U.S. Ladies [#18]: These Boots Are Made for Skating

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

OK, Im now fully on board with Mirai's free skate. It just took me a few viewings. Love it now!

Question - I don't know much about the character. Doe she purple costume interpret the character/program? I ask because I do not know.

LOVING the program!!!!!

 

[GullyGirl84]

OK, Im now fully on board with Mirai's free skate. It just took me a few viewings. Love it now!

Question - I don't know much about the character. Doe she purple costume interpret the character/program? I ask because I do not know.

LOVING the program!!!!!

Mirai wore the same dress that she wore at nationals this year (I'm not sure why she didn't wear her white dress at nationals, but she went back to it at 4 Continents), so I assume that she will be getting a new dress for this free skate.

 

[alchemy void]

Wow, this is the most love Hicks has ever gotten on FSU?

Tons of potential in her LP, I agree that the second half gets a little flat--Groban is singing his heart out but Courtney really seems to tire, slow down, and emoting less. But I'm sure it will get sorted out--it's only July, obviously.

The first half of the program was, for me, borderline stunning. She's harnessing her power and really creating a wonderful balance of powerful skating and athletic elegance that I find very appealing.

I'm so excited for her and can't wait to see these programs develop over the season. What a promising start for her.

Now let's get her a Grand Prix spot!

 

[meggonzo]

She went for the 3A in the final round (she did do a double with a hand down in the initial round FS). The one in the final was quite a bit better than the one she attempted in the short.

Nagasu Skate Detroit final round FS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXp01G6PoPE&t=68s

Thanks, I didn't realize there were two rounds for the FS!

 

[kwanatic]

Thanks, I didn't realize there were two rounds for the FS!

Me either! I haven't seen a 3-program competition since the Grand Prix Final back in er, uh, 2000? That's a lot of skating...

I really like Courtney's SP. I'm not the biggest fan of her style (kinda clunky and hunched) but I saw some real improvement in her overall skating. I'm not as big a fan of the FS. The beginning is nice but it doesn't maintain throughout the program. I think using a mixture of vocals and instrumentals would have been better. Still, it looks like a good set of programs for her. I liked Courtney's programs last year as well. Courtney usually does fairly well on the GP and sets herself up for a podium spot at nationals, yet the last 3 years in a row she's tanked at that competition. It'll be interesting to see how she does.

I still want to see more feeling/connection/umph! from Mirai in the SP. It's a lovely program but if she really pushes the performance it could be great. Thank goodness she went for a different FS this year! I like what I've seen from it so far though I really hope they rethink the spiral sequence. It's almost criminal for her not to do a classic arabesque spiral at some point in that element. The 3A attempt in the second FS was pretty good and I was beyond shocked that she held it together for the rest of the program. To put out that kind of program in July is a pretty awesome feat.

 

[Jarrett]

Me either! I haven't seen a 3-program competition since the Grand Prix Final back in er, uh, 2000? That's a lot of skating...

I really like Courtney's SP. I'm not the biggest fan of her style (kinda clunky and hunched) but I saw some real improvement in her overall skating. I'm not as big a fan of the FS. The beginning is nice but it doesn't maintain throughout the program. I think using a mixture of vocals and instrumentals would have been better. Still, it looks like a good set of programs for her. I liked Courtney's programs last year as well. Courtney usually does fairly well on the GP and sets herself up for a podium spot at nationals, yet the last 3 years in a row she's tanked at that competition. It'll be interesting to see how she does.

I still want to see more feeling/connection/umph! from Mirai in the SP. It's a lovely program but if she really pushes the performance it could be great. Thank goodness she went for a different FS this year! I like what I've seen from it so far though I really hope they rethink the spiral sequence. It's almost criminal for her not to do a classic arabesque spiral at some point in that element. The 3A attempt in the second FS was pretty good and I was beyond shocked that she held it together for the rest of the program. To put out that kind of program in July is a pretty awesome feat.

I think lot of the club competition have different events within one event, like SP or FS only competitions, Senior and International Senior.

 

[Frida80]

Me either! I haven't seen a 3-program competition since the Grand Prix Final back in er, uh, 2000? That's a lot of skating...

I really like Courtney's SP. I'm not the biggest fan of her style (kinda clunky and hunched) but I saw some real improvement in her overall skating. I'm not as big a fan of the FS. The beginning is nice but it doesn't maintain throughout the program. I think using a mixture of vocals and instrumentals would have been better. Still, it looks like a good set of programs for her. I liked Courtney's programs last year as well. Courtney usually does fairly well on the GP and sets herself up for a podium spot at nationals, yet the last 3 years in a row she's tanked at that competition. It'll be interesting to see how she does.

I still want to see more feeling/connection/umph! from Mirai in the SP. It's a lovely program but if she really pushes the performance it could be great. Thank goodness she went for a different FS this year! I like what I've seen from it so far though I really hope they rethink the spiral sequence. It's almost criminal for her not to do a classic arabesque spiral at some point in that element. The 3A attempt in the second FS was pretty good and I was beyond shocked that she held it together for the rest of the program. To put out that kind of program in July is a pretty awesome feat.

The summer competitions are like this. For each level there are lots of participants. They split them into groups and have them do both their short and long programs. Then they take the top six from each group and have them do a final round. It's great practice for the team event. Next week Glacier falls will do the same with juniors. However, if the program is still too new high level ladies will opt out of the final round. Last year, Mirai opted out of the freeskate. This year she did it.

Senior ladies at Glacier Falls with Polina, Kaitlyn, Karen, Caroline, Mae, and Mariah. In fact, Glacier Falls is definitely the summer competition to see!

 

[Sylvia]

Skate Detroit may be the only U.S. club competition that still has a final round (free skate) for Senior Ladies.

There are 28 Senior ladies scheduled to compete at Glacier Falls later this week and I believe they are all in one group (Junior ladies has 2 qualifying groups): https://unseenskaters.wordpress.com...lls-summer-classic-preliminary-sr-jr-entries/

 

[meggonzo]

Courtney usually does fairly well on the GP and sets herself up for a podium spot at nationals, yet the last 3 years in a row she's tanked at that competition. It'll be interesting to see how she does.

I don't think Courtney got any GP assignments this season? Maybe she'll get the SA spot or hopefully pick one up as an alternate.

Me either! I haven't seen a 3-program competition since the Grand Prix Final back in er, uh, 2000? That's a lot of skating...

Worlds still had qualifying rounds until the mid-2000s I believe?

 

[kwanfan1818]

Worlds still had qualifying rounds until the mid-2000s I believe?

QR's from 1996-2005, and then PR's from 2011-2012, then they brought in the TES minimums to reduce the fields.

 

[mgobluegirl]

Skate Detroit may be the only U.S. club competition that still has a final round (free skate) for Senior Ladies.

There are 28 Senior ladies scheduled to compete at Glacier Falls later this week and I believe they are all in one group (Junior ladies has 2 qualifying groups): https://unseenskaters.wordpress.com...lls-summer-classic-preliminary-sr-jr-entries/

I was a bit surprised they held a qualifying round at Skate Detroit for senior ladies this year since it was a bit smaller than some past years. They have put 20-30 skaters in one group for the event before. I guess it's at the discretion of the referee and the LOC.

 

[kwanatic]

Senior ladies at Glacier Falls with Polina, Kaitlyn, Karen, Caroline, Mae, and Mariah. In fact, Glacier Falls is definitely the summer competition to see!

Wow, that's actually a good entry list! I'm really excited to see what shape Polina is in. In hindsight I guess she picked a good year to go MIA. Truth is no one really stepped up for the US last year. Karen and Ashley got the job done when it counted, but in terms of truly making a statement nothing happened from any of the US women last year--at least nothing that stuck beyond one competition (Mariah at SA, Courtney at COR). Maybe Karen with her win at nationals and 4th place finish at worlds, but she had disasters in between those two competitions.

If Polina is back on form (with better presentation and programs) I think could make a run at that #1 spot for the US. No one has a solid grip on it right now.

I'm interested to see what Karen is looking like at this point. Her tour performances looked pretty strong so it will be interesting to see if she can get her momentum going early. I really hope she does...I don't want to see her fumble her way through the GP. She has enough talent to challenge for top 5 in the world. She needs to skate like it.

I'm also interested to see how Mariah is doing. Last year she didn't have a lot of time under Raf before the season began, but now that she's had more time to train with him I'm hoping to see more stability in her jumps. She has lovely jumps when she's on and she has the content. Just needs consistency...

Glacier Falls should be a good competition!

 

[Coco]

Do we know Polina's music?

 

[Sylvia]

Do we know Polina's music?

The programs she didn't get to skate last season: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/th...nd-choreographers.101017/page-15#post-5071225
ETA:

According to this icenetwork article on Polina Edmunds. "Since Edmunds never performed her programs in competition last season, she will keep both the short and the free." Both choreographed by Rudy Galindo.
SP: Palladio by Karl Jenkins
FS: Bilitis - Générique & Time to Say Goodbye by Sarah Brightman

 

[Lanie]

I am hoping to get some video of Glacier Falls. I'll be bringing a camera instead of just my phone!

 

[her grace]

Here's the list of U.S. JGP subs from JGP #1 in Australia.

Starr ANDREWS, Hanna HARRELL, Tessa HONG, Angelina HUANG, Ashley KIM, Ashley LIN, Emmy MA, Nina OUELLETTE, Paige RYDBERG, Audrey SHIN, Megan WESSENBERG

Usually, the majority of the remaining assignments come from skaters assigned as subs in the first event. The U.S. has six spots total in the remaining JGPS. Caveat: the U.S. could have additional spots if other countries decide not to use them. Since the remaining six events are in Europe, it's unlikely that European countries will relinquish any of theirs. It's possible that Hong Kong might decide not to use all seven of its earned spots.

My guess for the next few assignments would be Andrews, Lin, and Kim. I wonder if any of the American girls will earn a second assignment. I think it's possible for Ngyuen (JGP AUS) and Andrews to contend with the Japanese and Korean skaters and would love to see them medal.

Also interesting to note Hong's inclusion on the sub list. That should put to rest the SA TBD discussion regarding her. Although I think she shouldn't be assigned to anything until she competes this summer. AFAIK, she's missed all the big summer monitoring competitions and she's not on the entry list for Glacier Falls. Anyone know if she's doing Philly?

 

[Karpenko]

I am hoping to get some video of Glacier Falls. I'll be bringing a camera instead of just my phone!

You go, girl! #teamzhang

 

[Frida80]

I am hoping to get some video of Glacier Falls. I'll be bringing a camera instead of just my phone!

I would love that! Having videos of the completion really helps!

 

[Frida80]

Here's the list of U.S. JGP subs from JGP #1 in Australia.

Starr ANDREWS, Hanna HARRELL, Tessa HONG, Angelina HUANG, Ashley KIM, Ashley LIN, Emmy MA, Nina OUELLETTE, Paige RYDBERG, Audrey SHIN, Megan WESSENBERG

Usually, the majority of the remaining assignments come from skaters assigned as subs in the first event. The U.S. has six spots total in the remaining JGPS. Caveat: the U.S. could have additional spots if other countries decide not to use them. Since the remaining six events are in Europe, it's unlikely that European countries will relinquish any of theirs. It's possible that Hong Kong might decide not to use all seven of its earned spots.

My guess for the next few assignments would be Andrews, Lin, and Kim. I wonder if any of the American girls will earn a second assignment. I think it's possible for Ngyuen (JGP AUS) and Andrews to contend with the Japanese and Korean skaters and would love to see them medal.

Also interesting to note Hong's inclusion on the sub list. That should put to rest the SA TBD discussion regarding her. Although I think she shouldn't be assigned to anything until she competes this summer. AFAIK, she's missed all the big summer monitoring competitions and she's not on the entry list for Glacier Falls. Anyone know if she's doing Philly?

Sylvia knows best, but I haven't seen her on the Philly list. Maybe Philly international, but I can't find that list.

 

[Wyliefan]

Do we know Mariah's music yet?

 

[Frida80]

Do we know Mariah's music yet?

I think her FS is Beauty and the Beast.

 

[Wyliefan]

I think her FS is Beauty and the Beast.

Oh, right, I do recall a mention of that. Thanks for reminding me!

 

[Sylvia]

No confirmation of Mariah Bell's music yet -- she used a #beautyandthebeast hashtag in an Instagram post way back on April 1 but that's the only reference I can recall. We'll find out when she competes at Glacier Falls later this week.

Re-posting from the JGP general thread:

I find it interesting that there are 13 U.S. Junior Ladies submitted [for JGP #1], with only 8 (as of now) spots ... but it looks like quite a few ladies on the list won't get an assignment this year - hopefully, there will be additional int'ls in the fall and spring they can go to.

U.S. ladies for JGP #1 in Brisbane, Australia:
Kaitlyn NGUYEN USA [J1 at Nationals]
Ting CUI USA [N2]

Listed alternates (11):
Starr ANDREWS [J2]
Hanna HARRELL [N6] (competing at Asian Open Trophy in HKG next week)
Tessa HONG [S10]
Angelina HUANG [N1]
Ashley KIM [J-wd]
Ashley LIN [J3]
Emmy MA [J4]
Nina OUELLETTE [J6]
Paige RYDBERG [S11]
Audrey SHIN [N9] (competing at Asian Open Trophy in HKG next week)
Megan WESSENBERG [S14]

ETA - oops, I somehow missed seeing @her grace's post before I posted:

Caveat: the U.S. could have additional spots if other countries decide not to use them.

Here's hoping...

Also interesting to note Hong's inclusion on the sub list. That should put to rest the SA TBD discussion regarding her. Although I think she shouldn't be assigned to anything until she competes this summer. AFAIK, she's missed all the big summer monitoring competitions and she's not on the entry list for Glacier Falls. Anyone know if she's doing Philly?

My unofficial hearsay info is that Tessa Hong may be doing the senior international event in Philly ... still awaiting the official list to be published online.

 

[clairecloutier]

The return of Polina.

She skated her short program on July 9 in California: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sn1pt-VRW3c&feature=youtu.be&a

 

[AxelAnnie]

Well that was nothing to write home about. Her arms at the beginning were gorgeous until she went into to the abrupt start pose. then it was mostly skate around..and bomp your arms...skate around and bomp your arms. hope it grows on me. Did Rudy do this one?

 

[TanithandBenFan]

I wasn't confident that Polina would show up at Glacier Falls and I'm even less confident now.

 

[Sylvia]

Thanks for the link, Claire! This was a small club competition in Vacaville, CA called Red, White & Blue Ice (no IJS results published yet). I think it was a good idea for Edmunds to do a low-key appearance in a competition setting after not having competed since 2016 Nationals.

 

[aftershocks]

I thought Polina's program run-through looks fine. She intentionally was not doing jumps, except that one. Apparently not every skater's plan is to go full bore at this point in the off-season. It clearly varies as to where each skater is in their training, goal-setting and planning process for the upcoming season... It's different for everyone.

All of these programs we are seeing are at different stages of progression leading up to readiness for major competition. Polina has been off for a long time. She apparently was only interested in doing a bare bones run-through. Polina has matured and filled out in a lovely way. She may need to adjust to her somewhat changed physicality.

I have to remind myself as a fan to temper my expectations. We are lucky to see any off-season videos. And maybe the reason full coverage isn't made available is because debut programs and off-season run-throughs at local comps aren't meant to be over-analyzed. I'm guilty of doing that too.

 

[mag]

The return of Polina.

She skated her short program on July 9 in California: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sn1pt-VRW3c&feature=youtu.be&a

I like the program and I think it suits Polina. I am not concerned about the jumps. She will either have them or not . What does concern me is her complete lack of speed and expecially power. Those crossovers at the end of the rink were seriously bad. Is this rink quite small? That could explain it.

 

[aftershocks]

Possibly it is a smaller rink. Anyway, it doesn't appear to me that Polina's goal was to put out a complete program or to suddenly become a speed demon. She never was extremely fast or powerful, nor does she particularly excel at dynamic crossovers, but she is talented and determined. She probably needs to spend more time working on stroking, and on fine-tuning her skating skills. But is there time with the Olympic season looming? She probably has less than sufficient time just to get back in shape, relearn her programs choreographed over a year ago, and adjust to her growth spurt.

The sport seems only set up these days for putting cart before horse and expecting skaters to excel on jumps, speed, transitions and polished programs every time out, on a dime apparently. I'm guilty of that mode of expectations too.

Give ourselves a break and exhale. Polina isn't worried about our concerns for her. She's probably focused on her own goals and concerns. I wish her well.