State of US Ladies in skating III: 2014-15 Season

[amc987]

I think it's unfair to say that Gracie's done if she doesn't make the GPF or make the podium at Worlds this season. This is still only her 3rd senior season. She's 19. There's plenty of time for her to mature and improve. Her jumps and spins are world class. She just needs to improve her consistency and her connection to the audience.

 

[Amei]

I think it's unfair to say that Gracie's done if she doesn't make the GPF or make the podium at Worlds this season. This is still only her 3rd senior season. She's 19. There's plenty of time for her to mature and improve. Her jumps and spins are world class. She just needs to improve her consistency and her connection to the audience.

I agree with your comment, except for the jumps - her jumps have become iffy since she went to Carroll. The problem is, as the U.S. Champion - it's automatically expected that you are very competitive and on the podium for the major international competitions and she hasn't done that.

This is still only her 3rd senior season. She's 19. There's plenty of time for her to mature and improve.

Well fair or not - she is going to be compared to other skaters, like Lipnitskaia and Radionova, who come on to the senior circuit and win immediately.

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

Speed is relative. Sam isn't as fast as Gracie, but she's faster than Mirai, and a lot more expressive. She had the 4th highest PCS scores, including Skating Skills and Transitions, after the medalwinners.

I do think Sam has the best packaging and programs suited to her of the American ladies. They showcase her strengths and hide her weaknesses to the greatest extent possible.

 

[amc987]

I like Cesario's performance ability and the way she's packaged. I just wish she skated faster, had better spins, and had a prayer of getting her combinations ratified. I wonder if working with a more technical coach- Orser, Arutunian, etc.- might help her improve those aspects of her skating. I also wonder how she'd do with a long program she hadn't been skating for a few years. I love her Carmen, but there is other music out there.

As for the other ladies: Mirai is too up and down, Ashley has a lot of technical problems that she doesn't seem to have improved in the off-season, Polina still looks young and immature when she skates, IMO, even though she has admirable consistency and technical content, Gracie has the technical goods but seems to have regressed with her jumps and her ability to sell her program (Sleeping Beauty was not my favorite, but it was much better than POTO w/ vocals), Cain has a lot of technical ability but lacks consistency... it's weird, but if we could combine the best parts of a few different skaters, we might have an American lady who could beat all the Russian girls at Worlds.

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

One thing I find a bit worrisome is the number of < Ashley has had this season. It is to be expected (from her) on the 3-3 but her other jumps have been rotated in the past. It did look like she delayed the rotation a bit on the 3Lo last night so maybe she needs to start rotating a bit earlier because she doesn't get the height needed. Unlike Mirai, Ashley still got good flow out of the solo jump that she underrotated so I think you didn't see too many low GOE scores for the element.

 

[Sandpiper]

Ashley's loop surprised me. It actually looked quite big (on my crappy stream). I don't understand why she UR'ed it...

 

[MK's Winter]

One thing I find a bit worrisome is the number of < Ashley has had this season. It is to be expected (from her) on the 3-3 but her other jumps have been rotated in the past. It did look like she delayed the rotation a bit on the 3Lo last night so maybe she needs to start rotating a bit earlier because she doesn't get the height needed. Unlike Mirai, Ashley still got good flow out of the solo jump that she underrotated so I think you didn't see too many low GOE scores for the element.

I felt Mirai had good flow in the FS at SA. Especially that Salchow. I was surprised Ashley's loop was Ur it looked good to me.

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

I felt Mirai had good flow in the FS at SA. Especially that Salchow. I was surprised Ashley's loop was Ur it looked good to me.

Me too. I clearly saw the < when they showed the slow-mo, but I think she is much better at hiding the < than Mirai because I can usually see her < in real time. (Although it's possible I am biased because I'm looking for the < when Mirai jumps.)

 

[AsadaFanBoy]

Ashley seemed to have improved the speed in her spins. I don't think I would have given her < for the 3T...it looked to be within 1/4 of the way around. The 3F probably should have gotten the <. I compared her jumps to Miyahara's...Miyahara's jumps don't really look underrotated. They just look tiny. That's not really fair, because I would have put Miyahara in a close second to Pogorilaya.

If Ashley could just pick it up a little bit with the spins. And the Yuna camel? Great addition to her repertoire, even though it's still too slow and kind of sloppy. I was glad to see something new from her. And her edges seem to have improved. I hope she does great in the long, because the Japan Open made me think she wasn't taking herself seriously when it comes to skating.

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

Ashley seemed to have improved the speed in her spins. I don't think I would have given her < for the 3T...it looked to be within 1/4 of the way around. The 3F probably should have gotten the <. I compared her jumps to Miyahara's...Miyahara's jumps don't really look underrotated. They just look tiny. That's not really fair, because I would have put Miyahara in a close second to Pogorilaya.

Miyahara's jumps looked fully creditable to me, and I'm pretty picky about rotation. Perhaps the ISU has decided to more closely scrutinize the < for all skaters and not just chronic under rotators, which I think is a good thing because sometimes top skaters would get the benefit of the doubt whereas lower tier skaters would not.

 

[Jammers]

I think it's unfair to say that Gracie's done if she doesn't make the GPF or make the podium at Worlds this season. This is still only her 3rd senior season. She's 19. There's plenty of time for her to mature and improve. Her jumps and spins are world class. She just needs to improve her consistency and her connection to the audience.

Being in her 3rd season means she's a veteran now and 19 isn't really young. Girls much younger are winning while Gracie continues to not get it done. 3 year now without a win is ridiculous for someone of her talent. I see her as another Mirai or Alissa world class talent but weak competitive nerves which i don't ever see getting better.

 

[Blades of Passion]

Miyahara's 3T on the end of the Lutz is always underrotated.

Polina should win the National title this year, if her consistency remains.

 

[R.D.]

Being in her 3rd season means she's a veteran now and 19 isn't really young. Girls much younger are winning while Gracie continues to not get it done. 3 year now without a win is ridiculous for someone of her talent. I see her as another Mirai or Alissa world class talent but weak competitive nerves which i don't ever see getting better.

While the situation is frustrating, I don't think that is being fair to Gold. Her career isn't over by any means...

I can understand Nagasu though, since it has been 6 years. Even then, you never know.

 

[AsadaFanBoy]

Yeah. She might just wake up one day and suddenly get all the rotations in while in competitions. I don't think her issue is technical. She might find a way to manage her problems and perform her best. I'm hoping to see her skate lights out so I hope she's expecting that from herself.

 

[MK's Winter]

Yeah. She might just wake up one day and suddenly get all the rotations in while in competitions. I don't think her issue is technical. She might find a way to manage her problems and perform her best. I'm hoping to see her skate lights out so I hope she's expecting that from herself.

I think Mirai's UR's are completely mental. She does the jumps fine in warm up. Several of her coaches have stated that there is no reasons for UR's. She gets plenty of height in her jumps and she's not all that slow. She attacked that free skate at JO and SA. It's in there somewhere. I think the same applies to Gracie. Both of them just need to get the mental game in order.

 

[yyyskate]

I agree, Mirai is not slow, also her solo jumps are fine, 2A-3T are borderline under-rotation, but I will give it to her, 3S-2T-2L is a beauty. 3F-3T kinda under-rotated according to practice. I think Mirai's practice is solid, mistake in SP is unfortunate. I have hope in her for this season. Gracie's practice is not as good as before, but I also believe she will get better as long as she practices hard. She does not have tech issues. just to need to get more feel of this program and transitions.

 

[Mrs. P]

Well kids I just updated some scores! See below.

Also scoretracker update (15-13-11-9-7 for top 5 in the scoring categories). Gracie is still in the lead, but Ashley is on her heels thanks to first places categories in PCS (both SP/FS) and overall/FS/SP scores.

Gracie Gold (110)
Ashley Wagner (82)
Polina Edmunds (53)
Courtney Hicks (38)
Karen Chen (37)
Samantha Cesario (32)
Hannah Miller (26)
Mirai Nagasu (7)

See scores below:

Total scores
Ashley Wagner 186.00 (Skate Canada, 3rd) +15
Gracie Gold 182.31 (Nebelhorn Trophy, 3rd) -2
Gracie Gold 179.38 (Skate America, 3rd) -2
Polina Edmunds 176.35 (U.S. International Classic, 1st) -2
Samantha Cesario 174.58 (Skate America, 4th)
—-
Courtney Hicks: 174.51 (Skate Canada, 4th)
Courtney Hicks: 174.14 (U.S. International Classic, 2nd) -7
Hannah Miller: 170.26 (Lombardia Trophy, 2nd)
Karen Chen: 169.41 (JGP Croatia Cup, 2nd)
Angela Wang: 163.68 (Skate Canada Autumn Classic, 2nd)
Karen Chen: 160.95 (JGP Czech Skate, 3rd)
Angela Wang: 160.25 (Lombardia Trophy, 3rd)
Mirai Nagasu: 159.59 (U.S. International Classic, 5th)
Samantha Cesario 159.40 (Finlandia Trophy, 3rd)
Mirai Nagasu: 158.21 (Skate America, 6th)
Leah Keiser: 149.24 (JGP Ljubljana Cupm 3rd)
Mariah Bell 148.48 (Nebelhorn Trophy, 5th)
Amber Glenn: 148.08 (JGP Courcheval, 3rd)
Ashley Cain: 142.95 (Ondrej Nepela Trophy, 3rd)
Amber Glenn: 142.83 (JGP Tallinn Cup, 6th)
Leah Keiser: 128.63 (JGP Pokal der Blauen Schwerter, 8th)
Ashley Shin: 125.42 (U.S. International Classic, 7th)

SP scores:
Ashley Wagner 63.86 (Skate Canada) +15
Polina Edmunds 63.27 (U.S. International Classic) -2
Karen Chen 62.71 (JGP Croatia Cup) -2
Gracie Gold 61.82 (Nebelhorn Trophy) -2
Gracie Gold 60.81 (Skate America) -2
—-
Karen Chen 60.68 (JGP Czech Skate) -7
Samantha Cesario 58.96 (Skate America)
Courtney Hicks 58.90 (U.S. International Classic)
Angela Wang 56.38 (Skat Canada Autumn Classic)
Courtney Hicks 56.36 (Skate Canada)
Mirai Nagasu 55.96 (U.S. International Classic)
Angela Wang 54.88 (Lombardia Trophy)
Amber Glenn 54.71 (JGP Courcheval)
Ashley Cain 54.05 (Ondrej Nepela Trophy)
Hannah Miller 51.43 (Lombardia Trophy)
Samantha Cesario 50.79 (Finlandia Trophy)
Mariah Bell 50.72 (Nebelhorn Trophy)
Amber Cain 49.66 (JGP Tallinn Cup)
Ashley Shin 49.83 (U.S. International Classic)
Leah Keiser 49.66 (JGP Pokal der Baluen Schwerter)
Mirai Nagasu 49.29 (Skate America)
Leah Keiser 47.66 (JGP Ljubljana Cup)

TES:
Karen Chen 35.94 (JGP Croatia Cup)
Polina Edmunds 35.31 (U.S. International Figure Skating Classic)
Karen Chen 34.31 (JGP Czech Skate)
Samantha Cesario 31.99 (Skate America)
Courtney Hicks 31.70 (U.S. International Figure Skating Classic)
—-
Gracie Gold 31.68 (Nebelhorn Trophy)
Ashley Wagner 31.56 (Skate Canada)
Angela Wang 30.80 (Lombardia Trophy)
Amber Glenn 30.79
Gracie Gold 30.29 (Skate America)
Angela Wang 30.34 (Skate Canada Autumn Classic)
Ashley Cain 29.29
Courtney Hicks 28.56 (Skate Canada)
Mirai Nagasu 27.90
Hannah Miller 26.75
Leah Keiser 27.66
Mariah Bell 26.27
Leah Keiser 26.20
Ashley Shin 25.47
Amber Glenn 24.72 (JGP Tallinn Cup)
Samantha Cesario 23.95 (Finlandia Trophy)
Mirai Nagasu 23.95 (Skate America)


PCS
Ashley Wagner 32.30 +15
Gracie Gold 31.66 -2
Gracie Gold 30.29 -2
Polina Edmunds 27.96 -2
Mirai Nagasu 27.56 (U.S. International Figure Skating Classic) -2
—-
Courtney Hicks 27.20 -7
Angela Wang 27.04 (Skate Canada Autumn Classic)
Samantha Cesario 26.97 (Skate America)
Samantha Cesario 26.84 (Finlandia Trophy)
Karen Chen 26.77 (JGP Croatia Cup)
Karen Chen 26.37
Mirai Nagasu 26.34 (Skate America)
Ashley Cain 25.76
Hannah Miller 25.68
Amber Glenn 24.94 (JGP Tallinn Cup)
Amber Glenn 24.92
Mariah Bell 24.45
Ashley Shin 24.36
Angela Wang 24.08 (Lombardia Trophy)
Leah Keiser 23.00 (JGP Pokal der Blauen Schwerter)
Leah Keiser 22.46

FS scores:
Ashley Wagner 122.14 (Skate Canada) +15
Gracie Gold 120.49 (Nebelhorn Trophy) -2
Hannah Miller 118.83
Gracie Gold 118.57 (Skate America) +11
Courtney Hicks 118.15 (Skate Canada) +9
—-
Samantha Cesario 115.62 (Skate America) -9
Courtney Hicks 115.24 U.S. international Figure Skating Classic-7
Polina Edmunds 113.08
Mirai Nagasu 108.92 (Skate America)
Samantha Cesario 108.61 (Finlandia Trophy) -7
Angela Wang 107.30
Karen Chen 106.70
Angela Wang 105.37
Mirai Nagasu 104.03
Leah Keiser 101.58
Karen Chen 100.27
Mariah Bell 97.76
Amber Glenn 93.37
Amber Glenn 93.17
Ashley Cain 88.90
Leah Keiser 78.97 (JGP Poka der Blauen Schwerter)
Ashley Shin 75.59

TES:
Hannah Miller 64.59
Courtney Hicks 61.81 +13
Courtney Hicks 60.44 -2
Samantha Cesario 58.02 -2
Ashley Wagner 57.22 +7
—-
Mirai Nagasu 56.19 -9
Gracie Gold 56.00 (Nebelhorn Trophy) -7
Leah Keiser 55.70 -9
Gracie Gold 55.13 (Skate America)
Polina Edmunds 54.64 -7
Karen Chen 53.88
Samantha Cesario 52.53
Angela Wang 52.21 (Lombardia Trophy)
Angela Wang 50.06 (Skate Canada Autumn Classic)
Karen Chen 49.96
Mirai Nagasu 48.47
Amber Glenn 46.84
Mariah Bell 45.83
Amber Glenn 45.60
Ashley Cain 37.10
Ashley Shin 35.43
Leah Keiser 34.14 (JGP Pokal der Blauen Schwerter)


PCS
Ashley Wagner 64.92 +15
Gracie Gold 64.49 (Nebelhorn Trophy) -2
Gracie Gold 63.44 (Skate America) -2
Polina Edmunds 59.44 -2
Samantha Cesario 57.60 (Skate America)-2
—-
Mirai Nagasu 56.56 (U.S. Figure Skating International Classic)-7
Courtney Hicks 56.34 (Skate Canada)
Samantha Cesario 56.08 (Finlandia Trophy)
Angela Wang 56.64 (Skate Canada Autumn Classic)
Courtney Hicks 54.80 (U.S. International Figure Skating Classic)
Hannah Miller 54.24 (Lombardia Trophy)
Angela Wang 54.16
Mariah Bell 53.93
Karen Chen 53.82 (JGP Croatia Cup)
Ashley Cain 52.80
Mirai Nagasu 52.73 (Skate America)
Karen Chen 51.31
Amber Glenn 48.57 (JGP Tallinn Cup)
Amber Glenn 47.53
Leah Keiser 45.88
Leah Keiser 45.83 (JGP Poka der Blauen Schwerter)
Ashley Shin 42.16

 

[Barb]

I hope Gracie get motivated for Ashley´s scores and performance.
Now to see to Polina next week, It will be super interesting watch her to compete with Yulia.

 

[chuckm]

I think Mirai's UR's are completely mental. She does the jumps fine in warm up. Several of her coaches have stated that there is no reasons for UR's. She gets plenty of height in her jumps and she's not all that slow. She attacked that free skate at JO and SA. It's in there somewhere. I think the same applies to Gracie. Both of them just need to get the mental game in order.

I was in the arena at Skate America and Mirai WAS slow. She landed each jump slowly and deliberately, with concentrated effort, so much so that her entire performance was without any expression.

I believe that Mirai just doesn't have confidence in her jumping ability when it comes to the actual competition. She's fine in practice and in warmup, but the minute it's time to compete, it's freeze-up time. She has to concentrate all her attention on doing the jumps, which is why she doesn't show any emotion, make an effort to sell the program, or try to connect with the audience.

 

[SimplyAFan]

I was really happy to see that Ashley had a much better performance than she did in Japan. I think she'll keep improving as the season goes. She didn't compete in summer comps like the other ladies so she has had less feedback from judges. I like her programs though and think she'll score even better nice she gets this jump layout down.

Can't wait to see how Polina and Ashley C do in china next week