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

[amc987]

^^ I thought Lipinski had been doing the 3F in her SP all season too, no? If I remember correctly one of her and Richard Callaghan's gripes pre-Nagano was that Tara did much more difficult technical content than Michelle in both the short and long programs and always seemed to place 2nd when both went clean.

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

Sorry, I meant Michelle raised her technical bar.

 

[Skater Boy]

Gracie may not go for the 3/3 at Nationals because it could aggravate her injured foot (I can recall a year when Kwan had a similar injury, and she did not do the 3t/3t for the entire season). Without the 3/3 in the SP, she couldn't build up a huge point cushion like she did last year.

Michelle rarely did the 3/3

 

[Mista Ekko]

I'm assuming most of the e, ! And < that Polina got this season will be forgotten here,
So she'll probably do fine.

 

[Sandpiper]

Michelle rarely did the 3/3

Michelle included the 3-3 as a regular part of her LP repertoire until around 2003. The only time she took it out was 97-98 due to her foot injury (what Chuckm was referring to). She didn't always hit the 3-3, but her opponents (except Tara) weren't consistently hitting theirs either. If you mean the SP, Michelle never did a 3-3 there. But I don't think anyone did during that era.

We'll have to see how Gracie does at Nationals, but I can see why someone would speculate about the injury affecting the 3T.

 

[TwinnerA]

Michelle rarely did the 3/3

Not that she needed it for Nationals. I looked it up and she only did a 3/3 once at Nationals and completed clean 3/3s at international competitions where she needed it much more (Skate America once, GPF 3 times and 3 Worlds QR and 3 times for Worlds FS/LP). So yes, she rarely did it, but she didn't always need it!

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

Not that she needed it for Nationals. I looked it up and she only did a 3/3 once at Nationals and completed clean 3/3 at international competitions where she needed it much more (Skate America once, GPF 3 times and 3 Worlds QR and 3 times for Worlds FS/LP). So yes, she rarely did it, but she didn't always need it.

Also, back then you could do a 7 triple program without a 3/3 or a 2A-3T, so mostly she would need it when she faced off against Irina.

 

[kwanatic]

I'm assuming most of the e, ! And < that Polina got this season will be forgotten here,
So she'll probably do fine.

She'll have to get through the SP first, something she hasn't done all season long IIRC.

People are saying Polina's a great bet for that 3rd spot but when you look at it from an international standpoint, she doesn't have any more rep with the judges than Courtney, Samantha or Mirai. So far this season, Polina has been less than mediocre TBH. Her highest SP score is 50.32, and her highest FS score was 112.83. Both of her totals at her GP this season were 161+; Samantha and Courtney's top scores were 174+, Mirai's was 165+. Internationally, Polina is not getting any special attention from the judges...I'd say that's in large part b/c of how badly she's performed in the SP but also b/c she's frequently hit with URs and dings/edge calls on her 3Fs. I do think she'll get much more favorable calls at nationals b/c she's the silver medalist and the USFSA really wants her to do well.

It's obvious the US needs both Ashley and Gracie to go to worlds. Together the two of them are very capable of maintaining those 3 spots. Essentially, whoever goes in as the 3rd American really won't be expected to do much. For that reason I think the spot should go to whoever has the best competition. I could really do without the propping this year but, of course, I know that's impossible to avoid at nationals. I just don't want to see another Agnes Zawadzki situation (low international scores, inexplicably high national scores). If Polina skates well, she deserves to score better...but if the judges ignore her UR and edge issues and score her through the roof, that's not going to help anything.

 

[kwanatic]

Not that she needed it for Nationals. I looked it up and she only did a 3/3 once at Nationals and completed clean 3/3s at international competitions where she needed it much more (Skate America once, GPF 3 times and 3 Worlds QR and 3 times for Worlds FS/LP). So yes, she rarely did it, but she didn't always need it!

That's called smart skating and Michelle was the master of it. She was an expert at playing up her strengths and only bringing out the big guns when she needed them. :agree:

 

[oatmella]

Gracie looks amazing in that Instagram video! I wish she could jump like that in competition. She really is very talented!

 

[TwinnerA]

I'm assuming most of the e, ! And < that Polina got this season will be forgotten here,
So she'll probably do fine.

Also, back then you could do a 7 triple program without a 3/3 or a 2A-3T, so mostly she would need it when she faced off against Irina.

Exactly. Michelle bested Irina at Worlds in 2000, 2001 and 2003, Irina beat her at the GPF in 2000, 2001 and 2002. Things were never dull when those two were competing between 1998 and 2003 or so!

 

[Mista Ekko]

Exactly. Michelle bested Irina at Worlds in 2000, 2001 and 2003, Irina beat her at the GPF in 2000, 2001 and 2002. Things were never dull when those two were competing between 1998 and 2003 or so!

Irina didn't go to worlds 2003, She put a halt to her season after winning Europeans due to her mothers illness and her own health issues,
The two years where Michelle did best her at worlds were 2000 and 2001, IMO the judges were ready to give Irina the title both years, As evident by
her SP wins, But she always made at least one glaring mistake in the FS, Michelle went clean as she does and claimed both titles.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

Gracie looks amazing in that Instagram video! I wish she could jump like that in competition. She really is very talented!

Welcome to GS Oatmella. Looking forward to more posts in the future from you

 

[mskater93]

Hey, I don't know if Chastity B from the Golden Skate YouTube channel counts as an American lady skater, heh

but I'm kind of curious about this Adult Nationals her last skit was based on. What is Adult Nationals? Is it the same thing as the normal nationals, only instead of novice, intermediate, junior and senior, it's adult? I also want to see Chastity skate

BP: I will PM you with info on Adult Nationals...

 

[rosacotton]

She'll have to get through the SP first, something she hasn't done all season long IIRC.

People are saying Polina's a great bet for that 3rd spot but when you look at it from an international standpoint, she doesn't have any more rep with the judges than Courtney, Samantha or Mirai. So far this season, Polina has been less than mediocre TBH. Her highest SP score is 50.32, and her highest FS score was 112.83. Both of her totals at her GP this season were 161+; Samantha and Courtney's top scores were 174+, Mirai's was 165+. Internationally, Polina is not getting any special attention from the judges...I'd say that's in large part b/c of how badly she's performed in the SP but also b/c she's frequently hit with URs and dings/edge calls on her 3Fs. I do think she'll get much more favorable calls at nationals b/c she's the silver medalist and the USFSA really wants her to do well.

It's obvious the US needs both Ashley and Gracie to go to worlds. Together the two of them are very capable of maintaining those 3 spots. Essentially, whoever goes in as the 3rd American really won't be expected to do much. For that reason I think the spot should go to whoever has the best competition. I could really do without the propping this year but, of course, I know that's impossible to avoid at nationals. I just don't want to see another Agnes Zawadzki situation (low international scores, inexplicably high national scores). If Polina skates well, she deserves to score better...but if the judges ignore her UR and edge issues and score her through the roof, that's not going to help anything.

:agree:

 

[Sandpiper]

It's obvious the US needs both Ashley and Gracie to go to worlds. Together the two of them are very capable of maintaining those 3 spots. Essentially, whoever goes in as the 3rd American really won't be expected to do much. For that reason I think the spot should go to whoever has the best competition.

Agreed. The pressure's on Gracie and Ashley, and there's no reason to pick one over the other when it comes to the third spot.

 

[flying camel]

I agree the third spot is where things will get a little interesting. Will it go back to Polina, or will hicks overcome her short program flaws this season and make the podium, or will Cesario finally have her turn at the top, or will it go to fan favorite Mirai. I can't wait.

 

[breathesgelatin]

Maybe I am crazy, and it's just because I like her skating so much, but I also see Hannah Miller a potential spoiler for that #3 spot. If you look at her ISU PB score for 2014-15, she's not far below Cesario and Hicks at all, and ahead of Nagasu:

http://www.isuresults.com/isujsstat/sb2014-15/sbtslto.htm

USFSA just sent her to a junior competition so establish a junior score, so I'm guessing they're considering her for Junior Worlds... hrm.

 

[LiamForeman]

Not that she needed it for Nationals. I looked it up and she only did a 3/3 once at Nationals and completed clean 3/3s at international competitions where she needed it much more (Skate America once, GPF 3 times and 3 Worlds QR and 3 times for Worlds FS/LP). So yes, she rarely did it, but she didn't always need it!

Michelle definitely did 3T/3T at Nationals in 1996 and 1999.

 

[abc123]

Where does everyone think Glenn will stack up against all the seniors? She was being lauded as the next Gracie after Junior Nats last year, but her JGP performances weren't up to par. Should she even be in the conversation?