Glacier Summer Classic, Anaheim, CA August 5-8 | Golden Skate

Glacier Summer Classic, Anaheim, CA August 5-8

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
Here's the announcement:
http://www.glacierfalls.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=36&Itemid=14

Here's the schedule:
http://www.glacierfalls.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=36&Itemid=14

There are some big names entered here, because like Liberty, Lake Placid Ice Dance, and Indy Pairs, this is one of the competitions that USFS is using for monitoring elite skaters for selection to participate in international competitions.

I understand that Rachael Flatt, Alexe Gilles, Nathan Chen, Sean Rabbitt, Andrew Gonzales, and Jonathan Cassar will be competing, among others.
 

feraina

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 3, 2007
I managed to catch part of senior lady's freeskate and men's freeskate last night. Unfortunately, I arrived just after Rachael Flatt skated. Lindsay Davis skated well -- she's really petite in person. If I remember correctly, she only attempted 3 kinds of triples: 3R, 3S, 3T.

Kristiene Gong was really wonderful: she's very graceful, good extension, carriage, presentation, and also strong jumps. I saw her skate a couple years ago at Golden West, I think, and she had all five triples but a lot of under-rotations. Her jumps were higher and better rotated this time. She fell on the opening 3Z hard, and it looked like she was in pain and might not be able to continue with the program, but she skated to the other end of the rink and hit a 3F out of nowhere, then came back round and hit another triple (either 3R or 3S, I can't remember). Her jumps got stronger as time went on. Late in the program, she also hit a fabulous 2A-3T. And she also has wonderful extension and flexibility in her fast spins. She was really gutsy to finish that program, she limped off the ice gingerly and shook her head after she was done; that first fall must have hurt. I think she would do really well on the JGP if USFSA was smart enough to send her! I actually think that she has more of that natural "it" factor than Christina Gao; Kristiene really sparkled on ice.

Until recently Kristiene was coached by Mingzhu Li -- she's now with Frank Carroll. It confuses me that she has such nice spring and attack to her jumps, including that beautiful 2A, unlike Caroline Zhang. But then again, Lulu had really nice jumps, and China's Zijun Li, who's been coached by Mingzhu Li for a while now, also has really nice jumps including the 2A. I don't know why Caroline's jumps are singularly bad... What Kristiene, Caroline, and Zijun all have in common though are fast, centered spins with good positions and variations. Zijun's spins visibly improved in the time she was coached by Ms. Li.

I saw Jason Brown skate in person for the first time, and I was very impressed. He jumps high and rotates fast for such a little guy, and he moves across the ice with fluidity and lightness. He struck me as a real natural talent, and if he had the 3A, he'd definitely challenge the top guys in the U.S. He reminds me of a young Johnny Weir. He has the same potential to mesmerize the audience, and the same delicate, subtle touch.

Richard Dornbush hit a fabulous 3A-2T to start his program -- the only 3A attempted that I saw. It looked like he was going for a second 3A later in the program, but it turned into just a 2A. He skated his program with speed and power, but, like quite a few of the other competitors (except Brown and Caluza), he lost steam toward the end.

Speaking of Caluza, he skated an awesome LP. All the jumps were perfect, despite an imperfect warm-up. He was so happy at the end! I was surprised he only got 4th in the LP, I thought he would've beaten Johnson, maybe skating first didn't help his PCS, or maybe he had under-rotations? And I'm even more surprised that his total was only good enough for 7th (and last). He must have really bombed the SP.
 
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Sylvia

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 25, 2003
I managed to catch part of senior lady's freeskate and men's freeskate last night.
Thanks so much for taking the time to write up your impressions! :)
Lindsay Davis skated well -- she's really petite in person. If I remember correctly, she only attempted 3 kinds of triples: 3R, 3S, 3T.
Davis is also skating Senior Pairs with Themi Leftheris (as of early this year), and they just had a good debut competition at Indy Challenge 2 weekends ago. Those 3 triples are what she was landing last season when she won the U.S. Junior Ladies bronze medal at Nationals.
Kristiene Gong was really wonderful: she's very graceful, good extension, carriage, presentation, and also strong jumps. ...
I think she would do really well on the JGP if USFSA was smart enough to send her!
Gong is currently listed as one of the USA's JGP alternates for Courchevel so she is definitely being considered. If my sources are correct ;), her name could appear on a JGP roster soon.
Until recently Kristiene was coached by Mingzhu Li -- she's now with Frank Carroll.
Gong has had quite a few coaches over the past few years. In the 2008-09 season, she worked with Elaine Zayak in New Jersey, Mark Mitchell and Peter Johansson in Boston, and then won the Junior Ladies pewter medal with Zayak coaching her at 2009 Nationals. She then relocated to Southern California and worked with Mingzhu Li early in the 2009-10 season before switching to Sashi Kuchiki (a jump specialist in SoCal) who coached her in her senior debut at 2010 Nationals.
I saw Jason Brown skate in person for the first time, and I was very impressed. He jumps high and rotates fast for such a little guy, and he moves across the ice with fluidity and lightness.
Yes, and he also has a showmanship ability to engage the audience that he demonstrated with his fun, jazzy "Hey Pachuco" short program last season when he won the Junior title. He's just 15 and I'm looking forward to seeing how he does in his JGP debut in Courchevel later this month.

Speaking of Caluza, he skated an awesome LP. All the jumps were perfect, despite an imperfect warm-up. He was so happy at the end! I was surprised he only got 4th in the LP, I thought he would've beaten Johnson, maybe skating first didn't help his PCS, or maybe he had under-rotations? And I'm even more surprised that his total was only good enough for 7th (and last). He must have really bombed the SP.
Caluza didn't break 40 points in the SP so that's why he wasn't able to make up the difference with his 4th place FS. Do you recall if he landed a 3Lz+3Lo? He got credit for this combo several times last season when he qualified for Nationals as a Junior last season.
 

iced

Spectator
Joined
Feb 5, 2009
Caught bits of the competition this weekend.
In the Junior Ladies Freeskate the top three were quite good! Courtney Hicks was amazing in her win. She went for and landed 3fl-3toe. Not sure of rotation on the toe but her jumps espicially 3flip and 3lutz are enormous and fly across the ice, and she speeds around the rink into them.
Leah Keiser missed both 3flips but everything else was solid, I believe she's returning from injury.
Katarina Kulgeyko has added more technical content with 3R, 3Lz, and a 2a half loop 3sal. She had trouble with all three in the program but landed them easy in warm up. She looks much taller this year which has given her lovely long lines!
Senior Ladies Long: Rachel's program looked very new as she wasn't up to her normal standard. She doubled both flips and was a little shakey on other jumps. Also she is still skating at the same speed as last season.
Kristiene was fantastic especially after a hard fall on the first 3lz. I believe she has kept her long from last year.
Vanessa Lam: I think attempted all triples except maybe loop. Lz and Flip looked strong.
Alexe Gilles: Not her best jump wise as she doubled the majority of them. But I really loved her program to Bohemian rapsody. Her artistry was lovely and I look forward to seeing this program again.
Senior Men Long: Richard Dornbush's sherlock holmes program has such fun choreo! Great triple axel too.
Jason Brown: I can't say enough about him. I hope he gets his triple axel because he is mesmerizing on the ice. Everything jumps, spins, footwork, presentation is there. I hope to see a lot more of him in the future!
 
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feraina

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 3, 2007
Caluza didn't break 40 points in the SP so that's why he wasn't able to make up the difference with his 4th place FS. Do you recall if he landed a 3Lz+3Lo? He got credit for this combo several times last season when he qualified for Nationals as a Junior last season.

Sorry, I can't recall. If I had to guess I'd say no, because I think I would've remembered. But I'm really not sure.
 
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