U.S. Ladies [#6]: "Swaggering with the S'Wagner" et al. into 2013

[pinky166]

That's what I'm thinking. She doesn't really need it at nationals to win. Clean performance = second title. Whatever points she misses on the combo will more than be made up for in PCS, especially if she skates cleanly. Skating smart is the way to do it at nationals.

I think 4CC is a good place to add it in. She's not risking as much by doing it there and that should be warm up enough for worlds...

The sense I got from Ashley was that she hadn't made up her mind one way or another regarding the 3-3 in the SP. My guess is she will try it in the practices at Nationals and if it is consistent there, she will go for it in the SP, but if it's not consistent in the practice, she won't risk trying it in the SP. Seems like a smart strategy. She'll have to see how she feels and moves on the ice at Nationals, then her success or lack thereof on the combo in practice will determine if its worth the risk of trying it in the SP where the pressure and expectations will be higher.

[Sylvia]

Road to Omaha: Gold adds polish, counts points: http://www.icenetwork.com/news/artic...&vkey=ice_news

[kwanatic]

^^Good to know she's working at it. Her SP in COR was a vast improvement over SC but her LP was almost the same as SC. She's prone to popping and doubling jumps when she gets nervous so hopefully she'll keep her composure and complete the jumps.

[sk9tingfan]

Road to Omaha: Gold adds polish, counts points: http://www.icenetwork.com/news/artic...&vkey=ice_news

Gracie will be on the Today Show on Friday at 8:50 AM EST

[olympic]

According to the article, it looks like Gracie will go for a Rippon Lutz in the SP again .... That will give her a couple more points if executed cleanly

[Sylvia]

Here is the latest Ashley Wagner article: http://web.icenetwork.com/news/artic...&vkey=ice_news

ETA: I've cross-posted the link and an excerpt in her news/articles thread in GSD: http://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/show...=1#post3789573

[olympic]

Here is the latest Ashley Wagner article: http://web.icenetwork.com/news/artic...&vkey=ice_news

ETA: I've cross-posted the link and an excerpt in her news/articles thread in GSD: http://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/show...=1#post3789573

On the plus side, glad to hear that 1) the hip pointer is behind her and 2) Mills had Wagner back out on the ice post injury locking down the 3l -2x seq. to avoid any psychological barrier that might have taken hold about that sequence.

It sounds like they are waffling on the 3-3 and 2x-3t, though. Perhaps that is in re Nationals only?

[kwanatic]

^^ More than likely. I think we're all in agreement that Ashley is the favorite to win and that if she can replicate her performances from TEB (or even SA for that matter) she will win here without a fuss. In light of that, the smart thing to do is to keep everything as is.

A clean performance will score her through the roof at nationals w/o a 3-3. The judges/officials desperately want Ashley to win b/c she's the first skater in years who has the proper combination of drive, talent and consistency to reach the world podium. They want to send her to worlds as the 2-time US champ. That's a luxury for Ashley at this point b/c it means as long as she has two decent skates, she'll win. She doesn't need to push the envelope with 3-3s or even a 2-3 at this point.

I don't usually agree with pre-selecting medalist but in this situation if Ashley skates well, she will get the title regardless of what Gracie, Mirai or anyone else does. Her technical content may not be as impressive as Gracie's (potential) technical content but she's got her beat pretty much everywhere else...

[smarts1]

Any news on Mirai or Caroline lately? When are their conferences?

[dawnie]

Any news on Mirai or Caroline lately? When are their conferences?

I doubt Zhang will get a conference. Wasn't she not even included in the program last year in San Jose?

[demetriosj]

Any news on Mirai or Caroline lately? When are their conferences?

What criteria determines who gets a conference?

[apatinar]

I would think that skaters who generate interest would get a conference.. Caroline has been a non factor in everything for quite some time now..

[jlai]

I think the defending champ gets a conference, and perhaps the second place finisher. It's rather unusual for Gracie to get one, imho. Zhang finsihed 4th last nationals and pewter finishers don't get conferences.

[Marco]

I think the defending champ gets a conference, and perhaps the second place finisher. It's rather unusual for Gracie to get one, imho. Zhang finsihed 4th last nationals and pewter finishers don't get conferences.

Isn't Gold a reigning Jr ladies champ?

[Marco]

According to the article, it looks like Gracie will go for a Rippon Lutz in the SP again .... That will give her a couple more points if executed cleanly

That means she has to practice 3flip3toe for the short and 3lutz3toe and 2axel3toe for the free.

Why not just do the 3lutz3toe and 3flip in the short so she doesn't have to practice one more big trick?

[Coco]

But this way, she maximizes her GOE in the sp, and shows a variety of composition, which has to help her pcs.

[olympic]

^True. The only change will come from adding the Rippon Lutz which she was hitting before the start of the season, anyway.

[kwanatic]

In terms of potential, no one has more firepower than Gracie. However I'm not completely convinced she'll be able to hit everything she's talking up. I know she can do the jumps but, as I always say, ability counts for squat if you can't do it at go-time. I would think dropping the flip-sal combo (which I don't think she managed to do on the GP) will help her in terms of execution. She probably has a much higher success rate with the 2a-3t...

This will be a good test for her. There's no pressure like your first senior nationals and unfortunately for her she comes in with a spotlight on her which will make it even tougher. None of the other girls debuting at senior nationals are getting this much attention (Angela, Hannah, Courtney, etc.) and that might just work in their favor in terms of pressure. Gracie's got a lot on her shoulders so it will be interesting to see how she handles the pressure/spotlight/expectation...

[demetriosj]

None of the other girls debuting at senior nationals are getting this much attention (Angela, Hannah, Courtney, etc.) .

Angela Wang is not debuting this year at senior nationals. She competed last year as a senior and did quite well despite mistakes in her short.

[demetriosj]

Isn't Gold a reigning Jr ladies champ?

I don't know, do most Jr. ladies champs get a teleconference?