Ashley lost first place because she lost levels on her spins. Let that be a lesson for Worlds Ashley.
i dont think she's interested in learning. it has been brought to her attention for years, and it has cost her at other competitions as well, and yet here we are. i dont think she's interested in improving her transitions and skating skills either which is a real shame
so refreshing to see charlie being real about that issue regarding ashley. i hope she at least paid attention to what he had to say, from a fellow olympian/teammate/skater. but alas, i think she's going to keep using the 'age' excuse to avoid working on the issue, which is rich seeing as she told journalists to stop referencing her age in every interview (which i agree, her age shouldn't be brought up all the time, but when she herself brings it up as an excuse for not doing certain things, it makes you wonder if she's peaked or not).
surprised by the calls, very generous. i wonder if USFS is doing this to still stay afloat internationally, seeing how high the scores at russian nationals were and how successful the japanese skaters were at their nationals. it's a bit sad though that even the supposedly best in the U.S. can't land a clean triple triple. even with propping up skaters and being lenient on the < calls, the U.S. is still behind countries like russia and japan.
really happy with the top 4 skaters. i think gracie should have definitely been further down though, near 8th place. glad she attacked that combo though, it's an improvement. but her performance is just so subpar the rest of the group. her face looks so blank, a deer in the headlights throughout the entire performance. absolutely no ounce of interpretation, she looks completely dead inside. she really needs to learn how to perform.
was really impressed with karen, tessa, and mirai. i would love to see mirai do a triple axel but given her lead, it might be unwise to attempt it. i don't really expect karen, tessa, or mirai to be clean in the free, though. we just haven't really seen them pull two (relatively) clean programs back to back, and i can definitely imagine mirai succumbing to the pressure and doing some more < or double footed landings, given how close she is to finally getting back on the top of the podium for the first time in 9 years. but we'll see. it would be nice to see them all skate clean, and it would be quite refreshing to see karen win nationals.
honestly, i dont think ashley really deserves it...she doesnt seem to be pushing herself as much as the others, just a lot of OTT two foot glides to coast her way through. she obviously isn't trying to improve her levels. she mentioned that she went to a spin specialist in san francisco at the start of the season for two days...and that was it. she always talks about how she's going to work on transitions and how she isn't going to take transitions out from her programs and how she will add more with shae, but nope. never happens. im really tired of all this talk.
in an ideal situation i would love karen to win, just to see who USFS sends to worlds. i imagine they would have to send the national champion, and then ashley has the international experience, and mirai is in great shape and about to peak at this time, with a 3A in her arsenal. i can't imagine that they'd bop mirai a 2nd time just to include gracie, who has had a shameful season. i was absolutely astounded at how entitled gracie was to suggest that she could get on the world team because "they did the same with Kwan in 2006." she has not the record no the actual talent to be anywhere in kwan's league, nor to warrant that type of favor after such a bad season, and with little to no improvement to show for it. i cant imagine USFS taking mirai off the world team like they did in 2014 for sochi, so that leaves ashley; and she's the reigning world silver medalist with the best chance of getting on the podium and 3 spots, so i can't see them removing her either.
but keeping gracie off the world team might give her time to truly work on improving herself, and with the olympics coming up, she could definitely use the extra time to get in physical and mental shape. she needs to work on her technique and get the confidence back by getting those clean jumps under her belt.
but if mirai or ashley win nationals, then they will most likely boot karen off the team since she lacks experience (though personally i feel it would be the most unwise thing USFS could do. karen is so talented, she should be sent to worlds if she merits the 3rd spot and be allowed to compete against the other young international skaters. get her name out there for 2018). she is of age now so there should be no excuses, they already sent her to junior worlds how many times? push the younger ones to rise up.