Hubbell & Donohue strike gold in Salt Lake City

15USIC-HD-3665by Anne Calder | Photos by Robin Ritoss

The U.S. International Figure Skating Classic kicked off the 2015 ISU Challenger Series September 16-20 in Salt Lake City, UT, USA. Each event will count for the required Minimum Total Element Score (TES) needed for eligibility in ISU Figure Skating Championships.

SHORT DANCE

Madison Hubbell & Zachary Donohue (USA) won the short dance by a ten-point margin.  The mesmerizing performance to K.D. Lang’s emotional “Hallelujah” had a brief interruption when the skaters suddenly fell in unison at the end of their partial step sequence.

“We are upset about the fall…it’s unfortunate, but we made the best of it, Hubbell said.  “We didn’t miss any elements, and we really hustled to get that lift back.  We didn’t lose any levels.”

The Montreal-based team analyzed their first international competition of the season.

“This event is just for us to find ourselves – to find our programs – to get more feedback,” Hubbell commented.  “We are pleased; we were trying to push ourselves to skate like at home and do what we know.”

“We were focused on the performance,” Donohue added.

Elisabeth Paradis & Francois-Xavier Ouellette (CAN) danced into second place skating to the vocals “Lost” and “Kill” by the Dutch singer, Anouk. The stationary lift earned level 4, but the partial step sequence scored a level 2. Paradis voiced the team’s disappointment.

“We did some errors we don’t usually do,” Paradis said.  “We are very unhappy that we didn’t get the minimum technical score to qualify for Worlds. Now we need to do it at Skate Canada, so we will work hard on those levels.”

Laurence Fournier Beaudry & Nikolaj Sorensen (DEN) placed third skating to “Never Tear Us Apart” by INXS. The team had a stumble in the opening twizzle, but the rotational lift earned a level 4. The team commented on their performance.

“We didn’t skate that well,” Fournier Beaudry said.  “I made a pretty bad mistake at the beginning, and I had a hard time coming back.  We were a little bit ahead of the music everywhere.”

“The program is only two weeks old. We were a little bit nervous, and it’s only September 18,” added Sorensen.

Danielle Thomas & Daniel Eaton (USA) chose selections from Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella for their short dance. Their technical score was the second highest of the nine teams. Unfortunately, they received a one-point deduction for the extended rotational lift. The new team is working on both the skating and building a partnership.

“We’ve really worked hard since Lake Placid,” Eaton noted.

FREE DANCE

15USIC-4538The medalists sported jackets from the United States, Denmark, and Canada, but all three teams call Montreal, Quebec Canada home, where they train under the watchful eyes of Marie-France Dubreuil, Patrice Lauzon, Roman Haguenauer and Pascal Denis.

After the award ceremony Coach Lauzon commented, “They (the teams) have worked very hard, and we are very happy the way the season is starting and hope we can have an even better rest of the season.”

Madison Hubbell & Zachary Donohue (USA) won the gold medal with a dramatic free skate to “Adagio for TRON” by the electronic duo Daft Punk. The couple used every choreographed element to unveil the intended mood of fear and apprehension. The spin, twizzles and two lifts earned level 4. The team has high expectations for the coming season, so there is much work ahead.

“We are super happy to have put our first international assignment under our belt,” Hubbell said.  “Obviously we had some mistakes and some technical points were missing.  We can’t wait to go home and keep working.”

“We’re really shooting for the Final,” Donohue added.  “We really want the spot.  We’re working long goal this year.  We’re taking a building approach to the season. Hopefully you’re going to see us going up and up.”

Laurence Fournier Beaudry & Nikolaj Sorensen (DEN) won the silver medal with a performance to “Woman” by Shawn Phillips. A bobble on the twizzle lowered it to level 2, but the spin, stationary and straight line lifts were level 4. For the second time in two days, the team drew the last spot to skate.

”When we train at home, Patch (Lauzon) always makes us go first,” Sorensen said.  “We are not used to this position.  It is 40 minutes from the five-minute warm up. That’s a long time.”

World Ice Dance Champion, Guillaume Cizeron, (FRA) designed Fournier Beaudry’s costume for the program that she explained is about humanity.

15USIC-3081“The beginning of our program is the discovery of man and woman put on earth and their own unity,” Fournier Beaudry said.  “As the program goes (on) they discover what they bring to each other and in order to make a union and bring something to this world.”

The couple is in their second competitive season together and is focusing on being a team.

“It’s still early in the season, and we didn’t know what to expect,” Sorensen added.  “Even with small mistakes we are trying to keep our focus together and stay in the zone.”

Elizabeth Paradis & Francois-Xavier Ouellette (CAN) won bronze with an emotional interpretation of “Bridge Over Troubled Water” by Simon and Garfunkel. The straight-line lift as Ouellette moved steadily across the ice on one foot was spectacular. The curve lift, spin and twizzles also earned level 4, but the team struggled with the circular step sequence.  Afterwards, the couple reacted to their performance.

“We have no excuses (for the footwork); we just must continue to work harder every day,” Ouellette insisted.

“Some stuff we wanted to achieve and we did,” Paradis said.  “We wanted to be on the music – be together – connect with the audience.  I think that worked well.”

Alexandra Nazarova & Maxim NIkitin (UKR) placed fourth with a dramatic presentation of Mozart’s Fantasia No. 3 in D-minor. The reigning World Junior bronze medalists earned level 4 for their spin and lifts.  An unfortunate error reduced the twizzles to level 1.

Danielle Thomas & Daniel Eaton (USA) slipped to fifth place with an energetic free skate to a dynamic composition that melded an original piece by violinist Sonia Lee with Vittorio Monti’s Hungarian folk song, “Csardas”.  The Michigan-based team earned level 4 for the three lifts, but unfortunate mistakes in other elements reduced their scores.  The event was a definite learning experience for the new team.

“We’ve only been together for six months,” Eaton said.  “This competition was really great for us. Now we have to go back to the drawing board with some of our key points and some of our elements.”

The next Challenger Series event is the Nebelhorn Trophy in Oberstdorf, Germany September 24 – 26.