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Jeremy Abbott
reclaimed the Men's title with a commanding, if slightly flawed, free
skate program. which ran his total score up to 273.58 points. The
routine started with a bang - well executed quad toe loop, which three
judges scored at +3. In the next six elements, he whipped off five
triple jumps, including two triple Axels, all of which were cleanly
landed. Also in the first half of the program was a level 4 circular
step sequence which all nine judges scored +3. On his eighth element
he under-rotated a triple toe loop which did not have secure landing edge.
On his 12th element he executed a double for what would normally have been
a triple Salchow. Nevertheless it was a strong confident performance
which received a large standing ovation from the audience of 5400 for the
Free Skate.
About his performance Jeremy said, "I
just really took it one thing at a time and did it exactly like I do in
training, that’s pretty much how I skate it except usually I’ll add a
triple Sal (chow) at the end. I skate to give a performance like that and
so I felt really good. I was really nervous when I started, I was shaking
a little bit but from the second I set for the quad I was like, I’m going
to do this. I just really took it into my hands and made sure that I did
what I needed to do. When I finished I could feel the energy of the arena
and it kind of overwhelmed me, I was getting a little emotional but I kept
it in, kept it together but I felt it. It was real nice."
Abbott attacked his program and did not take a
conservative approach to regaining the title by hedging his bets with the
quad. "It has been my plan all season [to attempt the
quad]. It’s in my program and there was no changing it regardless of what
everyone else did. It was the plan from the beginning and we weren’t going
to switch it.”
Abbott's component marks averaged 9.5 and one judge
awarded him two tens.
On wining the title for the third time Abbott said,
“It feels great to be a
three time national champion. I felt good going out there. I perform in
practice like that every day and I just stuck to my plan and went through
the program very methodically until I got to the end. I had a little
mistake on the Sal[chow], but overall I was really happy.
My goal this season has been to improve steadily throughout the
year and I think I’ve been doing that. I’m glad that I have a chance now
to continue that improvement.” He added later, "The first time, I was just really excited to win. The
second time, I wasn’t expecting to skate the way that I did. I was
actually very surprised and this time I was very confident that I was
going to skate the way I did. It’s the way I’ve been training and I do
feel much more comfortable in my own skin. I was pretty confident that I
was going to do what I did today and on Friday.”
During Abbott's free skate, his stepfather took ill and
was taken to the hospital. Abbott was unaware of this during the
performance, and when his mother tried to call him before the awards
ceremony, Abbott ignored the call thinking it was a message of
congratulations. Shortly thereafter someone forced him to answer his
phone and first heard of the situation.
In the post event press conference he said, 'My stepdad
is in the hospital. Apparently, when I was skating, he blacked out and
started convulsing. So, they had to call the paramedics and take him. As
far as I know, his heart rate is down. His blood pressure is high, but
he’s coherent. I got to talk to him on the phone. They’re going to run
some tests and see what happens, but he’s actually ok. My whole family is
with him so things seem to be ok for now.” He added,
“I had no idea [what had happened]. I was just so focused on my program and
what I had to do so when I found out, I was actually surprised that I
wasn’t’ distracted by all that commotion it seems like it would’ve been a
pretty big deal.“ After a period of observation in the hospital
Abbott's stepfather was found to have not suffered a serious medical
problem.
Trailing Abbott by nearly 33 points, his new training
mate Adam Rippon won the
silver medal, placing second in both the short and the long.
Rippon took a conservative approach and did not attempt
an opening quad and substituted a double Salchow. He followed with a
triple Axel - double toe loop. A poor landing on the Axel disrupted
the toe loop, which was downgraded. After landing three more or less clean
jump elements, his three jump combination was a bit ragged with a poorly
landed triple Lutz and an under-rotated triple Salchow, which also
appeared to be be two-footed. Even with the errors, he still managed
seven triples.
“Today wasn’t my best, but I’m very proud with what I
was able to do today," he said, acknowledging the problems. "I felt like I
fought through the entire performance
and I definitely feel like a changed skater, especially at this
competition. My mindset was completely different; my training was a lot
different. I just feel more mature and I’m really glad that it could pay
off here at these championships and I’m very excited. They didn’t announce
the teams yet, but I would assume that I’m back on the world team. I’m
very excited to be there being assigned a spot and not being an alternate
for the first time.”
Following up with
his thoughts on being on the world team and the goal of earning three
world team berths in Nice, he said,
“I think that it’s very important for our federation and
for the other skaters, but going into Worlds, but it won’t’ be my focus.
This competition was really getting all the monkeys off my back and being
able to move forward from that and qualify for the World Championships. I
knew I’m capable of a lot more than I did today and so that I hope that I
can show that in Nice."
Including Alissa Czisny, the Ina/Dungjen stable will have three
skaters on the World Team, about which Abbott remarked, "
I’m blown away. To share the podium with Adam and to be
going to Worlds. And then we have Alissa (Czisny), who is the silver
medalist, and Madison Hubbell and Zach Donohue, who were third. We all
train together and we are all going to Worlds together. For all of us at
the rink to all going to Worlds together is such an amazing thing. I think
it’s going to make it so relaxed and comfortable, like we are at home."
Talking briefly about the changes in his training environment Rippon
said, "Skating with Yu Na was such a learning experience and
it was very big privilege. She is an incredible athlete, a wonderful
person and an ambassador for the sport. That being said, when she left
Toronto, the environment at the Cricket Club did change a bit. I made some
changes over this year and it has been very positive for me. It’s a lot
easier training back in the United States than it was training in Toronto
even if it is a hop and a skip from my own backyard. It’s such a great
environment [in Michigan]. One of the youngest skaters is 19 and the rest
of us are in our twenties, so we’re all really doing this because we all
really want to. We all take it seriously. It’s our passion. It’s our life.
It’s what we’re completely focused on and I think that does make a bid
difference in the training.”
Ross Miner
moved up to third in the long to finish third overall and held his place
over last year's National Championships. Minor opened with a nice
triple Axel. On the second element, however, he fell an his second
triple Axel attempt which was to be in combination with double toe loop.
"I did a good second Axel and just didn’t check out," he said. "It
would have been fine, but, I let my guard down a little bit and that kind
of woke me up. At the very end I just kind of lost my focus."
After the fall on the second element, Minor landed the
remaining six jump elements is a well skated performance, up through the
12th element. On his choreographic step sequence he had a major
stumble about a third of the way through the sequence. He finished
with a nice level 3 change foot combination spin.
“I was pretty happy with
my performance today," he said. "It was a little rough at the very end, but I was
pretty happy with it. My favorite part of the program, I had a little
bobble there, but all in all, I’m very happy to be back here again this
year.”
Minor was competitive with Rippon in elements, with both
skaters attempting programs of similar base value (different by only 0.20)
and ending up with similar TES (about 1 point apart). The main
difference between them was in PCS where Rippon averaged 8.13 in component
scores and Minor 7.68.
On preparing for Nationals, Minor said, "I think I definitely worked as hard as I could at home,
so I’m really proud of myself. I thought even before the competition, I’m
really proud of how I worked, so it kind of takes some of the pressure off
to go and skate the way I can." he added, "I’m happy with the competition as a whole. I would have
like it to have gone a little bit better, but that’s life."
With only two men allowed to go to Worlds, Minor will
miss out on the trip to Nice.
“Obviously it’d be nice to have it this year," he said, "but I was
nice to go last year and got the opportunity to compete. I think we all
skated as well as we could, so I don’t know what’s going to happen with
the assignments. But hopefully Four Continents is in the cards so that my
season won’t be over yet. I would love for these guys to skate great at
Worlds in Nice and [get] three spots, but I think they’re totally right in
saying that they have to skate for themselves and then the results will
follow.”
Armin Mahbanoozadeh dropped to
sixth in the long but held on to place fourth overall by 1.25 points.
He was one of the few men to attempt a quad, opening with a quad toe loop
attempt that was under-rotated and on which he fell. He landed one
triple Axel with double toe loop, but stepped out of a later solo attempt.
A solo triple Lutz had a weak landing and his choreographic step sequence
was called no level. He landed a total of five triple jumps cleanly.
"The quad didn’t go as I thought it would," he said,
"but then it was just like focusing on the rest of the program. A couple
of small mistakes I think cost me a lot of points today."
Douglas Razzano placed fourth in the Free Skate, but
it was not enough to overcome a poor showing in the Short Program and make
the podium. He finished fifth overall.
Richard Dornbush
redeemed himself somewhat, placing fifth in the Free Skate. He was
buried in 17th place in the short and was only able to move up to 13th,
after having won the silver last year.
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