The Detroit Skating Club's Alexandra Aldridge & Daniel Eaton added another national gold medal to their collection by winning the 2012 U.S. junior title, two years after capturing the novice title. Aldridge & Eaton won both phases of the competition with a total score of 142.10. Winning their second consecutive silver medal at this event were Lauri Bonacorsi & Travis Mager, who claimed second in both phases of the competition, scoring 133.73. A pair of teams from the Washington Figure Skating Club rounded out the podium, with Lorraine McNamara & Quinn Carpenter winning bronze, and the pewter medal going to Rachel Parsons & Michael Parsons.
SHORT DANCE
In the short dance, Aldridge & Eaton finished just over one point ahead of Bonacorsi & Mager, setting up a great race for the title in the free dance.
Aldridge & Eaton, with a score of 54.42, won the components mark, but lost the technical mark due in part to their twizzles being downgraded to level 2. The team received level 3s for both Cha Cha Congelado patterns and a level 4 for their straightline lift.
In second with 53.39 points, Bonacorsi & Mager (pictured, right) had a higher technical mark than Aldridge & Eaton and received levels 4 and 1 on their Cha Cha patterns, level 4 on their lift, and level 3 on their twizzles and step sequence.
Fresh off their journey from the Youth Olympic Games in Austria, the Parsons siblings scored 50.80 in their short dance to finish third. Their Cha Cha patterns were scored level 3 and their step sequence was level 2, while their lift and twizzles received level 4.
Close behind in fourth were McNamara & Carpenter with 49.11 points. McNamara & Carpenter's short dance went around the traditional Latin feel and emphasized their youthful exuberance. McNamara was particularly memorable in bright red go-go boot costuming. They earned level 3 on their Cha Cha patterns and twizzles, level 2 on their midline, and level 4 on their lift.
Madeline Heritage & Nathaniel Fast finished fifth with 48.82 points and the mathematical chance to move up to the medals in the free dance.
U.S. ice dancers once again staged a competition that put other disciplines to shame. Fourteen teams competed the free dance at the 2012 U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Saturday and not one of them fell. The top 10 teams -- who were given a combined 693 Grades of Execution -- earned only five negative GOE.
Reigning world champions Meryl Davis & Charlie White were near perfection in their "Die Fledermaus" free dance, collecting their fourth consecutive U.S. title. Seven of their eight elements were level 4, with the circular step sequence a level 3. Save for one base 0, all their GOE were +2 or +3 for a Technical Elements Score of 55.43. Their Program Component Scores (59.22) were even more impressive, with two 9.50s being their lowest. For Interpretation and Timing, Davis & White earned the first 10.0 average in the history of the International Judging System.
"Charlie and I felt really great about both of our performances here at nationals," Davis said. "I think we achieved exactly what it is we wanted to achieve coming into these championships, which was to leave it all out on the ice and achieve a new comfort level with both of our programs, as well as a higher level of performance."
Davis & White have always been superb waltzers, and their program highlighted their strengths as well as entertained the audience. Their free dance score, 114.65, gave them a total overall score of 191.54, a new U.S. record.
It's not often an event lives up to its hype. When it does, you know you've witnessed something special.
Friday afternoon, the 14 senior ice dance teams took to the ice at the 2012 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. A couple hours later, 14 clean performances -- no falls, no deductions. Welcome to the new era of U.S. ice dancing.
As expected, reigning world champions Meryl Davis & Charlie White (pictured, left) are in first. They had the highest Technical Element Score (38.22) and highest Program Components (38.67) for a segment total of 76.89. Both patterns of the Rhumba were called only level 3, so they were not the top scorers in the compulsory section, but their lift, twizzles, and footwork were all called level 4. Yes, Davis & White's no touch circular step sequence was called the very rare level 4. With the +2s and +3s GOE, that single element brought in a whopping 10.43 -- more than a quadruple toe loop!
"We were just trying to push ourselves to improve the level at which we are able to compete comfortably for this season, especially in the short dance," White said, "and by that I mean more gusto, more attack. We really felt like we were able to accomplish that and we were very pleased with our performance."
The only team to receive all level 4s, Maia Shibutani & Alex Shibutani, take 72.61 into tomorrow's free dance. For the Rhumba patterns, they started with the base value of 14 points and, after adding the GOE, banked 15.07, which made up 40% of their technical mark. Their level 4 circular footwork added an additional 10 points. With their revamped short dance music and choreography, the Shibutanis earned 37.50 in TES and 35.11 for PCS.
"We changed our music after the Grand Prix Final to 'The Girl from Ipanema' and 'Samba de Janeiro,'" Alex said. "It’s very upbeat and it’s got a real Latin vibe to it. We worked with [ballroom dancer] Corky Ballas after the Final, and he really worked on improving our interpretation. We kind of had a boot camp with him. So that was a lot of work, but I think it’s paid off and the program flows much better than the previous one. And it’s really fun for us to skate."
The first medalists at the 2012 U.S. Figure Skating Championships were decided Monday morning. Novice ice dancing was the first of the 12 events to conclude in San Jose, California. Holly Moore & Daniel Klaber won the free dance and took first overall with a score of 109.53 en route to the gold medal. Leaders after the pattern dances, Whitney Miller & Kyle MacMillan, placed second in the free dance and won silver with their total 108.13. Hannah Rosinski & Jacob Jaffe, who were third after the pattern dances by almost six points, placed fourth in the free dance but had enough of a lead to capture the bronze medal. Third in the free dance, Chloe Lewis & Logan Bye, will take home the pewter medal.
Moore & Klaber drew to skate last, and it made for an exciting conclusion to the novice dance competition. Bedazzling in red (and some black) with her spiffy partner in black (and some red) Moore channeled her inner Kaitlyn Weaver+Taylor Swift-hybrid sass and made "Le Jazz Hot" just that -- hot. The teen duo set the tone and attitude right from the beginning, attacking their elements without making it look like they actually had required elements. Everything flowed and was woven throughout the choreography.
With high levels (4s on everything except the footwork (3) and the twizzles (2)) and their lowest Grades of Execution being a base 0 (and only three of the 54 GOE were 0s), Moore & Klaber showed why the deserved gold. Their final element, a rotational lift, was so strong (Moore held her skate blade to her scalp!) that one of the judges awarded it a +3.
The 2012 U.S. Figure Skating Championships kicked off today with the novice pattern dances. For the first time at nationals, a leveled version of the pattern dances was competed. Instead of just segments that receive a Grade of Execution, the dances are broken down into segments that have required elements that determine what level (1-4) is awarded to that segment. A GOE is then given, too.
This year the novice dancers opened with the leveled Argentine Tango. An added twist was that the skaters could choose their own music, as long as it matched the required number of beats. They did two full patterns -- split into three leveled segments each -- for a total of six required elements to receive GOEs from the judges.
1S1 (the first third of the first "lap" of the Argentine Tango) had the following values: Level 1=1.00, Level 2=1.50, Level 3=2.00, and Level 4=2.50. This would be indicated on the score sheets as 1S11, 1S12, etc.
1S2 (the second third of the first "lap" of the Argentine Tango) had the following values: Level 1=1.40, Level 2=2.10, Level 3=2.80, and Level 4=3.50. This would be indicated on the score sheets as 1S21, 1S22, etc.
1S3 (the third third of the first "lap" of the Argentine Tango) has the same values as the first. This would be indicated on the score sheets as 1S31, 1S32, etc.
SHORT DANCE
As expected, reigning world champions Meryl Davis & Charlie White (pictured, left) are in first. They had the highest Technical Element Score (38.22) and highest Program Components (38.67) for a segment total of 76.89. Both patterns of the Rhumba were called only level 3, so they were not the top scorers in the compulsory section, but their lift, twizzles, and footwork were all called level 4. Yes, Davis & White's no touch circular step sequence was called the very rare level 4. With the +2s and +3s GOE, that single element brought in a whopping 10.43 -- more than a quadruple toe loop!
The first medalists at the 2012 U.S. Figure Skating Championships were decided Monday morning. Novice ice dancing was the first of the 12 events to conclude in San Jose, California. Holly Moore & Daniel Klaber won the free dance and took first overall with a score of 109.53 en route to the gold medal. Leaders after the pattern dances, Whitney Miller & Kyle MacMillan, placed second in the free dance and won silver with their total 108.13. Hannah Rosinski & Jacob Jaffe, who were third after the pattern dances by almost six points, placed fourth in the free dance but had enough of a lead to capture the bronze medal. Third in the free dance, Chloe Lewis & Logan Bye, will take home the pewter medal.
The 2012 U.S. Figure Skating Championships kicked off today with the novice pattern dances. For the first time at nationals, a leveled version of the pattern dances was competed. Instead of just segments that receive a Grade of Execution, the dances are broken down into segments that have required elements that determine what level (1-4) is awarded to that segment. A GOE is then given, too.