Ladies' LP

Ladies FD results:

1 Yukiko FUJISAWA JPN 101.44 57.44 44.00 5.90 5.20 5.50 5.60 5.30 0.00 #2
2 Becky BERESWILL USA 98.01 51.85 46.16 5.90 5.55 5.75 5.85 5.80 0.00 #5
3 Kanako MURAKAMI JPN 90.59 42.35 48.24 6.25 5.70 6.20 6.00 6.00 0.00 #7
4 Alexe GILLES USA 90.25 44.17 46.08 6.00 5.50 5.80 5.75 5.75 0.00 #8
5 Angela MAXWELL USA 82.91 39.51 44.40 5.80 5.20 5.60 5.65 5.50 1.00 #6
6 Kristine MUSADEMBA USA 79.82 39.06 41.76 5.55 5.00 5.25 5.35 4.95 1.00 #1
7 Amanda DOBBS USA 69.59 27.15 43.44 5.55 5.25 5.35 5.60 5.40 1.00 #4
8 Diane SZMIETT CAN 67.61 29.77 39.84 5.25 4.80 5.05 5.10 4.70 2.00 #3



Final standings:

1 Becky BERESWILL USA
146.69 4 2
2 Yukiko FUJISAWA JPN
145.92 7 1
3 Alexe GILLES USA
144.49 1 4
4 Kanako MURAKAMI JPN
141.63 2 3
5 Angela MAXWELL USA
131.75 3 5
6 Kristine MUSADEMBA USA
122.86 8 6
7 Amanda DOBBS USA
117.07 5 7
8 Diane SZMIETT CAN
113.25 6 8

A big and for Yukiko. A score of over 100! Just unbelievable. Climbing from second to last in the SP to a silver medal. Who'd have thought? And interestingly, she didn't do any 3F/3Lz combos. Instead, she did two 3Lz+2A sequences. Interesting choice.

And congrats to Becky too, for a very high LP score and the win. She got the second highest PCs of the night after Kanako Murakami.

But overall, it didn't seem like the best competition. 4 out of the 8 ladies fell, and the leaders after the short program didn't quite perform up to expectations. This is a very unexpected podium, especially after the SP.

Did anyone watch this? Any comments?

I watched... Though it was very early and I kept falling asleep.

Fujisawa was in a league of her own technically. She also has some nice other skills, but she didn't really showcase them. She skated the whole time with an extremely serious, very concentrated face - even when she took her bows. The first time I saw her smile was in the K&C. But she was the only lady without a glaring mistake, she got an edge call on the Flip - but you (or at least I) don't really see that on TV. The tech score is for sure one for the senior ladies. Impressive. (Holy cow, she is only 13?)

I hope that Becky Bereswill starts among the seniors at US-Nationals (She is 18, so why not?). Because apparently the girl can do something very few US-ladies can - she rotates her jumps and she doesn't get an edge call on Flip or Lutz. Plus her jumps are huge. She has got great height, great speed - but she isn't too hasty on them (not like e.g. Ashley Wagner who skates in my opinion so fast through the jumps that it often seems as if she wants to hide some flaws). The 2A-3T, a combo that is often called underrotated even among Seniors, was flawless (I honestly don't get why she got 0 GOE for it) - in the second half of the program! And Bereswill's presentation is also great, good speed, no awkwardness, nice positions.

I didn't like Angela Maxwell or Alexe Gilles. Maxwell didn't get any downgrades or edge calls either, but her jumps are ugly, they are not high, the landing seemed always shaky, she has no speed out of them. Her presentation was mediocre. Gilles totally reminds me of Doronina - and I don't mean that in a good way. So slow, rather awkward, very laboured jumps....

Dobbs and Musademba have both some fine technical skills - unfortunately that doesn't really include their jumps (Dobbs with 3 downgrades and Musademba with 2 downgrades and an edge warning). I also enjoyed their presentation a lot, Dobbs exudes personality and charm and hits nice positions throughout her skate and Musademba is strong and fast over the ice with nice choreography and good interpretation of the music. The same goes for the second Japanese Murakami (who funnily landed outside the medals with the placements SP 2 and LP 3), good presentation, great personality on ice - but the jumping technique of Caroline Zhang with the underrotation of Mirai Nagasu.

Anyone else? Oh yes, the Canadian Lady. Hmm. Bleh. Nothing to write about.

I liked that the music selections were a bit more diverse than they often are among senior ladies, Musademba and Murakami with really upbeat difficult music - something you rarely see among the Ladies.

I think the Results show the Power of the SP in 2 out of 3 cases.

I've barely heard of Becky Bereswill but she is a very special skater - wonderfully lyrical but also jumping up a storm. She reminded me of Kwan at moments - her carriage communicates joy. She is one of the most lady-ish juniors I've seen. Not to mention that she is absolutely beautiful. Wow. Congratulations to her!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Os3Bp2VbXqg

I never heard of Becky either. Did she compete junior or senior last year at nationals? Where did she place?

flying camel said:

I never heard of Becky either. Did she compete junior or senior last year at nationals? Where did she place?

Click to expand...

Bereswill placed 10th in her senior debut at 2008 Nationals (it was was first trip to "big" Nationals -- she had never qualified at the novice or junior levels). Her final placement was impressive because she had to skate in the earlier morning FS group of Senior ladies. As a result of her 10th place finish, she was assigned to her first-ever international and won the bronze medal in the Senior ladies event at the March 2008 Challenge Cup in The Hague. That medal earned her a place in USFS' Team C funding envelope for this season and she made her JGP debut this fall.

This new article about her has yet to be posted in the Edge forum:
http://www.goldenskate.com/articles/2008/121708.shtml

Thanks Sylvia

She looks very pretty in her photographs. I don't remember her from St.Paul, so I will look more closely in Cleveland.