2015 U.S. Collegiate Championships, Aug 6-8, Pittsburgh

[katmari]

Congratulations Ricky!

 

[karne]

That protocol of Max's is a mess. Level 1 footwork? Level 1s on some spins, a Zayak'd double toe...and absolutely zero love from the judges on the PCS front, sigh.

Gotta love August.

Also that article is a bit weird. They natter about Ricky being an alternate for the 2014 Olympics, but the most Max gets is a "he was fourth at Nationals this year"? Basic fact-checking please people...

 

[burntBREAD]

Senior Ladies
1. Mirai Nagasu 117.92 FS 176.38 TOTAL
2. Angela Wang 104.83 FS 164.17 TOTAL
3. Maria Yang 103.89 FS 163.64 TOTAL

 

[MK's Winter]

Yasssss Mirai!!!!!!

 

[bramweld]

V i d e o, p l e a s e !!!!!!!!

 

[frida80]

I'm so happy for her. A title and cash prize to start the season. I'm glad Angela and Maria were there to challenge her and give her competition.

 

[frida80]

Ice network said no video.

Maybe a fan vid?

 

[Shani]

This is a collegiate competition by the way. For non USA fans you need to understand that many skaters drop out of skating in high school and to keep amateur skating going, and competition in college when many senior skaters skate some hours a week for recreation US Figure skating encourages collegiate competition.These kids are working on degrees now. Not on international competition. It is a fun weekend break. These kids skated their entire life mostly and love it.

 

[MK's Winter]

Yasssss Mirai!!!!!!

 

[ice coverage]

Congratulations to Mirai . And to Angela, Richard, Max, Alex, and other medalists.

Article after the free skates:

Former U.S. Olympian wins collegiate figure skating title at RMU
By Joe Sager
Saturday, Aug. 8, 2015, 9:57 p.m.
http://triblive.com/sports/otherlocal/8846694-74/colorado-skating-program#axzz3iA5A2oGP​

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... Also that article is a bit weird. They natter about Ricky being an alternate for the 2014 Olympics, but the most Max gets is a "he was fourth at Nationals this year"? Basic fact-checking please people...

Yes ... I too had found it a little weird that the reporter did not say that Max was a Sochi alternate as well .... but I'm glad at least that Ricky/Richard/Rick got some love.
The reporter is a freelancer, and it would seem that his knowledge of skating history would leave something to be desired.

But I think the Fab Five of elite skaters all were happy to be ambassadors for the sport in Pittsburgh -- with lots of smiles, photos with others who competed or attended, etc.

 

[mirai4life]

wow go mirai

 

[Ruffles78]

Yay Mirai! Keep up the good work! I wish we could see your programs.

 

[apgold]

I wish I could see them, too. Nobody took video of the ladies? I know there were some videos of the men's short. Maybe something will surface over the next few days. Hopefully this will bode well for Mirai this season. I don't think she made any podiums last season, and for her to place first must be good for her confidence level.

She also did a nice job with the Instagram takeover - I think she did most of the work, even though Max was supposed to be posting stuff too. He was in a few pics but I don't think he posted anything? Not knocking Max but I was under the impression they were both doing the takeover.

 

[ice coverage]

Hey Ricky! Dornbush defends U.S. collegiate title
Nagasu claims gold in senior ladies event; Wang takes home silver

Posted 8/10/15 by Michael Terry
http://web.icenetwork.com/news/2015/08/10/142289838​

Quotes from Dornbush, Max, Mirai, Angela.

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...She also did a nice job with the Instagram takeover - I think she did most of the work, even though Max was supposed to be posting stuff too. He was in a few pics but I don't think he posted anything? Not knocking Max but I was under the impression they were both doing the takeover.

Mirai said that she hopes to have a chance for another USFS Instagram takeover at Champs Camp -- so clearly she enjoyed contributing at Collegiates. But I don't think we can know the extent of Max's role. Michael Terry, whose day job is digital comms for USFS, also was on the ground in Pittsburgh (per his personal tweets). Someone needed to be behind the camera to take the adorable photos/videos of Mirai, so how much Instagram "work" she did vs. Michael vs. Max ... who knows??
Perhaps it comes more naturally for Max to be an in-person ambassador rather than an Instagram ambassador. Via assorted Instagram accounts, I saw lots of great photos of him with skaters and others in Pittsburgh .
It is true that from their own individual accounts on an ongoing basis, Mirai is more active on social media in general than Max. (LOL, after Max let Mirai use him literally as a stepstool , maybe she returned the favor by spending more time on the takeover. In any case, the stepstool vid is a good sign that they are accustomed to teamwork together.)

 

[aromaticchicken]

Phillip Mills has said he has asked Max to step away from social media in order to better focus on the skaters and have less of a distraction. (And given the way people talk about Max online, I think it's an especially good recommendation for him.)

I'm sure Mirai took the lead, but yes, Max was probably the photographer for much of this. They obviously spend a lot of time together as training partners. I'm actually very glad Tom Z has both of them under their wing because both of them are at similar points in their career and can help motivate each other.

 

[ice coverage]

More TSL videos:

Mirai FS:
https://youtu.be/t2OBn8K0zxk (4:39)

Dornbush FS:
https://youtu.be/D4Owuh626xg (5:07)

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PittsburghFSC Instagram vid of Mirai's FS [ETA, correction: SP (thx, apgold)] layback spin:

https://instagram.com/p/6GvJ6Dq8Hl/​

Mirai layback practice video:

https://instagram.com/p/6GTaI3ksz9/​

https://instagram.com/p/6F_r0gG359/​

 

[apgold]

PittsburghFSC Instagram vid of Mirai's FS layback spin:
https://instagram.com/p/6GvJ6Dq8Hl/

Actually, that's from her SP - I recognized the vocals from Demons. Now, if we only had a full video of the SP!

Happy that a video from Mirai's FS surfaced. I'm not crazy about the music cuts from Gatsby, but she looks really good early in the season.

And I'm glad that Ricky is keeping his Coldplay program. I don't love Coldplay but the program works as do the music cuts.

 

[ice coverage]

VIDEO of Max Aaron's Black Swan FS, via TSL:
https://youtu.be/mca2DtzJ-30 (5:01)

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Actually, that's from her SP - I recognized the vocals from Demons. Now, if we only had a full video of the SP!

Happy that a video from Mirai's FS surfaced. I'm not crazy about the music cuts from Gatsby, but she looks really good early in the season.

And I'm glad that Ricky is keeping his Coldplay program. I don't love Coldplay but the program works as do the music cuts.

Ooops, thx, my brain was not working. I have added a correction to my post.

 

[FSGMT]

Well done Mirai! The Lutz was obviously cheated and the step sequence still looks laboured, but what a first step! The technical content is all there, her spins are as good ad ever and she's finally showing some sass (even though a music like this requires a lot more sophistication). Praying for her to perform at this level during the GP
Side note: more than Voronov's "It's a man's world", it looks like Ashley's Mouline Rouge to me...

 

[Ruffles78]

I like Mirai's program. There are some really nice moments in there. I would change that music cut for the footwork... it kinda makes the performance drop off. Love that layback though...ah maze ing.