My favorite US lady is Flatt. I am hoping she has a fantastic GP season. I like her mostly because I see the joy of skating on her face. You can't teach that. She also has proven in the past to be very consistent with her jumps. If she doesn't win Skate America I see her at least second.
So far I have seen the most potential from Rachel Flatt, but I am really hoping that Ashley Wagner's new coaching situation with Priscilla Hill is going to propel her forward. I would love to see her on the World team this year.
Count me too as a Rachael-phile or should I say Flattphile. She is my favorite US lady at the moment and IMO shows the most joy of any American lady on the ice since Janet Lynn and Michelle Kwan. I love how consistent and mature she is and I'm surprised that her radiant smile doesn't melt the ice every time she steps on it. Lovely young lady! I'd love for the American ladies world team to be Rachael and Kimmie or Rachael and Caroline.
As for "who do you think will come out on top this season", I hope that skater is Yu-Na Kim. She is the total package of all the ladies internationally, IMO. I want her to have her golden moment on the World Championship stage. She deserves it!
Rachael Flatt. She is technically strong and has the most mature presentation of all the younger skaters and many of the older ones as well. She knows what she needs to work on, and she has steadily improved by huge leaps and bounds.
I like Kimmie. I also appreciate Ashley's competitive spirit and Katrina Hacker's artistry and solid technique. In the younger group of Rachel, Mirai, and Caroline, I do not have a favorite yet. I enjoyed all of them last year, but felt they were still quite immature as skaters. This year, I'm expecting them to be more mature, both physically and artistically. And with them now skating on the senior level Grand Prix, we'll start to see what they're really like as competitors. So I don't really have a favorite American lady right now; I like them most of them about equally.
On the international side, I'm a Mao Asada fan. This year, I hope to see Asada really come into her own, with more confident, consistent, and distinctive performances than last year.
I don't have favorite yet but I do lean towards Mirai, Caroline and Rachel. I like them all equally with a soft spot for Kimmie. Maybe after the newbies have been around for awhile I will be able to choose a favorite.
As for who will come out on top, my initial instincts are one of Caroline, Mirai, Rachael, or Ashley. They've all got spunk and talent, solid work ethic, and a lot of enthusiasm and youthful confidence. But they're also all undergoing growth spurts. We haven't seen Rachael or Ashley attempt the 3/3 in the summer club comps, and Caroline is still struggling with the lutz and will lose more than most from the elimination of a spin, and we haven't seen Mirai skate at all as she pulled out of Golden West with an ankle injury (rumored to be mild). So I think there's a lot of uncertainty ahead for these girls in the new season.
Kimmie and Alissa have their own challenges and uncertainties, of course.
I wish all the young ladies a successful and fulfilling season. Of course only two can go to Worlds. But I have a feeling that 4CC and JW this season will also be used to help gauge who will make the best Olympic team next season, as the U.S. ladies have so much depth right now!
The only full-out summer competition Wagner did was DuPage. She skated a week-old short program at Liberty and then both that new SP and LP at DuPage. The way she skated both programs at DuPage, it was really clear to me she was just breaking in the engine of the programs and that we hadn't seen all that was planned - YET!
As you may have guessed, Ashley is my of the current crop of American Ladies. She skates in a bravura style that I adore with a lot of verve.
Who I think will be successful this season? Too soon to tell. Ask me after the first two GPs.
I couldn't possibly pick just one. We have so many wonderful skaters right now. I like Mirai's reliability, technical skill, and youthful exuberance. I like how Ashley Wagner just keeps improving every year; she seems to soak up experience and instruction like a sponge. I admire Kimmie's spunk and class. I like how silky-smooth Rachael's skating is. I love Caroline's body positions and spins. And lovely Alissa is so captivating to watch-- so much sophistication and artistry.
Whoever comes out on top, I'll be pleased! I'm rooting for all of them!
Rachael didn't attempt any 3/3s at Liberty because right before Liberty, she had been away from Colorado, off the ice for two weeks attending a seminar.
But at the Colorado Championships 3 weeks later, Rachael scored 60.46 in her SP and 105.55 in her FS; those marks make me tend to think the 3/3s were back by then.
As for a growth spurt, maybe Zhang and Nagasu are struggling with theirs, but Rachael at 16 hasn't grown any taller recently. She had a growth spurt about 1 1/2-2 years ago and went from 4'6" to 5", but nothing much of note since then.