Men's, Ladies, Pairs LP

I'm not much of a dance fan.

The pairs long program was incredibly surprising. There were really only a handful of pairs I thought had a chance at medaling - Inoue/Baldwin, Nam/Leftheris, Vise/Trent, Vlassov/Meekins and a few others. Castile and Olaski (SP, I know) seemed completely off the radar, but they did a beautiful routine. There split 3 twist was incredible. Its a shame that the other two contenders, Nam/Leftheris and Inoue/Baldwin fell apart. Still, that's a great podium finish.

I wasn't surprised who won the men's event - Evan Lysacek. But I was surprised who won silver, Ryan Bradley. I was hoping Johnny would lay it down, like he does at every Nationals. He landed the quad, but everything seemed to fall apart after that. His routine lacked the beauty and feeling we know so well about Johnny and I am not surprised he fell to third. Unfortunately, while Johnny received his marks, he simultaneously explained how the Kiss & Cry got its name. Evan, meanwhile, had an incredible performance. A quad-triple. He was alive that program, and I hope he does incredible at Worlds.

Kimmie Meissner won the National title, as expected. Emily Hughes came in second, as expected. What wasn't expected was Alissa Czisny winning the free skate as well as the bronze medal. I was cheering her on in the short program - her spins, spirals and edge quality is light years beyond any of her competitors. Still, her jumps are inconsistent, and when she popped her lutz in the short, I knew it was over. Then, I saw the results for the long, and I couldn't believe she skated the best free skate of the night. Incredible. I'm glad to see her get her dues.

I couldn't help feeling sorry for Bebe Liang. She's been at Nationals for so long - since 2001 - and hasn't been on the podium (technically, her fourth place finish gives her a podium finish here). Placing fourth this year was her best ever. She could've held on to second or third had she not fallen on the second jump. Like, Czisny, Liang has great edge quality and good spirals and spins - better than many of the other ladies. Still, her consistency has always been a problem. I was giddy after her short programs.

Pairs short program articles

Inoue-Baldwin not perfect, but lead pairs competition
"No, it wasn't better than the Olympics,'' Baldwin said. "I think we were rewarded a little more on the second mark because of last year. It's nice. I think Rena and I both have put our time in in skating. Our careers span three decades - since the Reagan era.''

Wow. For a skater to actually admit that...no wonder no one takes this sport seriously.

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New York times article over the short program:

Pair Pleases the Crowd, but Not the Judges

By LYNN ZINSER

Published: January 25, 2007

SPOKANE, Wash., Jan. 24 — After the last turn in their short program at the United States Figure Skating Championships Wednesday night, Naomi Nari Nam jumped into the arms of her pairs partner, Themi Leftheris, celebrating their program. The cheers raining down on them turned to boos when their score was finally announced.

Naomi Nari Nam and Themi Leftheris were placed second Wednesday night behind Rena Inoue and John Baldwin, the two-time defending champions.

The crowd at Spokane Arena objected loudly when Nam and Leftheris were placed second behind Rena Inoue and John Baldwin, the two-time defending champions who had skated earlier in a program marred by major wobbles.

The booing, Nam and Leftheris said, made second place feel a little better.

“It’s always awesome for us,” said Leftheris. “I think this is the third time our marks have gotten booed. I mean, we’re always shooting for our personal best and we’re happy with how we skate no matter how the marks end up. But to have that kind of affirmation is good for us.”

They are only in their second full year as a pair and they are suffering through the traditional hazards of starting out in an event. One of the unwritten rules of the sport is that the established pair gets the benefit of the doubt in scoring.

Inoue and Baldwin felt the sting of that for years as they were trying to break through. Now that they have won two national titles and landed the first-ever throw triple Axel on their way to finishing seventh in their first Olympics last year, they are happy to be on the other end.

“Absolutely,” Baldwin said. “It’s nice. I think Rena and I have both put our time in with figure skating. Our careers span from the Reagan era. We started skating in the 80s.”

Inoue and Baldwin have worked their way through the pecking order since they first competed as a pair in 2001, and have the most difficult elements of any pair in the championships. But they downgraded their side-by-side triple toes to double axels, Inoue stepped out of the landing of the throw triple Axel and Baldwin struggled to keep Inoue in the air on a lift, wobbling so badly that it appeared he might drop her.

“I think it went really well,” Inoue said. “I skated the way I wanted to skate. There was a little shaky part here or there, but it was pretty satisfactory.”

A capacity crowd did not seem to agree. They treated Inoue and Baldwin warmly, but when Nam and Leftheris skated a cleaner program, a spunky tango, they became the fan favorites.

The judges, however, slotted them second with 62.29 points to Inoue and Baldwin’s 62.73. Astonishingly, Inoue and Baldwin’s score was higher than their score at the Olympics, where they did a clean program that included a spotless throw triple Axel.

“No, it wasn’t better than the Olympics because we had a step out on the triple axel and the lift was a little shaky,” Baldwin said, “but I think we were rewarded more on our second mark here because it’s a year later and we’re just that much further along in our careers.”

Baldwin is bouncing back from injuries he said he sustained when he was mugged after a competition in St. Petersburg, Russia, in December.

Nam, though, has her own bouncing back story. She rose as high as No. 2 in the ladies singles ranks when she was 13, finishing behind Michelle Kwan in the 1999 nationals. But a serious hip injury ended her singles career in 2001 and she took a shot at a comeback in pairs in 2005 when she tried out with Leftheris.

Now Nam, 21, and Leftheris, 24, are a couple on and off the ice. They laugh when asked about Leftheris’ memories of Nam as a singles skater.

“I had such a big crush on her,” Leftheris said. “She had the perfect triple flip and I used to watch her technique and think, ‘that’s how I have to do it.’ I totally remember her when she was skating.”

Their rise in pairs will mean having to overcome Inoue and Baldwin. The two teams train together under Peter Oppegard in Artesia, Calif., and say they all benefit from the experience.

If they finish 1-2 after Friday’s long program, they will earn the two American spots in the world championships in Tokyo in March.

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Another video interview at USFS - I am so happy for them. Naomi was on the verge of tears - its amazing how far she's come. To be at the top, have an injury and then to be able to come back is so wonderful.

Naomi and Themi are a couple off the ice too? Aww. I had no idea.

On the actual topic, of course they wuzrobbed. Inoue and Baldwin stumbled on their hardest element, that's excusable since no one in the world is even attempting the 3 axel, but they had wonky side-by-size 2 axels and John nearly dropped Rena on a lift. Like the article says, veterans always get higher marks. Judges feel like they have to reward skaters for their past accomplishments, not their current performance.

I hope they do awesome in the free.

Mirai Nagasu wins U.S. junior title; Zhang settles for silver, Wagner in third

I think this may be the rivalry everyone has been waiting for in the U.S. for a long, long time.

Senior Nationals next year will be very, very interesting with such a great group of girls coming up.

Scores and ordinals

FPl.	Name	Club	Points	SP	FS
1	Mirai Nagasu		155.46	1	1
2	Caroline Zhang		151.88	2	2
3	Ashley Wagner		145.86	4	3
4	Blake Rosenthal		130.99	3	8
5	Alexe Gilles		129.37	6	5
6	Chrissy Hughes		129.21	8	4
7	Sherry Barnes		124.37	9	7
8	Victoria Rackohn		122.79	7	9
9	Kirsten Olson		120.96	14	6
10	Michaelee Scarincio		118.53	5	11
11	Chaochih Liu		114.00	13	10
12	Brittney Rizo		111.54	11	12
13	Brittney Westdorp		103.67	10	13
14	Kelcie Lee		97.50	12	14

This has really shocked everyone in the skating world. Caroline Zhang was the undisputed top skater in junior ladies, internationally. I really don't think anyone thought any other American skater could beat her (given no other skater on her level in the world has) - and strangely enough - it seems like the only skater in the world capable of beating Caroline was in fact, another American.

As the common skating mantra goes, "The ice is slippery - anything can happen".

I have a feeling the U.S. junior ladies team will have a chance at sweeping the podium at Worlds.

However, as ironic as this is, Caroline may not go to Junior Worlds. If Rachel Flatt or Melissa Bulanhagui do well enough in seniors (top 10 finish) they may be sent to Junior Worlds along with Mirai Nagasu, as they aren't age-eligible for senior worlds (15 by previous July) and are technically internationally junior. Confused?

So much talk has been going on about the Japanese ladies. Their senior ladies team is ridiculously deep. The reigning World silver medalist - Fumie Suguri, finished fourth at the Japanese Nationals. That's how good the field is. Still, their junior girls haven't been making a big splash except for Nana Takeda, when she one a Junior Grand Prix event earlier. The U.S. junior team, really in every discipline, has the capability of winning Junior Worlds given their incredible showing on the Junior Grand Prix circuit. Still, you may be hot on the junior level, but you have to develop and keep progressing if you want to do well in seniors. Its a whole 'nother ball game.

Junior men's short takes place later this week along with the senior events. I'm rooting for Brandon Mroz at the moment. He had a great season internationally.

Today the senior ice dance compulsory dance took place - Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto are in first as expected, followed by (surprisingly) Meryl Davis and Charlie White (my favorites) with Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov in third. That would be a great podium finish right there, but there's still two more rounds to go. Belbin and Agosto have a new free dance, and hopefully it will be better than the "traditional/boring" one they had earlier in the season.

U.S. Jr. figure skating championships; Zhang v. Nagasu

Eeeee. The U.S. figure skating junior championships are underway. For months it has appeared that Caroline Zhang, who's been unstoppable on the Junior Grand Prix circuit this year, would easily win the U.S. title at Nationals this month. However, it seems like another 13-year-old phenom, Mirai Nagasu may upset her.


Mirai Nagasu, 1st after short program.



Caroline Zhang, 2nd after the ladies short program.

1 Mirai NAGASU 54.26
2 Caroline ZHANG 53.87 (fell on a double axel - artistic scores are keeping her in contention)
3 Blake ROSENTHAL 51.67
4 Ashley WAGNER 51.20
5 Michaelee SCARINCIO 46.73
6 Alexe GILLES 46.43 26.80
7 Victoria RACKOHN 46.07 (fell)
8 Chrissy HUGHES 44.40
9 Sherry BARNES 43.70
10 Brittney WESTDORP 43.69 (fell)
11 Brittney RIZO 42.35 2
12 Kelcie LEE 41.40
13 Chao-Chih LIU 41.20
14 Kirsten OLSON 38.71

Articles on the competition (mainly on Caroline)
An edge on the rest
Zhang slips into second

Video interview from U.S. champ. blog:

I love it:
Reporter: Did it [the fall] hurt?
Zhang: Uh, yeah.

A skating diva in the making, perhaps? I love the part where she talks about wearing her skates in Disneyland. Too Cute. According to the video interview, Michelle Kwan has been "coaching" Caroline on her jumps. Wow. She does have a weird take off on her toe-pick assisted jumps. She just slams her pick onto the ice. It looks painful and definitely not good for her body.

Some other articles. I haven't been able to find any on Nagasu, strangely. She's kind of a dark horse, I suppose.

Mirai Nagasu - triple axel attempt
Mirai Nagasu - Culver skating rink
Brittney Rizo - Rising Rizo
Brittney Westdorp