U.S. Ladies [#23]: Triple Axels? What a Novice Idea!

[Vagabond]

It's time to reboot!

Champs Camp is this week.

Make America Skate Again!

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Looking forward to seeing some snippets of GG!

And Bradie's 3lutz/3loop

 

[Sylvia]

Thanks for starting the new thread!

In case anyone missed the thread title reference , Alysa Liu, 12, was credited with landing a clean 3A+2T in her Adv. Novice free skate to win the gold medal at the Asian Open Trophy in Bangkok, Thailand in early August. She has tested up to Senior in the U.S.
Also in the Adv. Novice event, Indi Cha was 5th and Ellen Slavicek 6th.
Gabriella Izzo won the silver medal in Junior Ladies; Ashley Lin placed 5th.
In her ISU Challenger Series debut in Bangkok, Starr Andrews was 2nd in the SP, 5th in the FS, and 5th overall.

Re-posting from the ISU Challengers thread in GSD:

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—U.S. Figure Skating announces the 20 athletes which will represent the United States at the U.S. International Classic in Salt Lake City from Sept. 12-16, 2018.

Ladies
Karen Chen
Courtney Hicks
Brynne McIsaac
Akari Nakahara

CS Lombardia Trophy (Sept. 12-16 in Bergamo, Italy): Amber Glenn
Listed subs for Lombardia:
Mariah BELL
Ashley LIN
Emmy MA
Angela WANG

Junior Grand Prix assignments confirmed on USFS' International Assignments page:
JGP #1 in Bratislava SVK: Pooja Kalyan (her JGP debut)
JGP #2 in Linz AUT: Ting Cui

Awaiting confirmation by USFS; currently listed on ISU website:
JGP #3 in Kaunas LTU: Audrey Shin (this would be her JGP debut)
JGP #4 in Vamcouver CAN: Hanna Harrell

Listed subs for JGP to date:
Maxine BAUTISTA
Emma COPPESS
Angelina HUANG
Gabriella IZZO
Sarah JUNG
Ashley LIN
Emilia MURDOCK
Akari NAKAHARA
Kaitlyn NGUYEN
Jenna SHI

ETA:

ISU Grand Prix assignments:
Bradie Tennell: #1 Skate America & #6 France
Mariah Bell: #2 Skate Canada & #4 NHK Trophy
Karen Chen: #3 Finland & #5 Rostelecom Cup
Starr Andrews: Skate America
Gracie Gold: Rostelecom Cup
Courtney Hicks: NHK Trophy
Angela Wang: NHK Trophy

Skate America host spot: TBD (by or at Champs Camp)

 

[Brenda_Bottems]

Will we finally have someone who can beat the Russians this year?

-BB

 

[Frida80]

Will we finally have someone who can beat the Russians this year?

-BB

No. Next year.

However we are sending some promising ladies that have a chance at the podium. Based on their domestic score, they are the highest scoring ladies heading to that JGP in three years.

 

[rosewood]

Interview with Alysa Liu by Fuji TV at Asian Open Trophy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1jYWRWcvc8

 

[Sylvia]

^^^ Belated thanks, @rosewood; unfortunately, Alysa's interview video is geoblocked outside of Japan.

Pooja KALYAN had a respectable JGP debut in Bratislava, placing 8th overall: 160.60 6 (58.34 in SP) 8 (102.26 in FS)

She looks more comfortable with her short program at this point and I was hoping she would make the final group for the FS, which she accomplished (SP jumps landed were 3T+3T, 3F, 2A): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LwA-RkYY-c
She was credited with 5 clean triples (3F+3T for the first time in comp., I believe) in her FS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8TKoa9x0Gw

 

[Coco]

That's a competitive field, so that is respectable.

For the FS, the top 5 all landed 7 triples each, with only 2 < and no falls.

 

[DreamSkates]

No. Next year.

.

That makes me nervous. Some skaters don't make it to next year, or next year, someone else has surpassed him/her but one can always hope!

 

[vesperholly]

I love Pooja's skating. Those 3-3s were clean as a whistle too.

Anyone know if she's got the triple loop? None in Bratislava and I don't think she tried it last season either.

 

[kwanfan1818]

Except for the 3z with fall, Kalyan's jumps in the FS all got +GOE and she only got one -GOE mark on them. Her 3F in the SP got -.15; all of her other elements got +GOE without any 0's, let alone negatives.

She is still very and noticeably deliberate, particularly in the way she holds her arms, on the entries into many of her jumps, though. To get higher GOE, I don't think that will fly. And I love her skating: not a hater at all.

 

[Sylvia]

I love Pooja's skating. Those 3-3s were clean as a whistle too.

Anyone know if she's got the triple loop? None in Bratislava and I don't think she tried it last season either.

I checked her protocols from her Junior & Novice seasons and Kalyan did not attempt a 3Lo in her programs.

I remember when she was doing well at the Intermediate (10th at 2014 Nationals) & Juvenile (5th at 2013 Nationals) levels without a 2A in her programs. She's come a long way since then! ETA: Just checked and Pooja qualified for and competed at 2015 Nationals in Novice (placed 9th) without attempting 2A.

 

[concorde]

I checked her protocols from her Junior & Novice seasons and Kalyan did not attempt a 3Lo in her programs.

I remember when she was doing well at the Intermediate (10th at 2014 Nationals) & Juvenile (5th at 2013 Nationals) levels without a 2A in her programs. She's come a long way since then! ETA: Just checked and Pooja qualified for and competed at 2015 Nationals in Novice (placed 9th) without attempting 2A.

Just to put that into perspective with the current class of top Novices which are really the first "true" class under USFS bonus system. If I remember correctly, when they were Juvs in 2017 all but one has two 2A (so 1 in combination). As Intermediates in 2018 (last year), I think they all had a 2A and most had 2-3 triples. As Novices, they most have 4-5 triples and one even has a triple-triple combination. Why the bigger jumps? Under the system, the 1.0 bonus reward was enough to outweigh the risk.

Unfortunately under the +/-5 GOE scoring system, the risk again outweighs the bonus so I can see things going back to how it was. To better explain, at Novices and down the skaters are more "developing" than polished which means they will rarely ever see the +4 and +5 GOEs. For developing skaters, the scoring system is really +3/-5 which means the system is again tilted towards the negative. These developing skaters are again better off doing a double and getting a +3 GOE and positive PCS because if they go for a triple and fall, that 1.0 bonus is offset by a -5 GOE, -0.5 penalty for the fall, and they take a hit on the PCS.

Two steps forward, one giant step back.

 

[rosewood]

^^^ Belated thanks, @rosewood; unfortunately, Alysa's interview video is geoblocked outside of Japan.

How about this one? Someone posted a clip from the YT video on twitter. She's so cute!
https://twitter.com/nsk20110606/status/1027951181690097664

ETA:Question 1: What was your goal at Asian Open Trophy? Q2: What's your impression of Japanese skaters? Q3: Who is your favorite skater? Q4: What is your future dream? Q5: Is making an Olys team your dream too?

 

[Willin]

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bm3g-wTHpIQ/?taken-by=ashwagner2010

In other news, it appears Ashley is still undecided about skating. She's moving to Boston right aroung the time schools start (another big skating hub, but also a higher ed hub), so maybe she's going to college? Based on the wording of the post it doesn't sound like she's thinking about making a comeback on the Senior circuit.

 

[Marco]

Except for the 3z with fall, Kalyan's jumps in the FS all got +GOE and she only got one -GOE mark on them. Her 3F in the SP got -.15; all of her other elements got +GOE without any 0's, let alone negatives.

She is still very and noticeably deliberate, particularly in the way she holds her arms, on the entries into many of her jumps, though. To get higher GOE, I don't think that will fly. And I love her skating: not a hater at all.

I felt she was a tad slow but otherwise deserved higher PCS for what she put out there. I very much enjoyed the skating compared to the hectic and indifferent styles tof the top Russians.

 

[concorde]

I felt she was a tad slow but otherwise deserved higher PCS for what she put out there. I very much enjoyed the skating compared to the hectic and indifferent styles tof the top Russians.

Interesting because the first thing my skater noticed about Pooja was her lack of speed. Unfortunately that is very hard to fix.

 

[oleada]

Interesting because the first thing my skater noticed about Pooja was her lack of speed. Unfortunately that is very hard to fix.

I thought the same, and that her program was empty. I agree that she was very deliberate; a lot of her jumps seemed telegraphed and that she didn't project much.

But she has a good debut with a clean 3F+3T; and skated about as well as she can and she could. It was a deep competition and she did well and should be proud of that.

 

[wickedwitch]

So I'm going to link to Pooja's skates from Nats last year because they'll help make my point:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RadTGfgM2OM&
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uymbP8yAyR8
If you haven't watched them, I encourage you to do so.

Pooja is capable of deserving high PCS. However, I don't believe her performances in Bratislava deserved any better PCS than she received, and I'm not convinced that these programs will ever highlight her capabilities.

 

[Bonita]

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bm3g-wTHpIQ/?taken-by=ashwagner2010

In other news, it appears Ashley is still undecided about skating. She's moving to Boston right aroung the time schools start (another big skating hub, but also a higher ed hub), so maybe she's going to college? Based on the wording of the post it doesn't sound like she's thinking about making a comeback on the Senior circuit.

I was wondering why Ashley was at Skating Club of Boston in July. She's not going to like our winters, LOL.

 

[Theoreticalgirl]

I thought Kalyan's programs looked a little empty—particularly the FS—but since it's so early in the season, I expect them to be more/fully fleshed out by Nationals/etc. Giving her the benefit of the doubt because it's her first real JGP experience and she was up against a highly competitive field. Hopeful her team has a better sense of the field now and makes adjustments at her next event (if any).

 

[kwanatic]

+5 on the thread title @Vagabond

 

[concorde]

So I'm going to link to Pooja's skates from Nats last year because they'll help make my point:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RadTGfgM2OM&
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uymbP8yAyR8
If you haven't watched them, I encourage you to do so.

She is a pretty skater but even there she is slow.

 

[Wyliefan]

I was wondering why Ashley was at Skating Club of Boston in July. She's not going to like our winters, LOL.

She grew up here in northern Virginia, and our winters aren't exactly balmy. Not as bad as Boston's, probably, but pretty cold and snowy. She'll be fine.

 

[jiejie]

Ashley Wagner learned to skate in Anchorage, Alaska. I'm sure she'll be fine also. But yes, Boston truly has sucky damp cold gray winters.

 

[concorde]

Ashley was a military brat. She graduated from high school in Northern Virginia. In addition to Anchorage, didn't she live in Germany for awhile?

 

[Wyliefan]

I believe she was born there.

 

[Maximillian]

Ashley was a military brat. She graduated from high school in Northern Virginia. In addition to Anchorage, didn't she live in Germany for awhile?

Yeah, Ashley was born in Germany, and (as of yesterday) if you do a Yahoo search on her, it states that her nationality is German (I would assume by her last name that she does have some German in her background, but...)

 

[concorde]

Very interesting on the change in Nationality

Wonder if she is going to take a year off and then skate for Germany.

 

[Sylvia]

Very interesting on the change in Nationality

I don't think Ashley has changed or is planning to change her nationality from USA.

ETA that I've moved the rest of my post to the following page.