I still would have loved if Gracie was skating as a Senior at Nationals. It might give a kick in the *** to some of the older girls to either get it together or get out. To many of them are playing it safe with their jump layouts and if Gracie came in and did well it might make them stop playing it so safe. The jump difficulty these older ladies are doing isn't going to get them on the Olympic podium not by a long shot.
The trend of the U.S. Ladies since Michelle is to advance to seniors as quickly as possible and while that hasn't been a problem in the past (after all Michelle was a U.S. and World champ at 15), I think Gracie's team is smart to pace her, especially after she did not make nationals last year.
If you read the "Gracie Gold" threads on FSU, or heck, some of the threads here, she's already getting flack for her "lack of maturity" and various nitpicks because of her relatively quick rise. Though she can't avoid all the hype/slack/criticism, for the most part she's still not getting even a fraction of what Caroline/Mirai got when they were juniors and I think that will help her in the long-term.
I think it also helps that she trains out of the Wagon Wheel FSC and not a big skating place like Broadmoor or Allyear.
After all, Sochi is still two years away. She will make a bigger splash debuting the year before than right now and I think her skill both tech/artistry is likely to be improved.
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