De la Mora and Wilson focus on clean programs in run up to nationals

Brianna de la Mora and Taylor Wilson are no stranger to the national stage.  In their four years as a team, they have qualified for nationals every year.  They finished 8th as Juniors last season and that result earned them a trip to JGP Austria where they made their international debut (you can read their pre-season interview here).  They're looking to climb the junior ranks in Omaha with a retooled free skate and more consistent side by side jumps.  

You competed in your first JGP event this season (Austria) and placed 11th. Tell me about that experience and what you took away from International competition.

We had a great time competing in Austria and find ourselves telling each other “We want to go compete overseas again!”  We learned many things and realized that competition was just a small step in the long run.

Are there any elements in particular you’ve been focusing on for nationals?

We have been focusing on our side by side jumps and overall consistency on our elements.  Also, we have changed our free skate program quite a bit so we have been focusing on the program as a whole including new transitions and some different elements.

You have a triple twist planned in your free skate.  Do you think that gives you an advantage?

We think it does give us somewhat of an advantage because not everyone in junior pairs had a triple twist and we are hoping it will help us stand out as a top team.

One of your signature moves is your throw triple lutz which you didn't attempt at sectionals.  Will we be seeing that element at nationals?

We probably wont attempt the throw lutz.  We are trying to skate our programs as clean as possible.

What are your goals for nationals?

Our goals are to perform two great programs and to be among the top teams in junior pairs.

Going into nationals, what would you consider your biggest strength?  Your biggest weakness and how have you been working to overcome it?

A strength for us would be our lifts and the fact that it is our second year at the junior level so we feel more comfortable competing this year.  Weaknesses for us would be side by side jumps, but leading up to Nationals we are working to get them more consistent.

As a team, you're aging out of juniors internationally after this season.  What kind of international assignments are you hoping for next season?

Next season we would like to get some type of senior B assignment, although we are not sure if we want to move up to senior next season as of right now.

Are there any teams or skaters you're looking forward to seeing at nationals?

This year at Nationals Brianna and I are finally getting to stay the entire week; we are definitely looking forward to spending time with friends after we compete and watching all of the other events that we have always had to watch on TV.

US Nationals: Junior Pairs Preview

Simpson and Blackmer are in their second season as a team and seem to be hitting a bit of a sophomore slump.  After qualifying for the Junior Grand Prix Final and medaling at that event last season, they failed to medal at either of their Junior Grand Prix assignments this season.  Still, they had the best international scores of any US junior pairs team this season.  They have a throw triple loop and salchow planned in their free skate but have only been executing a double twist.  They have a great look and elegance on the ice and that should help make up for any technical deficits.  They won the silver medal at nationals last season and are in a good position to claim the top spot on the podium.

Trying to catch them will be their training mates Aaron and Settlage who won a bronze medal on the Junior Grand Prix this season.  They have a Level 4 lift, spin and step sequence planned in their short and executed two Level 4 lifts and a Level 4 combination spin in their free skate at sectionals.  They have a throw triple loop and triple salchow as well along with a triple twist.  After winning the novice title in 2011, they finished just off the podium last season.

Calalang and Sidhu bounced back from a poor short program at sectionals to claim the Pacific Coast Sectionals title.  They received a Level 4 on their spin and lift in the short program and a Level 4 on their side by side spins in their free skate.  They have a triple twist and are planning a throw triple salchow and throw triple lutz in their free skate which gives them a huge technical advantage if they hit the elements cleanly.  They just missed out on the Junior Worlds team last season and will be looking for redemption this year.

Liu and Perini are making their junior debut after winning two medals as novices.  She is not old enough to compete internationally but they seem to be growing together well and adjusting to her growth spurts.  They received a Level 3 death spiral, Level 4 steps, Level 4 lift and Level 4 spin in their short program at sectionals.  They also had Level 4 spins, a Level 3 death spiral and a triple twist in their free skate.  These levels help them make up for the fact that they only have a throw triple salchow and throw double flip planned in their free skate.

Pfund and Reiss are still a relatively new team but have been gaining recognition both nationally and internationally.  They received a Level 4 on their lift in the short program at sectionals but only had a basic death spiral.

De la Mora and Wilson competed on the Junior Grand Prix this season for the first time but will not be able to compete internationally next season.  He will age out of juniors and she is too young to compete in seniors until 2014-2015.  This may give them an advantage as they will not be vying for international placements next season and can just worry about their performance at nationals.  They had a Level 4 step sequence in their short program at sectionals and Level 4 spins and a Level 4 lift in the free skate.  They also have a triple twist and a triple lutz in their arsenal, but they did not execute the lutz at sectionals.

Oltmanns and Santillan have the whole package but have trouble putting together two clean programs when the pressure is on.  They also struggle with their solo jumps.  If they can put everything together and skate cleanly they can medal.  They had a Level 4 step sequence in their short program and Level 4 spins and a Level 4 lift in the free skate at sectionals.  Their programs are smartly structured with 4 elements in the bonus section of the free skate but those extra points were lost at sectionals when they had two falls.

Historically, the top three age eligible junior pairs are sent to junior worlds, however this season Denney and Frazier will be competing nationally as seniors.  They didn't have a stellar international season and the committee will have to determine how they rank with the other junior teams.  Placing in the top two should be a guaranteed trip to junior worlds.

My podium predictions:
Gold: SimpsonBlackmer
Silver: Aaron/Settlage
Bronze: Calalang/Sidhu
Pewter: Liu/Perini

Bios of the competitors:
Aaron/Settlage: She is 18 and he is 20.  She represents the Coyotes Skating Club of Arizona and he represents the Broadmoor Skating Club.  They won bronze at JGP USA and placed 7th at JGP Croatia.  They are 2011 Novice Pairs Champions and finished 6th in Junior Pairs in 2012.  They won gold at Midwestern Sectionals to qualify for nationals.  They have the 9th best free skate internationally.  The have the best short program, free skate and total scores nationally.

Belt/Johnson: They represent the University of Delaware Figure Skating Club.  They won pewter at Eastern Sectionals to qualify for nationals.  They have the 9th best free skate and 9th best total scores nationally.  

Calalang/Sidhu: She is 16 and he is 20.  She represents the DuPage Figure Skating Club and he represents the Las Vegas Figure Skating Club.  They placed 6th at JGP Austria and 8th at JGP Croatia.  They finished 8th in Juniors in 2011 and are the reigning Junior Pairs pewter medalists.  They won gold at Pacific Coast Sectionals to qualify for nationals.  They have the 6th best short program, 2nd best free skate and 2nd best total scores nationally.  

De la Mora/Wilson: She is 13 and he is 21.  They represent the Texas Gulf Coast Figure Skating Club.  They placed 11th at JGP Austria.  They are the 2010 Intermediate Pairs Champions, finished 6th in Novice in 2011 and 8th in Juniors in 2012.  They won silver at Midwestern Sectionals to qualify for nationals.  They have the 4th best short program, 4th best free skate and 4th best total scores nationally.

Doherty/Norris: She represents the University of Delaware Figure Skating Club and he represents the St. Moritz Ice Skating Club.  They placed 5th at Eastern Sectionals to qualify for nationals.  They have the 8th best free skate and 11th best total scores nationally.


Fields/Pacini: She is 17 and he is 22.  She represents the Coyote Skating Club of Arizona and he represents the Fort Collins Figure Skating Club.  They are the 2011 Novice Pewter Medalists and 2012 Novice Silver Medalists.  They won pewter at Pacific Coast Sectionals to qualify for nationals.  They have the 5th best short program and 10th best total scores nationally.

Fujimoto/Barsi-Rhyne: She is 21 and he is 21.  She represents the Peninsula Skating Club and he represents the Skating Club of Lake Placid.  They finished 11th in Juvenile in 2004, 7th in Juvenile in 2005, are the 2006 Juvenile pewter medalists, finished 5th in Intermediate in 2007, 12th in Novice in 2008, 7th in Novice in 2009 and 11th in Juniors in 2012.  They won bronze at Eastern Sectionals to qualify for nationals.  They have the 9th best short program, 10th best free skate and 8th best total scores nationally.

Liu/Perini: She is 13 and he is 19.  She represents the St. Paul Figure Skating Club and he represents the Los Angeles Figure Skating Club.  They are the 2011 Novice Silver Medalists and reigning Novice Champions.  They won silver at Pacific Coast Sectionals to qualify for nationals.  They have the 3rd best short program, 3rd best free skate and 3rd best total score nationally. 

Oltmanns/Santillan: She is 15 and he is 20.  She represents the Yarmouth Ice Club and he represents the All Year Figure Skating Club.  They placed 12th at JGP USA.  They finished 6th in Novice in 2010, 11th in Juniors in 2011 and 9th in Juniors in 2012.  They won gold at Eastern Sectionals to qualify for nationals.  They have the 7th best short program, 5th best free skate and 6th best total score nationally.

Pfund/Reiss: She represents the Broadmoor Skating Club and he represents the Los Angeles Figure Skating Club.  They placed 5th at JGP USA and 7th at JGP Germany.  She is 15 and he is 20.  They finished 5th as Juniors in 2012.  They won bronze at Pacific Coast Sectionals to qualify for nationals. They have the 2nd best short program, 6th best free skate and 4th best total score nationally.

Shaughnessy/Morgan: She is 20 and he is 21.  They represent the Skating Club of Boston.  They finished 5th in Novice in 2011 and are the reigning Novice Pairs bronze medalists.  They won silver at Eastern Sectionals to qualify for nationals.   They have the 8th best short program, 7th best free skate and 7th best total score nationally.

Simpson/Blackmer: She is 16 and he is 21.  She represents the Broadmoor Skating Club and he represents the Detroit Skating Club.  They placed 5th at JGP Austria and 5th at JGP Germany.  They are the reigning Junior Pairs silver medalists.  They have the 10th best short program and 8th best free skate internationally.

Midwest Sectionals Junior Pairs Results

Place	Start No.	Name	Short Program		Free Skate		Total Score
			Place	Score	Place	Score
1	2	Madeline Aaron, Coyotes SC of Arizona Max Settlage, Broadmoor SC	1	48.20	1	87.89	136.09
2	1	Brianna de la Mora, Texas Gulf Coast FSC Taylor Wilson, Texas Gulf Coast FSC	2	43.51	2	79.06	122.57

Indy Pairs Challenge Schedule and Competitors

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:   (Schedule may change due to number of entries)

Friday, August 3:

Senior SP

Junior SP

Saturday, August 4:

Senior FS

Junior FS

Senior

Andrews/Anderson
Baga/Toth
Castelli/Shnapir
Davis/Ladwig
Donlan/Speroff
Kayne/O'Shea
Vise/Baldwin
Zhang/Bartholomay

Bautista/Harris, PHI
Lawrence/Swiegers, CAN
Moore-Towers/Moscovitch, CAN
Purdy/Marinaro, CAN
Steele/Schultz, CAN

Junior

Belt/Johnson
De la Mora/Wilson
Fields/Pacini
Fujimoto/Barsi-Rhyne
Goldberg/Dolkiewicz
Oltmanns/Santillan
Pearce/Silecky
Shaughnessy/Morgan
Zaitsev/Stevens

Jones/Beharry, CAN

De la Mora and Wilson eye the international stage

Brianna de la Mora and Taylor Wilson have competed together for the last three years and already have a national title under their belt, winning the 2010 Intermediate Pairs crown only 6 months into their partnership.  They finished 6th as novices in 2011 and most recently placed 8th as juniors in San Jose.  De la Mora turned 13 while in San Jose and is now old enough to compete internationally at the junior level.  They are listed in U.S. Figure Skating's International Selection Pool and are eligible to receive international assignments.  They recently attended the U.S. Pairs Camp and will make their season debut at Liberty Summer Competition later this month.  The team represents the Texas Gulf Coast Figure Skating Club and train in Texas with Elena and Val Prudsky.  De la Mora is an 8th grader while Wilson is entering his junior year at the University of Houston.  I had the chance to talk to them about their success so far, their lives outside skating and their goals for this season.    

Tell me about yourselves outside of skating.

Wilson:  Outside of skating I really like hanging out with friends from skating and from school.  Going to the beach a couple of times during the summer is fun.  I also like watching all of the movies that come out during the summer. I enjoy swimming and grilling in my back yard with friends.

De La Mora: Outside of skating I enjoy hanging out with friends and family. I also enjoy going to the beach and swimming in my back yard.

You just got back from the National Pairs Camp. How was that experience?

Pairs camp was a good experience.  We got some great feedback and information from the judges that were there.  It was fun to see friends there too.  It helped us get prepared for the upcoming season.

Were you surprised that you won the intermediate title in 2010 after only 6 months of training together? Yes and no.  At sectionals when we posted a score of 62.56 we realized that winning the national title was possible because no one had ever scored that high.  Leading up to Junior Nationals we were working very hard and felt prepared to win.  Even though we knew it was definitely possible to win Junior Nationals, it was still a bit of a surprise for us.

Brianna, what did it feel like to stand atop a nationals podium when you were only 10 years old?

It felt good to see that even though I was young, I could still compete against older teams.

How do you feel the 8 year age gap impacts your partnership? As you've gotten older, how has your partnership changed? The age gap has its positives and negatives.  As we have grown together we can really talk about different things and communication is easier than when we were younger.  Brianna has no brothers and I have no sisters, so our relationship can be compared to having a brother or sister. 

Taylor, you chose to attend the University of Houston so you could continue training with Brianna. Was that a difficult decision? How do you balance the college experience with your skating? The decision was not too hard, as U of H is a great school.  For a while I wanted to move and go out of state for school, but that was before I realized I had a future in pair skating.  I definitely made the right decision.  Balancing college with skating can be challenging at times.  I schedule all of my classes in the mornings and then go to the rink for the rest of the day.  As I am moving up in school, scheduling is getting a little more difficult and it is hard to find all the classes I need and fit them into a morning schedule.

What skaters do you look up to and what specifically about them do you hope to emulate in your skating? We look up to Volosozhar and Trankov and their amazing pair elements!  We also watch videos of  Gordeeva and Grinkov.  Our coach always uses them as examples of how our skating should look.  We both like to watch singles skating as well.

For the past three seasons you've tackled a new level each season. How do you think this season will be different since you're staying at the junior level?  We feel like this season will be more comfortable for us than the last two.  Staying at the junior level will take some of the pressure off this season, because we already have that year of experience behind us. 

Are you changing up your programs for this season? 
We have the same music for both programs, but the programs themselves are different.  There are different elements and different transitions.  We like both programs and we seem to get good feedback from the audience when we compete.  We want to get a higher second mark score [program components] in both programs this season so that is something we are focusing on in training.

Are there any new elements you're planning to add this season?

We are planning to do new elements in both programs but everyone will have to wait and see our programs for this season when we compete at Liberty and Indy. =)

You've already tackled the throw triple lutz. Do you think that gives you an edge over the other junior teams? Yes, we think so because this throw is not common to see from junior teams, and it is worth a good amount of points. 

Now that Brianna is old enough to compete internationally and you've been selected for the International Selection Pool what international competitions are you hoping to attend? What does it mean to you to be able to represent the United States?

We hope to be selected for any JGP this season.  It is definitely our goal this season to compete internationally and make it to the JGP Final.  Competing for the US would mean so much to us.  It would be very cool to represent Team USA! 

What are your goals for this season? Long-term?

This season we want to compete internationally and qualify for the JGP Final.  Long-term our goal is to make it to the Olympics.

What do you want people to know about you as skaters?

Sometimes we are too much of perfectionists, but we work very hard and enjoy skating together. 

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

U.S. Nationals: Novice Pairs Preview

This should be a good competition as all the medalists from last year's intermediate level have qualified at the novice level.  Less than 10 points separated the top 5 teams at sectionals and three other teams were close to these scores.  Novice teams do short programs and free skates for the first time, so there are more elements to execute and more ice time.  This really leaves the door open for any of these pairs to shine and take the top spot on the podium.  The majority of the field did not attend nationals last season (either didn't qualify or are new partnerships) so this is another group of skaters eager to leave their mark on the national stage and many participating at this level for the first time.

The teams:

Aaron/Settlage: They qualified with a 1st place finish at Pacific Coast sectionals.

Goldberg/Dolkiewicz: They qualified with at 1st place finish at Eastern sectionals.  They are the reigning national silver medalists at the intermediate level.

Shaughnessy/Morgan: They qualified with a 2nd place finish at Eastern sectionals.

Bergdolt/Addison: They qualified with a 3rd place finish at Eastern sectionals.  They are the reigning bronze medalists at the intermediate level.

Liu/Perini: They qualified with a 2nd place finish at Pacific Coast sectionals.

de la Mora/Wilson: They qualified with a 1st place finish at Midwestern sectionals.  They are the reigning national champions at the intermediate level.

Fields/Pacini: They qualified with a 2nd place finish at Midwestern sectionals.

Smith/Segall: They qualified with a 4th place finish at Eastern sectionals.

Pearce/Norris: They qualified with a 3rd place finish at Pacific Coast sectionals.

Unger/Przepioski: They qualified with a 4th place finish at Pacific Coast sectionals.

Griffin/Griffin: They qualified with a 3rd place finish at Midwestern sectionals.