What I originally thought was going to be a battle between Satoko Miyahara and Gracie Gold for gold here turned out to not be a battle at all as Satoko Miyahara used her incredible consistency to coast to the win here. She posted the highest scores she’s seen this season in both segments of the competition and she has really solidified her status as a podium favorite for Worlds. This little dynamo has been getting better all season and her programs have really developed to suit her so well. She is so clean and precise that it’s hard to imagine her not getting a medal at worlds. Congrats to Satoko on a great event and earning a huge bit of momentum!
While the rest of the North American ladies struggled big time, Mirai Nagasu rose to the occasion, delivering two clean and steady skates to end her season on an incredibly high note. Her silver medal here shows off all the work she’s done, on and off the ice, to increase her strength as a competitor. This was a building block season for her. I am sad we won’t see her in Boston, but she can rest, recover and then set to work early on new programs for next year, where she can really capitalize on the opportunities she’ll get next season because of her great results this year. I’m so happy for her and most importantly- she seems happy : ) Rika Hongo hung on for the bronze, even after placing fourth in the short and fifth in long after some mistakes. Though she’s struggled with consistency this season, this medal will be good for Rika’s standing as she heads to Boston. At Worlds, Rika will be one of those skaters on the bubble for that top six/last FS warm up group and she’ll need to find a bit more steadiness to achieve that result against such a competitive (yet unpredictable) field. So Youn Park turned in a good set of skates to beat her international season best score by over ten points, and post a new personal best as well. She was able to edge out Gold by less than a point for fourth place, and it’s great to see her skating so well. Let’s hope she can continue that momentum and repeat that consistency at Worlds. Oh, Gracie. Why do you do this to yourself? Though I understand that there was a huge potential opportunity for her here, competing here was also a huge risk. One that, ultimately, did not pay off and has really stalled her Nationals momentum heading to Worlds. She was obviously not in this competition to win it, whether that was mental, physical or a combination of both, she was not focused and ready to compete. I think she’ll skate better at Worlds, but this result only confirms that she has not yet left her self doubt and self confidence issues behind her just yet. I think the judges can let this skate go, but can she? That’s the question. Kaetlyn Osmund came back from a disappointing short program by placing fourth in the free skate and landing in sixth overall. Considering she’s come back this season from a difficult injury, she did well with what she had at this point in her recovery;there are some really nice things about her skating. Conversely, Kanako Murakami had a fabulous short program that had her in medal contention, but she really came undone in the free to land in seventh overall. My other favorite Karen Chen did what she could with little prep and recovery time, but she struggled here. For these skaters, now is the time to rest, recover and prepare for a stronger season in 2016-17 Alaine Chartrand also could not continue her nationals momentum, with a very disappointing 11th place finish. She still has Worlds coming up, so she needs to let this event go and move forward to Boston. With the exception of Satoko and Mirai, this was really a disappointing, messy event and I’m just happy it’s over so that skaters and rest and look forward to Boston or a new season.
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November 2017
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