I predicted the ladies event was going to bring a lot of drama, and boy did it. Lots of ups, lots of downs, and numbers that made you scratch your head. I think I am still processing all that unfolded. With a clean free skate and a last position draw, Gracie Gold grabbed her second national title. I think the judges held her up in the short more than they should have after a completely invalid jumping pass. Outside of her three jump combo, her jumps looked much more confident in the free skate. Skating last after a big score is usually when Gracie folds, but she hung in there this time. I still don’t see the “fire” of Firebird in her face while she skates to it, but that’s just who she is as a performer. The choreography that begins the second half of the program is really off of the musical accents and I don’t understand why- they were at the beginning of the season. The NBC commentators said that this performance “redefines” Gracie as a competitor, but I will wait to make that statement. The title certainly could/should give Gracie confidence, and a confident Gold would be very hard to compete with. But I’m not sure she’s erased all her doubts just yet. Polina Edmunds's consistency fared well for her here as she won her second silver medal at Nationals. She was almost the only one (the only one?) to leave the short program with no major mistakes and the weary audience/ judges got very excited about it. Of all Polina’s programs, Moonlight Sonata is truly the first one to do her real justice in terms of portraying a mature lady on the ice. Her free skate, on the other hand, does not. Outside of landing all of her jumps, the program and her performance are snoozy and the packaging is beyond terrible. Skaters younger than her look and present more maturely. It’s really going to hold Polina’s career back, which is unfortunate because she does have a competitive attitude. History has shown that Polina’s national results don’t translate to international events, in PCS or TES, but she can leave Nationals having solidly claimed the spot as US’s third lady for this season. It was an uncharacteristic week for Ashley Wagner, ending up with the bronze medal. I wasn’t completely shocked by her fall in the short, as that combo had looked troublesome in practice, but her pop in the free skate totally took me by surprise. Ashley will fall, she’ll underrotate, but she never pops. And that free skate was going so well, too! I think had she landed that lutz, she wouldn’t been second here and impartial or not, I think she still should’ve been. Also uncharacteristic of Ashley, her comments to the media leading up to the event and during seemed really tentative and impassive. I’m not sure if it was nerves or pressure, but she seemed to back off of her competitive mindset a bit, and that is her bread and butter. A positive for Ashley, she sold her programs and those two triple triples in the free looked the best we’ve ever seen her skate them. I hope she uses that as fire for Worlds. Huge congratulations to Mirai Nagasu for a very consistent set of performances in St. Paul and for being so calm about the boot situation. Why do crazy things happen to Mirai at Nationals? She truly handled this one like a champ though and it’s a testament to the emotional stability she’s building in competition and good for her! She looks so much happier on the ice this season and it’s great to see. She’s had such a consistent season that I am thrilled she gets to go to Four Continents; she’s earned it and it will be good for her to get some more international exposure. Her fourth place also means she should get much better international assignments next year, and it’s great to see her building some positive momentum. And her free skate dress is one of the most gorgeous costumes I’ve ever seen. It was great to see some up-and-coming talent get the spotlight for a bit at Nationals, as Tyler Pierce and Bradie Tennell finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Tyler Pierce looks ten times better that I last saw her and it’s looking like her decision to go back to her old coach was a good one. I actually loved watching Bradie’s free skate- she was so entertaining to watch! She has some long limbs, but she works really well with them and she gives good face. I’ll be cheering for these two at Junior Worlds and here’s hoping they can put down some good skates. Two skaters that I think have incredible potential finished in 6th and 7th- Hannah Miller and Karen Chen. Shoutout to Hannah Miller for that fantastic free skate- she’s really improving technically under Raf and I see a lot of artistic potential in her. Great costumes, too. Karen is 100% the whole package and it’s tough to see her struggling with boot and heel problems. I know she’s competitive, so I hope she resolves all those issues and comes roaring back next year. Can’t wait to see what the future holds for those two. A few notes on the next three- I really loved Courtney Hicks’s new free skate dress, I want Angela Wang to keep “Paint It Black” for a third season (dreams) and I do see a lot of potential in Mariah Bell.
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November 2017
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