She really shouldn't have had much of a problem. But it's kind of a moot point now.
Can she make the top 10 at Nats? top 5? top 3?
Mid-Season Report: U.S. Ladies, R.D. Style
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She really shouldn't have had much of a problem. But it's kind of a moot point now.
Can she make the top 10 at Nats? top 5? top 3?
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- Nov 12, 2009
It all depends on how she skates. Nationals is unique in that there are so many skaters and most are at about the same level of talent (they wouldn't be there if they weren't good skaters) so something like popping a jump or a fall could make a skater go from being 3rd to 10th. Look at Ashley last year, she was in 12th after the short but was able to pull up to 4th with her long because the placing was so close. Emily has a good reputation with the judges so they might boost her PCS
True. Very much so
Actually, I think they will be quite fair to her. If she delivers, she'll get the points, if she doesn't, well...forget it.
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But either way one puts it...heck, even if she doesn't show up at all...she can still claim her return to be more successful than that of another skater
The thing though- is that B-level and even some C-level skaters managed to do surprisingly well in the SP last year. I think that will be the most (or I guess more, in this case) competitive part of the competition. I think we might see some new faces among the top 10 after the SP. But of course, only the Top Five skaters have the firepower to do score 100+ in the freeskate. It is therefore CRITICAL to do well (i.e. stay upright) during the SP, otherwise you'll have some serious ground to make up, and you might be in too deep of a hole to dig yourself out of. Of course, you can always rely on other people making mistakes/bombing but that's not a given, nor is it the smart way to go.
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- Nov 12, 2009
I agree, a lot of the lesser known skaters falter in the free, and though we've seen it from the top ladies too, if they do a good short then struggle in the long they are probably ok score wise due to PCS.
It's unfortunate that the USFS focuses its attention on a select few girls, I personally loved Angela Maxwell's performances at last year's nationals and thought she deserved to medal though she placed 8th. Her jumps are huge and energy was unmatched by most of the "top" skaters.
Emily once had a good reputation with the judges, but 2009 NA Regionals and TEB 2008 went a long way towards tarnishing that reputation, and she hasn't competed at US Nationals since 2007. She didn't get held up in PCS at 2010 NA Regionals and 2009 Skate America, so I don't think you're going to see any PCS scores in the 7s for Emily at Nationals.
I love Angela's personality and energy too, but she is a very inconsistent performer. For the second year in a row, she made the JGPF but failed to medal because of messy skates. Rumors are that she is not exactly the most dedicated trainer.
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- Nov 12, 2009
At nationals, you are right, she won't be that low. At the olympics or worlds if she makes it....i'm not so sure. She seems to be doing just what Kimmie did - all of a sudden going from one of the favorites to win international events to scoring in the 130s and ending up pretty far down in the standings. It's funny too, because in both cases I am unable to detect much change in their skating. Sure, Kimmie dropped the 3-3 and sometimes she fell a lot, but all of a sudden she was penilized for URs that she always had, and her PCS mark dropped.
I'm wondering if maybe Kimmie and Caroline too got all this hype because no one else was really that great when they rose to fame, then when everyone else improved and they stayed the same/got a bit worse, they seemed very mediocre in comparison.
I think Kimmie had a lot of flaws that she has put effort into fixing. I was really hoping to see her this season, because I've heard that she's been putting effort into making her movements more graceful and sophisticated and of course into refining her jump technique to avoid URs. It sounds like she was attempting to approach the whole package, something that she was very far from when she burst onto the world scene. For all that, it's a shame that she hasn't had the chance to shine in competition and show us the new skills that she has acquired.
As for Caroline, I think the judges' bias is the least of her issues right now. This season, her physical fitness and her ability to execute jumps has degraded, and the most important thing for her is to get into good physical condition. That and paying attention to choreographic detail. All of that will not fix her technique problems, send her PCS skyrocketing, or make the judges take notice of her. But at least she'll have a solid base to work from.
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- Nov 12, 2009
Yeah, but she had technique problems all along, and that didn't stop her from going to the GPF in 07, winning junior worlds, and coming in 3rd at last years nationals. If Caroline lands her jumps she will get decent scores, even with the mule kick. She is not the kind of skater who will win a competition with 3 or 4 triples in the long, but if she can land twice as many jumps as her competitors and get high GOEs for her spins, the deficit will be more or less made up. Her PCS marks have always been pretty decent because of her spirals and arm movements, except for SC this year where she looked at the ice the whole time. Caroline definitely has the ability to place well at competitions, it's just that in order for her to do that she has to get a lot more done than some of her competitors (Czisny, Lepisto, Kostner, all the other Euros, even Yuna and Miki in terms of jumps)
Well this kinda agrees with what I was saying: she needs to be in a good physical condition to land all her planned jumps well and to pay attention to her choreography so that her skating can exude some sophistication and beauty. Doing all of that will still leave her at a disadvantage against other skaters who can pile up huge scores with much fewer successful jumps. But then, she will be back where she was last year and the year before. Another very important question that I wish someone could help me answer: Is there anything she could add to her programs to pile up the points. Could she score more either on her footwork, spins, spirals, and raise her PCS somewhat by adding transitions?
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- Nov 12, 2009
Is she still injured then?
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2007
Nobody knows. Something was very wrong at Skate Canada. There haven't been any news reports or interviews. Even those posters with access to her Facebook and Twitter updates haven't been able to learn anything except she cut her hair.
New tweet from AshWagner2010:
Triple triple eh?
By the way, what's her record of landing these in competition?
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- Nov 12, 2009
She did a 3-3 in her SP and LP at 2008 US nationals, they could have been downgraded but I don't think so because she came in 3rd with a very high score. Looks like she kinda abandoned the combo after that though
^^Correct; I don't think her triple triples were downgraded at Nats. It was a (f)lutz-loop, so loops are often questionable, but they looked amazing at 2008 Nats. She landed it at 2007 SC but it was a messy landing and I think it was downgraded. She had a triple-triple seq at Jr Worlds (I'd have to check what jumps it were again...) it was very late into the program and looked impressive. I think for this year's Nats she's aiming for a 3F-3T which she reportedly landed more than once at the GPF practices (or so I read somewhere) and she also landed at the Skate Wilmington Nats Send-off before last year's Nats; after missing it in the SP at Nats she abondoned it for the rest of the season. I really hope she'll have a 3-3 at Nats, because she might need it.
About Ashley's UR; she UR's less than Mirai, Alissa and Caroline have this season; all Ladies get UR's, it's just the latest fashion in judging
. But it's true; don't risk a triple-triple if you can only do it cheated.
About Ashley's UR; she UR's less than Mirai, Alissa and Caroline have this season; all Ladies get UR's, it's just the latest fashion in judging
. But it's true; don't risk a triple-triple if you can only do it cheated.
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I think if she does go for a 3-3 it should be in the FS, not the SP. She just needs to focus on attacking the SP and delivering it cleanly. She likely won't be ahead of the pack but she'll at least be in it. Then, just go for it in the free, "show 'em how it's done" to paraphrase Em Hughes
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- May 15, 2009
^^. I really hope she'll have a 3-3 at Nats, because she might need it.
About Ashley's UR; she UR's less than Mirai, Alissa and Caroline have this season; all Ladies get UR's, it's just the latest fashion in judging
If I recall Ashley had an even bigger problem and got dinged on 2A's all season long. I think she would be wise to fix up her 2A problems before worrying so much about 3x3's.
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- Nov 12, 2009
This is very true, but Ashley also has a pretty bad flutz, which added to an under-rotated 3-3 could seriously lose her a lot of points. I'd almost say she should try it in the short and not the long, at nats at least she always does better in the long, and often wins it or nearly wins it, internationally too her LP scores are generally higher than her teammates' while her SP scores can be lower. If Ashley tried the 3-3 in the short at nats, it wouldn't be that big a deal if she messed it up, the short isn't worth that much and placement at nats is so close so it shouldn't be too concerning. In the long, I'm afraid if she missed the 3-3, it could upset her and then she'd be distracted the rest of the program and not do as well
