(This moving up and
down is a far cry from the old system in which couples almost always
stayed in the same place they established after the first compulsory
dance!!)
Pairs Free Skate - Canadians Overtake Russians to Take Gold
The 2010 Canadian Junior champions, Margaret Purdy and Michael Marinaro,
overtook the Russian initial round leaders
Vasilisa Davankova and Andre Deputat to claim gold by a huge 11.61
points. The US pairs made errors but showed significant potential finishing
third, fourth, fifth and 12th
in the field of 14 pairs from seven countries.
Skating to music from the soundtrack of the movie, The Artist, first in the
last group of four pairs, Purdy and Marinaro, both in black with her in a
backless outfit, opened with a -0.40 Level 1 triple twist, a +0.20 triple
toe to double toe combination of jumps and a +0.50 double Axel. Their
forward inside death spiral was only Level 1 but their side-by-side
combination spins were the maximum Level 4 with +0.50 GoE.
As the point where the bonus marks click in, they executed a Level 3 Axel
lift and throw triple loop. They concluded with a Level 4 Group 3 lift and a
throw triple Salchow but she under-rotated and landed on two feet. However,
they got the very sparse crowd cheering with their final move, a Level 4
pair combination spin.
Davankova and Andrei Deputat performed to Edvin Martin playing Romeo and
Juliet. They were obviously interpreting a modern version of this tragic
story. She was wearing a two-piece outfit exposing her midriff with a garter
which may have been a holder for a knife. He was in beige. Though they were
third in the Free Skate, 2.48 points below the Americans Madeline Aaron and Max Settlage,
they finished up second overall, 2.67 above Aaron and Settlage, who lay
fourth after the Short Program after missing an element.
The Russian junior champions, who were fifth at senior level in their
nationals earlier this year, got off to a bad start. He messed up the
landing of his triple toe jump which was meant to be a combination. They
brushed that off by executing a great Level 2 +0.80 triple twist, but she
stepped out of their throw triple loop. Later on they made a mistake on the
choreographed step sequence. They also received no marks for their final
element, the pair spin.
Aaron and Settlage, who drew to do their Free last, performed to a fiery
version of Carmen, with her in red and he in black and white. Settlage
admitted they made mistakes but their coach, Dalilah Sappenfield, said this
was early in the season and events like this are useful to get the kinks
out. He messed up their opening move, a triple Salchow, but they had only
two other negatives, just a -0.04 on their choreographed sequence and a
-1.40 on their Level 1 back outside death spiral. They also plan to work on
their final element, the pair combination spin for which they received only
the“basic” mark.
Haven Denney and Brandon Frazier,
who are also trained by Dalilah Sappenfield, were lying third after the
Short Program but were fourth in the Free, and overall. Interpreting the
poignant music from the movie, La Strada, they opened their routine with a
-0.20 triple twist which was classified as “basic”. However, they followed
that with a lovely +0.70 throw triple Salchow. She fell on her double Axel
and then over-rotated their double Salchow which was planned as a sequence.
She later also fell on a throw triple loop. However, they also were rewarded
with the top Level 4 for their Group 5 and Group 3 lifts and their pair
combination spin. Their final forward inside death spiral, however, was only
Level 1.
Denney and Frazier were fourth in the Free and overall, finishing 3.11
points behind their rink mates, Aaron and Settlage.
Fellow Americans Jessica Pfund and AJ
Reiss, who are trained by Peter Oppegard held onto their fifth place
from the Short Program although they were seventh in the FS, which they
performed to music from the opera, Tristan and Isolde. They were 2.91 points
behind Denney and Frazier and 1.99 points ahead of the German Junior champions,
Annabelle Prolss, 13,
and Ruben Blommaert, 20, who were seventh initially and moved up to
sixth overall with a sixth place for their Free.
Although they were eighth in both sections, the Russians,
Kamilla Gainetdinova, 14,
and Ivan Bich, 19, who train in St. Petersburg, were seventh overall, a
mere 1.18 ahead of the Canadians, Shalena Rau, 13, and Phelan Simpson, 16. These Canadians were 11th
in the Short Program but earned fifth place in the Free, which was performed to music
from the show, My Fair Lady. Overall, they finished ninth. Gainetdinova and
Bich performed their FS to Die Fledermaus.
Tenth throughout were Krystel
Desjardins, 15, and Charlie
Bilodeau, 19, who are from Montreal. They performed their Free to The
Umbrellas of Cherbourg by Michel Legrand. They were making their
international debut after placing fifth and second in the Canada Junior
championships of the past two years.
Olivia Oltmanns,
15, and Joshua Santillan, 20, who
are from Shakopee, Minnesota, performed their Free to Time to Say Goodbye by Dimo Dimov, dropping from ninth
after the Short Program to 12th
with a Free which was scored 13th best.
They didn’t fall but got only the basic for their pair combination spin no
marks at all for their final element, the forward inside death spiral.
(2 September 2012) Lake Placid, NY
Free Dance - Japanese Junior Champion Takes Ladies Event
Satoko Miyahara, the
14-year-old current Japanese junior champion, gave a dazzling
performance to Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet, to build on her early
lead and claim gold with 161.65, 7.88 points ahead of the silver
medallist American Courtney Hicks. Miyahara’s Free Skate score was
106.89 (57.55+49.34).
Dressed in fuchsia and gold, Miyahara performed
third of the five in the final group of 25 competitors from 21
countries, opening with a triple Lutz to triple toe which looked good
but was saddled with an “e” for wrong edge takeoff. Every other move,
apart from her second triple Lutz which was combined with two double toe
loops and also got an “e”, earned at least its base value.
Miyahara also presented a triple flip, triple loop, a
second double Axel combined with a triple toe, and a triple Salchow. Her
spins were all the maximum Level 4 and her straight line sequence was
Level 3. (The steps are now called a sequence because skaters can choose
to incorporate a spiral.) Her components ranged from a low of two 5.50
for transitions, up to a high of one 7.25 for Skating Skills. She told
icenetwork.com, “I was a little nervous but I did my best. I’m really
happy.”
Hicks, who lay fourth after the Short Program, earned
the third best score for her Free of 102.41 (51.89+50.52). Trained by
Scott Wendland, she performed to The Red Violin by Ikuko Kawai,
choreographed by Philipp Mills. The 16-year-old Californian drew to
skate last. Dressed in a tasteful red brown-y creation, the 16-year-old
she opened with a very high triple flip to triple toe but the second
jump got an arrow for slight under-rotation. However, every other
element except her final jump, which turned into a single Axel, earned
positive Grades of Execution. She concluded with a combination spin
which earned seven +2 GoEs. The two other judges settled for +1. Hicks
said her technique feels stronger than before her accident, when she
broke her leg badly during a Junior Grand Prix in Milan. Relearning
elements has given her a more mature outlook and better understanding of
the mechanics of movement.
Angela Wang, who was 8th
in the last US senior championship, performed to Nigel Hess’ Ladies in
Lavender. The 16-year-old, who is from Salt Lake City but trains with
Christy Krall, Damon Allen and Janet Champion in Colorado Springs,
soared up from eighth after the Short Program with the second best FS
marks of 105.69 (55.79+49.90). She claimed bronze, 3.37 points behind
Hicks and 4.72 ahead of the Russian Evgenia Gerasimova, who
dropped from third to fourth overall after falling twice late in her
Free, on her second triple Lutz and a double Axel. Gerasimova’s Free
Skate, 93.38 (48.53+46.85 -2), was still rated fifth best. The
14-year-old from St. Petersburg skated to Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.
Wang, who skated in a lavender outfit, began her
performance with a jaw-dropping triple Lutz to triple toe to double toe
which earned +0.70 over its base value of 11.40. Then came a +0.40
triple flip to double toe and a triple loop to double toe, which had a
minimal -0.10 taken off its base value of 6.40, and a +0.14 double Axel.
After her Level 3, +0.57 layback spin, the bonus time
for jumps clicked in and she earned +0.60 over the base value plus 10%
for her second triple Lutz. Towards the end she struggled with a double
Axel which lost a full point but pulled herself together for her final
jump a triple Salchow which gained an extra +0.20. All her spins were
Level 3 and the step sequence was Level 2. Her top component marks were
three 7.0s from one judge. The lowest were two 5.75s for her
transitions.
The third American, Kiri Baga, who is trained
by Cindy Caprel, performed in a dazzling backless royal blue and silver
outfit. She stayed fifth, 3.46 points overall behind Gerasimova,
although she was fourth in the FS with 94.42 (46.71+47.71), 1.04 points
ahead of the Russian. The 17-year-old from Bloomington, MI, performed to
the Bacchanale from Samson and Delilah. The enjoyable routine opened
with a +0.40 triple flip. The following triple Lutz was saddled with an
arrow for slight under-rotation, but every other element except one
received at least the base value. The exception was her three jump combo
of triple toe to double toe to double loop, which lost -0.60. Two of her
spins received Level 4 including the final layback which moved seven of
the nine judges to punch in +2 Grade of Execution.
So Youn Park
from South Korea, 14, who was fourth in the past senior national
championship, was second after the Short Program. She performed her Free
to West Side Story but fell on her last two jumps, a triple flip which
got an arrow for slight under-rotation, and a triple Salchow. Her
seventh place in the Free dropped her to sixth overall, 4.85 points
behind Baga.
Alaine Marie Chartrant,
a 16-year-old from Prescott, Ontario, who finished ninth in the last
Canadian Senior championship, recovered from a fall on her opening
triple Lutz, to gain sixth place in the Free, enabling her to climb from
ninth to seventh overall, with 133.43. She performed to the Compilation
Misa Tango by Luis Bacalov.
Making an interesting showing was Brooklee Han,
17, who has represented Australia in the last two world junior
championships although she was born in California and now lives and
trains across the country in Newington and Simsbury. (She is a member of
the Melbourne Skating Club in Australia.) Skating to Ave Maria, Han fell
on her initial jump, a triple loop, which received an arrow for
under-rotation, and again later on her second triple toe. She was
seventh in the Short Program and dropped a place overall with an eighth
ranked free. She scored 128.92, overtaking and finishing just 1.14
overall ahead of Kako Tomotaki of Japan, who had been sixth in
the Short Program. Tomotaki, who was approaching her 17th
birthday, performed to music from the movie, Amelie. She was the
runner-up for the Japanese junior title this past season.
