\u00a0<\/p>\n
by Michelle Wojdyla<\/p>\n
Fun With Math for the junior free dance.<\/p>\n
By the numbers (for the five teams who completed the event):<\/p>\n
Number of Grades of Execution awarded for the free dance: 210.<\/p>\n
Number of negative grades: 13<\/p>\n
% of negative: 6%<\/p>\n
Number of negative grades earned on twizzles: 11<\/p>\n
% of negative grades caused by twizzles: 85%<\/p>\n
Number of teams who placed the same in multiple parts of the competition:<\/p>\n
1 (Sara Bailey & Kyle Herring were first in the CD and the FD)<\/p>\n
Percentage of teams who finished the competition in the place they were after the CD: 100%<\/p>\n
——————————————————————<\/p>\n
After the compulsory dance, it was clear the skaters were not going to make the judges\u2019 job easy. The free dance made that an understatement. Less than a point and a half marked the difference between silver and pewter, and only two points came between a ticket to St. Paul and staying home.<\/p>\n
At the top of the podium, Sara Bailey & Kyle Herring won both the free dance (71.83) and overall (149.23). Pilar Bosley & John Corona were third in the free dance (69.38) and second overall (144.02). Anastasia Cannuscio & Dean Copely were only fifth in the free dance (67.81) but third overall (143.51). Isabella Cannuscio & Ian Lorello placed second in the free dance (69.78), which gave them the edge they needed to snag that final spot at nationals (142.68). Lili LaMar & Zach Donohue\u2019s fourth place in the free dance (69.23) was not enough to make up the deficit from the compulsory dance, and they finished with a total of 140.60.<\/p>\n
Still with me?<\/p>\n
Ironically, the couples all finished where they had ranked after the compulsory, just like the \u201cgood old days\u201d under the 6.0 system. This time, however, the movement between the first event and the last was possibly the most convoluted since the International Judging System began.<\/p>\n
Isabella Cannuscio & Ian Lorello opened the competition Saturday with their free dance to music from the movie \u201cEdward Scissorhands.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was nervous, but once we started, I was fine,\u201d Isabella said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s nice to get done first,\u201d Lorello added.<\/p>\n
The jazzy program was non-stop, high energy and set the bar high for the rest of the event. Cannuscio & Lorello received 23 +1s including straight +1s on their midline and circular footwork, levels 3 and 2, respectively. All their remaining elements were level 4, the twizzle receiving +1 across the board.<\/p>\n
\u201c[We\u2019re] really excited and really happy with both performance and placement,\u201d Lorello said. \u201cIt\u2019s one of our best.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lili LaMar & Zach Donohue skated next and also received no negative GoE for their \u201cHarlem Nocture\u201d free dance. Six of the eight elements were rated level 4, while both step sequences were level 2. The first-year team also claimed the most +2s of this phase of the event, snagging five for their final lift.<\/p>\n
Despite coming in third in the original dance and fourth in the free, LaMar & Donohue missed the podium by 2.08 points.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe skated our hardest and tried our best and gave it our all,\u201d Donohue said. \u201cI think that\u2019s what makes it all worthwhile. No regrets. It\u2019s definitely been our best competition. Each event got better and better. We couldn\u2019t ask for more.\u201d<\/p>\n
After placing first in the original dance, Anastasia Cannuscio & Dean Copely fell to fifth in the free dance, performing to music from the \u201cKill Bill\u201d soundtrack. Opening with level 4 twizzles that earned them +.63 GoE followed by a 4+4 lift that was +.5, the performance fell a little flat. The majority of the scores were base 0s, and they did receive a pair of \u20131s in their midline step sequence.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was OK,\u201d Anastasia said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t our best skate. Had a little wobble and crashed into the boards a little bit.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a wobble and a bobble,\u201d Copely added.<\/p>\n
Asked if their program had a story behind it, Copely said no.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe really need a story,\u201d he decided on the spot. \u201cWe\u2019re going to build one between now and nationals. We\u2019re going to make a story.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pilar Bosley & John Corona showed no signs of injury from their previous day\u2019s collision with the boards. Their free dance to the Scorpions\u2019 \u201cStill Loving You\u201d was dramatic and emotional. Three of their lifts received level 4s. The only error came on the twizzles, knocking .5 off and giving that element the lowest score of the dance. In an unusual twist, some judges actually gave them higher linking footwork component scores compared to the ones for skating skills.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a very good comeback,\u201d Corona said. \u201cWe started the week off strong and we wanted to end it strong, so we were very happy with that skate. The big thing our coach was saying was don\u2019t worry about the power as much as the finesse–\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c–and getting through it with ease,\u201d Bosley finished. \u201cI think we did that. We\u2019re very happy. We\u2019re very happy for everyone else, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Free dance and overall champions Sara Bailey & Kyle Herring also spread thoughts of goodwill.<\/p>\n
\u201cPilar and John were beautiful,\u201d Bailey said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I was really excited for Ian & Bella and Stasia & Dean to get out there and skate clean,\u201d Herring added. \u201cIt was just a really clean competition. It\u2019s so exciting that way. I thought it was a great competition, and I really enjoyed it. It\u2019s a really tough year all around. That\u2019s what makes it fun, though. It pushes us all to be a little bit better. Especially us. We\u2019ve got two other good teams at our rink. It\u2019s a good reminder right there. We get to train with them every day, so it\u2019s good experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bailey & Herring got off to a shaky start with botched twizzles that received -.5. Their \u201c300\/Narnia\u201d dance had a mix of levels 2 and 4, and once the twizzles were finished, they no further negative GoE.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a lot of energy and sometimes it gets out of control,\u201d Herring said. \u201cI got a little wobbly in the twizzles and I tried to rein it in and bring it home as a strong program. We just wanted to go out and skate solid and confidently, and I think we did that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bailey jumped right into the conversation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll tell you my exciting part, because I\u2019ve been telling everyone,\u201d she said, laughing. \u201cRight before the last lift, my hair clip was coming out and it was dangling by my face. So in the lift, I grabbed it and I just held it in my hand throughout the last thing because I didn\u2019t want the deduction for the costume. So I just held it for the last part of our program. It\u2019s drama!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt added some excitement to the whole thing,\u201d Herring said. \u201cI didn\u2019t know until the end.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI found it really entertaining!\u201d Bailey added.<\/p>\n
The young couple no longer looked like novices stepping up a level. Not only did they skate with more maturity, their mental toughness improved noticeably.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Freaking out] used to be kind of a weakness of mine,\u201d Bailey said. \u201cIf one thing went wrong, I would get really nervous throughout the whole thing. We\u2019ve been working really hard on if something goes wrong, just let it go and keep going. Like this morning! We were doing one part [in practice] and Kyle tripped and ended up cutting both of my legs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNormally, earlier this season and last year, we were very inconsistent in our practices, making it much more difficult,\u201d Herring said. \u201cRecently, like today, we really pulled it together. We\u2019ve learned to work off of that. \u2018It\u2019s fine, just calm down and do what we\u2019ve got to do.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that\u2019s our biggest improvement in this competition,\u201d he continued. \u201cThat\u2019s what we really were lacking. We\u2019re trying to take that step up to junior, and I feel like we\u2019re finally taking that step up to a mature level of skating. That\u2019s what we have to keep working on. I think we definitely got back on the right course to where we want to be. I think we\u2019re doing the right things, and I think this proves to us that in our training, we\u2019re doing the right things, working on what we\u2019re supposed to. Now we\u2019re just going to go back and hammer it out.\u201d<\/p>\n
With so much talent and so few steps on the podium, it would not be hard to picture intense rivalry and tension between the dancers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019re the only group, just in general, with such strong camaraderie,\u201d Bosley said. \u201cIt\u2019s weird, but it\u2019s very, very nice. We can all be friends and we can all be happy for each other. Everyone can be there for each other at the same time. Just like yesterday, in the warm-up [after the crash]. We\u2019re all very happy and excited to go to St. Paul.”<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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