1.00	#5
11	Alessandro PEZZOLI	ITA	91.27	43.75		48.52	5.08	4.67	4.92	4.92	4.67	1.00	#3
12	Sargis HAYRAPETYAN	ARM	84.15	37.81		47.34	5.25	4.25	5.08	4.67	4.42	1.00	#2
13	Slavik HAYRAPETYAN	ARM	72.62	31.62		45.00	4.75	4.25	4.33	4.92	4.25	4.00	#1

Total

FPl.	Name	Nation	Points	SP	FS
1	Takahiko KOZUKA	JPN	228.63	1	2
2	Adam RIPPON	USA	219.16	3	1
3	Stèphane WALKER	SUI	193.71	4	3
4	Brandon MROZ	USA	190.26	2	5
5	Abzal RAKIMGALIYEV	KAZ	184.45	5	4
6	Maurizio ZANDRON	ITA	164.66	6	6
7	Kevin ALVES	BRA	158.04	8	7
8	Antonio PANFILI	ITA	157.29	7	8
9	Osman AKGUN	TUR	147.57	12	9
10	Maverick Clint EGUIA	PHI	146.98	9	10
11	Sargis HAYRAPETYAN	ARM	135.10	10	12
12	Alessandro PEZZOLI	ITA	132.64	13	11
13	Slavik HAYRAPETYAN	ARM	121.37	11	13
WD	Paolo BACCHINI	ITA
WD	Patrick MYZYK	POL

Midwest Sectionals Senior Men's Results

Place	Start No.	Name	Short Program		Free Skate		Total Score
			Place	Score	Place	Score
1	5	Max Aaron, Broadmoor SC	1	75.88	1	157.70	233.58
2	4	Alexander Johnson, Broadmoor SC	2	71.79	2	151.39	223.18
3	6	Brandon Mroz, Broadmoor SC	3	70.76	3	129.56	200.32
4	3	William Brewster, Detroit SC	5	54.30	4	116.83	171.13
5	7	Timothy Koleto, Broadmoor SC	4	58.28	5	99.16	157.44
6	1	Brian Mueller, DuPage FSC	6	46.11	7	92.74	138.85
7	2	Robert Przepioski, Rochester FSC	7	39.00	6	97.14	136.14

Liberty Summer Competition

The Liberty Summer Competition is the first major club competition of the summer and is one of the competitions that satisfy the U.S. ISP readiness requirements.

Notable participants include:

SENIOR MEN
Max Aaron
Wesley Campbell
Harrison Choate
Timothy Koleto
Keegan Messing
Ross Miner
Brandon Mroz


Emmanuel Savary

SENIOR LADIES
Aimee Buchanan
Ashley Cain
Samantha Cesario
McKinzie Daniels
Haley Dunne
Joelle Forte
Jenelle Herman
Nicole Rajic (former US competitor, now competing for Slovakia)
Yasmin Siraj
Allison Timlen

SENIOR PAIRS
Bautista/Harris (former US competitors, now competing for Philippines)
Donlan/Speroff
Duarte/Grafton
Dube/Wolfe (Canada)
Kayne/O'Shea (new team)
Kemp/King (Great Britain)
Zhang/Bartholomay

JUNIOR MEN
Chase Belmontes
Alexander Bjelde
Jimmy Ma
Marcus Mimidis
Andrew Nagode
James Schetelich
Matej Silecky

JUNIOR LADIES
Kay Bergdolt
Ana Draovitch
Amanda Gelb
Avery Kurtz
Brianna Laxson
Barbie Long
Haley Mulera
Olivia Serafini
Madison Vinci

JUNIOR PAIRS
Belt/Johnson
de la Mora/Wilson
Goldberg/Dolkieiwcz
Pearce/Silecky
Shaughnessy/Morgan

Wednesday, July 18

                                                                                                           

Rink No. 1

9:00 – 10:20 a.m.                    Novice Ladies Group A Short Program (13)

10:20 – 10:35 a.m.                  RESURFACE

10:35 – 11:55 a.m.                  Novice Ladies Group B Short Program (13)

11:55 – 12:10 p.m.                  RESURFACE

12:10 – 1:40 p.m.                    Novice Ladies Group C Short Program (13)

1:40 – 1:55 p.m.                      RESURFACE

1:55 – 3:25 p.m.                      Novice Ladies Group D Short Program (13)

3:25 – 3:40 p.m.                      RESURFACE

3:40 – 5:15 p.m.                      Novice Ladies Group E Short Program (13)

5:15 – 5:30 p.m.                      RESURFACE

5:30 – 6:50 p.m.                      Junior Ladies Group A Short Program (12)

6:50 – 7:05 p.m.                      RESURFACE

7:05 – 8:30 p.m.                      Junior Ladies Group B Short  Program (13)

8:30 p.m.                                 End of Day

 Rink No. 2

3:25 – 4:45 p.m.                      Junior Men Short Program (12)

4:45 – 5:00 p.m.                      RESURFACE

5:00 – 6:40 p.m.                      Junior Ladies Group C Short Program (13)

6:40 – 6:55 p.m.                      RESURFACE

6:55 – 8:40 p.m.                      Junior Ladies Group D Short Program (13)

 

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

                                                                                               

Thursday, July 19

Rink No. 1

7:30 – 10:05 p.m.        Junior Ladies Group B FS (14)

Thursday, July 19

Rink No. 2

                                                           

8:00 – 9:25 a.m.          Novice Men Short Program (13)

12:15 – 2:15 p.m.        Novice Ladies Short Program Final (18)

3:50 – 5:30 p.m.          Junior Men Free Skating (13)

5:30 – 5:45 p.m.          RESURFACE

5:45 – 7:25 p.m.          Junior Ladies Group A Free Skating (14)

8:15 – 9:00 p.m.          Junior Pairs Short Program (5)

9:00 – 9:15 p.m.          RESURFACE

9:15 – 10:00 p.m.        Senior Pairs Short Program (6)

10:00 p.m.                   End of Day

Friday, July 20

                                                                                               

Rink No. 1

8:00 – 9:35 a.m.                      Novice Ladies Group A FS (14)  

9:35 – 9:50 a.m.                      RESURFACE

9:50 – 11:30 a.m.                    Novice Ladies Group B FS (14)

11:30 – 11:45 a.m.                  RESURFACE

11:45 – 1:20 p.m.                    Novice Ladies Group C FS (14)

1:20 – 1:35 p.m.                      RESURFACE

1:35 – 3:10 p.m.                      Novice Ladies Group D FS (14)

3:10 – 3:25 p.m.                      RESURFACE

3:25 – 5:05 p.m.                      Novice Ladies Group E FS (14)

5:05 – 5:20 p.m.                      RESURFACE            

5:20 – 7:00 p.m.                      Junior Ladies Group C FS (14)

7:00 – 7:15 p.m.                      RESURFACE

7:15 – 9:00 p.m.                      Junior Ladies Group D FS (15)

9:00 p.m.                                 End of Day

Friday, July 20

Rink No. 2

10:05 -11:35 p.m.                   Novice Men Free Skating (13)

11:35 – 11:50 p.m.                  RESURFACE

11:50 – 2:20 p.m.                    Senior Ladies Group A Short Program (20)

2:20– 2:35 p.m.                       RESURFACE

2:35 – 4:55 p.m.                      Senior Ladies Group B Short Program (20)

4:55 – 5:10 p.m.                      RESURFACE

5:10 – 7:00 p.m.                      Senior Men Short Program (15)

7:00 – 7:15 p.m.                      RESURFACE

7:15 – 7:55 p.m.                      Junior Pairs Free Skating (5)        

8:05 – 8:20 p.m.                      RESURFACE

8:20 – 9:15 p.m.                      Senior Pairs Free Skating (5)

9:15 p.m.                                 End of Day

Saturday, July 21

Rink No. 1

                                                                        

3:30 – 5:25 p.m.                      Novice Ladies Final Free Skating (20)

5:25 p.m.                                 End of Day

Saturday, July 21

                                                                                                           

Rink No. 2

8:15 – 8:30 a.m.                      RESURFACE

8:30 – 10:50 a.m.                    Senior Ladies Free Skating Group A (19)

10:50 – 11:05 a.m.                  RESURFACE

11:05 – 1:30 p.m.                    Senior Ladies Free Skating Group B (19)

1:30 –1:45 p.m.                       RESURFACE

1:45 – 3:10 p.m.                      Senior Men Free Skating (11)  

3:10 – 3:25 p.m.                      RESURFACE            

3:25 – 5:30 p.m.                      Junior Ladies Free Skating Final (16)

5:30 p.m.                                 End of Day

Rostelecom Cup Men's Short Program

The event begins at 9:45am EST.
The warmup group is on the ice.

Group 1

Sergei Voronov, RUS: 29.51 TES + 31.64 PCS = 61.15

• Two footed and under rotated his quad toe attempt
• Nice tight and fast rotation on his triple axel
• Good triple loop
• Nice camel spin position with good arm variations but he could use more speed
• Fun music for his step sequence and a lot of movement--he looks a little off balanced at times and I'd like to see him really perform this and it could be a huge crowd pleaser
• Good camel into a sit spin and a triangle variation
• Flying entry to his final sit spin with a nice low, tucked position but a loss of speed through the twist variation

Brandon Mroz, USA: 36.55 TES + 33.80 PCS -1.00 = 69.35 and into 1st place

• I like this easy style on Brandon Mroz but I'd like to see him really commit to the choreography instead of going through some of the motions
• Fall on his quad lutz attempt
• Step out on his triple axel
• His transitions have really improved and his skating in between the elements is really improved and right on the music
• Nice camel spin
• Nice triple lutz + triple toe combination
• Good low sit spin
• Very nice one foot sequence and good flow through his footwork
• Good triangle spin and twisted sit variation

Konstantin Menshov, RUS: 30.41 TES + 31.50 PCS -1.00 = 60.91 and into 3rd place

• Really wild on his triple axel with a very open air position and he two foots the landing
• Quad toe + double toe with not a lot of flow in between the jumps
• Really hard fall on his triple lutz
• Good camel spin position but he loses a lot of speed in the end
• Good speed and flow through the step sequence but not a lot of difficulty in the upper body
• Nice sit spin
• Good speed through the final combo spin with nice stretched out positions

Andrei Rogozine, CAN: 33.32 TES + 31.79 PCS = 65.11 and into 2nd place

• Opens with a nice triple flip + triple toe combination
• Spread eagle into a triple axel with a step out
• He could use a little more flexibility through the catchfoot position in his camel spin
• A little tight on the landing of that triple lutz
• Nice position in his twisted sit variation
• Good one foot section in his step sequence and nice timing with the music; a lot of movement through the upper body but he needs deeper edges
• Nice speed in the camel spin but loses a lot of it in the sit position and almost falls out of it

Group 2

Javier Fernandez, ESP: 40.11 TES + 38.39 PCS = 78.50 and into 1st place

• Very nice opening quad toe
• Popped his lutz into a double with a triple toe combo
• Nice triple axel
• Great upright spin
• Nice sit spin in a low position but he could use a little more stretch through his free leg
• Very nice one foot section that covers half the ice in his step sequence--this step sequence looks so easy and flows very nicely but is full of difficult content
• Great camel spin position into a good triangle variation but a loss of speed through the change foot
• Great ending pose hit right out of the scratch spin

Yuzuru Hanyu, JPN: 45.20 TES + 37.58 PCS = 82.78 and into 1st place

• Sits too far back on the landing of the quad toe and has to step out and put his hands down
• Nice recovery with his triple axel
• Decent donut position 
• Good triple lutz + triple toe
• I like his freedom through this step sequence and how low he gets to the ice in some of these steps
• Nice cross leg sit spin with no hands holding his leg
• Good camel position into a nice low sit position with a stretched free leg and ending with a scratch spin

Jeremy Abbott, USA: 42.04 TES + 41.50 PCS = 83.54 and into 1st place

• He looks so calm and relaxed out on the ice
• Nice opening triple flip + triple toe with great height and fast rotation
• Beautiful triple axel
• He looks like he's having so much fun in these steps
• Nice low sit spin with good positions and speed
• Great timing with the music and he's really skating to the music and not through it
• Great triple lutz to end the jumps
• Nice twisted upright spin into a scratch spin
• Very nice edgework and speed in his step sequence and the crowd is really behind him; I don't like the step in the middle where he puts his hand down because it almost looks like a fall and he could lose points for it
• Nice final combination spin with good flexibility through the upright position

Artur Gachinski, RUS: 38.30 TES + 37.43 PCS -1.00 = 74.73 and into 4th place

• Fall on his opening quad toe
• Good triple axel
• Triple loop--but with no combination he'll be docked for not completing hte required elements
• He needs a lot more flexibility through that catchfoot position of his camel spin
• Good speed in his sit spin
• Nice one foot section in his footwork but he loses some of his flow out of the illusion spin
• Nice Y spin but he leans too far away from his foot and will lose some GOE points on that

Michal Brezina, CZE: 40.62 TES + 38.39 PCS = 79.01 and into 3rd place

• Big triple axel but a lot of lead time into the jump
• Triple flip + triple toe
• Triple lutz
• He needs to really stretch through his free leg in the sit spin
• Very nie camel position but his catchfoot position is not very attractive and needs a lot more flexibility
• Nice speed, quality of movement, flow and edge work in this step sequence
• Very slow final combination spin but good position variations

Pl.	Name	Nation	TSS =	TES +		PCS +	SS	TR	PE	CH	IN	Ded. -	StN.
1	Jeremy ABBOTT	USA	83.54	42.04		41.50	8.11	8.11	8.39	8.46	8.43	0.00	#7
2	Yuzuru HANYU	JPN	82.78	45.20		37.58	7.68	7.32	7.50	7.54	7.54	0.00	#6
3	Michal BREZINA	CZE	79.01	40.62		38.39	7.75	7.36	7.71	7.75	7.82	0.00	#9
4	Javier FERNANDEZ	ESP	78.50	40.11		38.39	7.61	7.39	7.75	7.82	7.82	0.00	#5
5	Artur GACHINSKI	RUS	74.73	38.30		37.43	7.75	7.18	7.50	7.50	7.50	1.00	#8
6	Brandon MROZ	USA	69.35	36.55		33.80	6.79	6.43	6.79	6.93	6.86	1.00	#2
7	Andrei ROGOZINE	CAN	65.11	33.32		31.79	6.43	6.14	6.43	6.50	6.29	0.00	#4
8	Sergei VORONOV	RUS	61.15	29.51		31.64	6.46	5.96	6.32	6.54	6.36	0.00	#1
9	Konstantin MENSHOV	RUS	60.91	30.41		31.50	6.39	6.14	6.36	6.36	6.25	1.00	#3

Rostelecom Cup Men's Preview

Jeremy Abbott won the gold at Cup of China despite placing 3rd in both the short program and the free skate.  He has a fun swing themed short program choreographed by So You Think You Can Dance winner Benji Schwimmer and a free skate that is classic Abbott with a beautiful lyrical quality that is wonderful to watch and will be breathtaking when he hits it clean.  He has the 7th best short program and free skate of the season as well as the 5th place total score.  He needs a 1st-4th place finish to qualify for the Final.

Javier Fernandez surprised with a silver medal finish at Skate Canada, beating Patrick Chan and Daisuke Takahashi in the short program.  He has a very nice skating quality and quads in both of his programs and showed he could handle the pressure of being the leader in the free skate.  He has the 2nd best short program  and 3rd best free skate of the season as well as the 2nd best total score of the season.  While his Skate Canada score was huge, he scored 50 points less at Nebelhorn Trophy earlier this season.  He needs a 1st or 2nd place finish to qualify.  He can also qualify with a 3rd place finish under certain conditions: If Hanyu does not win he needs 196.78 points to qualify.  If Hanyu wins, he needs 200.52 points to qualify.

Yuzuru Hanyu finished in 4th place at Cup of China after an impressive comeback freeskate.  If he can skate his short program clean he can be in the mix for the medals and the top of the podium.  He has the 9th best free skate score and 8th best total score of the season.  He needs a gold medal win to qualify for the Final.

Artur Gachinski skated to a 1st place finish in the short program at Cup of China but imploded in the free skate and finished well off the podium.  He'll have to handle the pressure of the home crowd and put out two clean programs if he wants to medal at this event.  He has the 5th best short program and 9th best total score of the season.

Brandon Mroz could also spoil for a medal.  He finished 3rd in the short program at NHK Trophy with the first quad lutz jump ever landed in an ISU competition but really struggled in his free skate to land any clean jumps and dropped to the bottom of the pack.  He'll have to focus on the whole package and not just the one jump if he wants to medal here, but the quad lutz is a huge point getter so if he hits that and the rest of the program he can put up a big score.

Michal Brezina has already claimed two medals and a spot in the Final this season but he has capitalized on other skaters mistakes to claim those medals by skating conservative programs.  This is a difficult field and his scores don't match up with the top skaters and he'll need to throw something else out there if he wants to take home another medal and improve his placement in the Final.

Patrick Chan, Daisuke Takahashi and Michal Brezina have already claimed spots in the Final.  Nan Song and Takahiko Kozuka are on the bubble and could qualify depending on the results of this event.

My podium predictions: 
Gold: Javier Fernandez
Silver: Jeremy Abbott
Bronze: Yuzuru Hanyu

Bios of the competitors:
Andrei Rogozine, CAN: He is the reigning World Junior Champion.  He placed 7th at Skate Canada.  He qualified for the JGPF last season and won bronze.  His personal best is 193.40.  He is 18 years old.

Michal Brezina, CZE: He placed 4th at Worlds and 8th at Europeans.  He won gold at Skate America and bronze at Trophee Eric Bompard to qualify for the Grand Prix Final.  He is the 2009 World Junior Silver Medalist.  His personal best is 236.06.  He is 21 years old.

Yuzuru Hanyu, JPN: He is the reigning Four Continents Silver Medalist.  He placed 4th at Cup of China.  He is the 2010 World Junior Champion.  His personal best is 228.01.  He is 16 years old.


Artur Gachinski, RUS: He is the reigning World bronze medalist and finished 5th at Europeans.  He placed 5th at Cup of China.  He is the 2010 World Junior bronze medalist.  His personal best is 241.86.  He is 18 years old.

Konstantin Menshov, RUS: He placed 7th at Europeans.  He finished 6th at NHK Trophy.  His personal best is 202.62.  He is 28 years old.


Sergei Voronov, RUS: He placed 12th at Cup of China last season.  He is the 2006 World Junior silver medalist and 2007 World Junior bronze medalist.  His personal best is 220.39.  He is 24 years old.

Javier Fernandez, ESP: He placed 10th at Worlds and 9th at Europeans.  He won silver at Skate Canada.  His personal best is 250.33.  He is 20 years old.


Jeremy Abbott, USA: He is the reigning Four Continents bronze medalist.  He won gold at Cup of China.  He is the 2007 Four Continents bronze medalist.  His personal best is 237.72.  He is 26 years old.

Brandon, Mroz, USA: He finished 9th at NHK Trophy.  His personal best is 216.80.  He is 20 years old.

NHK Trophy Men's Short Program

Pl.	Name	Nation	TSS =	TES +		PCS +	SS	TR	PE	CH	IN	Ded. -	StN.
1	Daisuke TAKAHASHI	JPN	90.43	46.14		44.29	8.79	8.57	9.00	8.89	9.04	0.00	#9
2	Takahiko KOZUKA	JPN	79.77	40.88		38.89	7.89	7.50	7.89	7.86	7.75	0.00	#8
3	Brandon MROZ	USA	74.83	40.76		34.07	6.89	6.50	6.93	6.82	6.93	0.00	#5
4	Konstantin MENSHOV	RUS	74.67	42.24		32.43	6.64	6.11	6.61	6.50	6.57	0.00	#2
5	Tatsuki MACHIDA	JPN	72.26	38.73		34.53	6.96	6.50	7.14	6.93	7.00	1.00	#4
6	Ross MINER	USA	71.12	38.87		32.25	6.54	6.14	6.50	6.50	6.57	0.00	#3
7	Samuel CONTESTI	ITA	63.83	30.22		34.61	6.93	6.50	7.04	7.00	7.14	1.00	#7
8	Armin MAHBANOOZADEH	USA	63.52	33.60		29.92	6.14	5.82	5.96	5.96	6.04	0.00	#1
9	Tomas VERNER	CZE	62.96	29.10		34.86	7.25	6.82	6.79	6.96	7.04	1.00	#6

NHK Trophy Men's Preview

Daisuke Takahashi won a bronze medal earlier this season at Skate Canada.  His programs are classic Takahashi  with tons of personality and style.  He went for a quad flip in his free skate but two footed it.  If he can land it, he will be the first skater in history to successfully land the jump.  He made several jumping errors in Canada that kept him out of contention at the top of the podium.  His PCS scores are so good that he can make the errors and still medal, but if he can hit the jumps, he's very competitive for the gold medal.

Takahiko Kozuka spent his pre-season lowering expectations and said he was taking his season slow.  He's coming off a silver medal finish at Worlds and is pacing his season to peak at Worlds again.  He did take home the bronze medal at Skate America, but that was one of the lowest scoring events of the first half of the season.  The Japanese field is very deep and he'll have to be careful not to pace himself out of contention for the World team.  He has a very elegant style and a very nice flow in his jumps and is always a contender for the podium.

Ross Miner started his season with a 6th place finish in a deep field at Skate Canada.  He is another skater who really feels his music and is committed to his programs.  He came back from a disappointing short program at Skate Canada to finish 5th in the free skate and was only 15 points behind his career best finish at Worlds and finished well above the marks he set on the Grand Prix last season.

Two skaters are making their season debuts with a shot at the podium.  Tomas Verner earned a trip to the Grand Prix Final last season with one of my favorite programs of the season: his Singin in the Rain short program.  He has been struggling with injury throughout the off season and may not be back to his best here.

Brandon Mroz is also making his season debut with a brand new jump in his arsenal.  He is down in the history books for landing the first quad lutz in competition.  He went on to land the jump in both of his programs in U.S. qualifying competition, even earning positive GOEs.  He's been working with Sandra Bezic to improve his performance skills.  If he lands the quad lutz here, he'll be the first to land it in an ISU competition.

My podium predictions:
Gold: Daisuke Takahashi
Silver: Tomas Verner
Bronze: Brandon Mroz

Bios of the competitors:
Tomas Verner, CZE: He finished 12th at Worlds and is the reigning European bronze medalist.  He won bronze at Cup of Russia and gold at Cup of Russia last season to qualify for the Grand Prix Final where he finished 5th.  He is the 2008 European Champion and 2007 European silver medalist.  His personal best is 232.67.  He is 25 years old.

Samuel Contesti, ITA: He finished 18th at Worlds and 6th at Europeans.  He placed 8th at Skate America.  He is the 2009 European silver medalist.  His personal best is 226.97.  He is 28 years old.

Takahiko Kozuka, JPN: He is the reigning World silver medalist and finished 4th at Four Continents.  He won bronze at Skate America.  He qualified for the Grand Prix Final last season and won bronze.  He is the 2009 Four Continents bronze medalist and 2006 World Junior Champion.  His personal best is 258.41.  He is 22 years old.

Tatsuki Machida, JPN: He placed 5th at Cup of China and 11th at Cup of Russia last season.  He is the 2010 Four Continents Silver Medalist.  His personal best is 217.48.  He is 21 years old.

Daisuke Takahashi, JPN: He finished 5th at Worlds and is the reigning Four Continents Champion.  He won bronze at Skate Canada.  He qualified for the Grand Prix Final last season and finished 4th. He is the 2010 Olympic bronze medalist, 2010 World Champion, 2007 World silver medalist, 2008 Four Continents Champion, 2005 Four Continents bronze medalist and 2002 World Junior Champion.  His personal best is 264.41.  He is 25 years old.

Konstantin Menshov, RUS: He placed 7th at Europeans.  He finished 10th at Cup of Russia last season.  His personal best is 202.62.  He is 28 years old.

Armin Mahbanoozadeh, USA: He finished 7th at Four Continents.  He finished 10^th at Skate America.  His personal best is 211.17.  He is 20 years old.

Ross Miner, USA: He finished 11th at Worlds.  He placed 6^th at Skate Canada.  His personal best is 217.93.  He is 20 years old.

Brandon, Mroz, USA: He won silver at Cup of China and bronze at Trophee Eric Bompard last season.  His personal best is 216.80.  He is 20 years old.

Broadmoor Open

The Broadmoor Open runs June 22nd-25th in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  Competitors in the International Skating Pool and a few other competitors of note include:

Senior Men
Alexander Johnson
SP Score: 20, 29.4 48.4 Music: O mio babbino caro


Senior Men SP Only
Joshua Farris
Score: 34.82, 31.05 64.87 Music: Clair de Lune
3A, 3F+3T, 3Lz

Max Aaron
Score: 32.22 29.7 61.92 Music: Tango medley of Oblivion by Piazzolla & Mr. & Mrs. Smith 
4S, 3A, 3Lz+2T



Senior Ladies
Lauren Dinh
SP Score:  43.70
McKinzie Daniels
SP Score: 40.36
Angela Wang
SP Score: 53.14


Senior Ladies SP Only
Melissa Bulanhagui
Score: 17.5 20.2 37.7
3A attempt, Popped lutz, 2a.
 
Junior Men
Timothy Dolensky
SP Score: 52.05 
3Lo+3Lo turnout, 3Lz, 2A


David Wang
SP score: 49.70
2A, 3F+2T, 3Lz


Junior Ladies
Hannah Miller
SP Score: 45.60 Music: Danse Macabre
3F+1T, 3Lz, 2A
FS score:  87.76 Music: Masquerade Waltz
2A, 3F, 3Lo, 3S+2T+2Lo, 3T+2T, 3S, 3T+'tano 2T
Barbie Long (not on ISP, finished 2nd in novice last season)
SP Score: 50.44 Music: Swan Lake
3Lz, 3F+2T, 2A
FS score: 93.13 Music: 42nd Street
3Lz+2T+2Lo, 3F+2A seq., 3Lo, 3F, 3S, 1Lz, 2A+3T fall.
Mariah Bell (not on ISP, finished 3rd in novice last season)
SP Score: 44.76 Music: Mack & Mabel
2A, 2Lz, 3F+2T
FS Score: 84.73
2A+2A seq., 3F, 3Lz, 3S, 3T, 3F, 3T

Junior Pairs SP
Madeline Aaron/Max Settlage
SP Score: 40.24
Haven Denney/Brandon Frazier (not on ISP, but new junior team)
SP Score: 43.29
Kylie Duarte/Colin Grafton
SP Score: 46.55 Music: Meditation from Thais
Britney Simpson/Matt Blackmer (not on ISP, but new junior team, she competed on Sr Grand Prix)
SP Score: 39.16
Olivia Oltmanns/Josh Santillan
SP Score: 40.13

Junior Dance SD & FD
Jessica Mancini/Tyler Brooks

For a full list of competitors, see http://unseenskaters.wordpress.com/