- Joined
- Nov 18, 2014
Last year was a bit of a crazy one for the American ladies of skating. The Grand Prix was a mixed bag-two ladies in the Final, one eventually withdrawing, but disasters like Polina at NHK as well-that left the top spot highly unpredictable heading into Nationals. Most people were (correctly) convinced Ashley would win after a great comeback at the Final, but with Gracie AWOL for almost three months, nobody really knew. When Ashley won Nationals extremely convincingly, several people thought she was practically guaranteed to medal at worlds-especially after Gracie's splatfest 4th-place outing at Four Continents (which she was expected to win) all but confirmed she wouldn't. And maybe even Polina, who won 4CC, had a shot, according to several fans (and Polina herself, in several interviews).
Haha, not.
In the end, it was Gracie who finished highest at worlds (a very respectable 4th, though not what she wanted) after a disastrous 8th-place short and a great 2nd place free. Ashley had a similar outing, rebounding from an 11th place short (still not sure how that happened) and an equally great 3rd place free to finish 5th. Polina came in 8th. Gracie went on to win the short at World Team Trophy (beating the reigning world champion and both of the other world medalists) and placed 3rd overall; Ashley placed 4th overall at that event. That season left the skating community thoroughly divided on who was the top American lady-besides the obvious two, Polina and Karen Chen were pegged as favorites several times-and nobody really knew who would be the best come the 2015-16 season.
At Glacier Falls, we got our first peek at several top ladies. Gracie won in a practically miraculous outing unlike anything she'd ever done that early in the season; Courtney Hicks finished a solid 2nd with two mostly-clean programs and a triple axel attempt; Polina had an amazing short program far that showed maturity and poise that was far and away better than last year's programs but singled all but one jump in the free to fall to 4th; and Mariah Bell was the surprise bronze medalist with an excellent free skate that included a landed (though not clean) 3F-3T (her first ever). And though we haven't seen Ashley yet (we won't until Japan Open in early October), I think we've seen enough of the other ladies to start predicting the pecking order.
I apologize for my long-windedness, but who do you think will be the top American lady this season? Will it be Ashley, Gracie, or somebody else-perhaps a surprising dark horse will rise in the rankings a la Polina in 2014?
I look forward to seeing what you think!
Haha, not.
In the end, it was Gracie who finished highest at worlds (a very respectable 4th, though not what she wanted) after a disastrous 8th-place short and a great 2nd place free. Ashley had a similar outing, rebounding from an 11th place short (still not sure how that happened) and an equally great 3rd place free to finish 5th. Polina came in 8th. Gracie went on to win the short at World Team Trophy (beating the reigning world champion and both of the other world medalists) and placed 3rd overall; Ashley placed 4th overall at that event. That season left the skating community thoroughly divided on who was the top American lady-besides the obvious two, Polina and Karen Chen were pegged as favorites several times-and nobody really knew who would be the best come the 2015-16 season.
At Glacier Falls, we got our first peek at several top ladies. Gracie won in a practically miraculous outing unlike anything she'd ever done that early in the season; Courtney Hicks finished a solid 2nd with two mostly-clean programs and a triple axel attempt; Polina had an amazing short program far that showed maturity and poise that was far and away better than last year's programs but singled all but one jump in the free to fall to 4th; and Mariah Bell was the surprise bronze medalist with an excellent free skate that included a landed (though not clean) 3F-3T (her first ever). And though we haven't seen Ashley yet (we won't until Japan Open in early October), I think we've seen enough of the other ladies to start predicting the pecking order.
I apologize for my long-windedness, but who do you think will be the top American lady this season? Will it be Ashley, Gracie, or somebody else-perhaps a surprising dark horse will rise in the rankings a la Polina in 2014?
I look forward to seeing what you think!