So, after watching the junior ladies, it looks like Junior Nats will be a battle between Samodelkina and Akatieva. (if Kamila doesn‘t go)
At this point, I prefer Akatieva, simply because she has better lines and most importantly, posture. It may sound harsh but Samodelkina is almost unwatchable to me due to how hunched her shoulders/back are. I‘m sure she‘s a hard worker, though, and her jumping is absolutely impressive. Just my personal feelings. Bad posture ruins any skating for me, no matter how good the rest.
Akatieva‘s not as confident as Samodelkina and she‘s not as expressive either but I think she‘s very charming and fast across the ice. Also, her ultra-c look more effortless to me at the moment but again, my personal bias with Samodelkina‘s posture affecting the whole look of the jumps may be at play here.
As for the others: My two favorite junior ladies were here today! Sadly, Adelia wasn‘t perfect, so she‘s only third. I‘m hoping she shows that 4T tomorrow and moves up a spot in the FS. Her energy and enthusiasm are still so wonderful to see and she‘s always a joy to watch. Also... those spins!! I‘m not sure about the program but Adelia can make me like everything she skates to. (quite similar to Aliona in that regard)
Liza Osokina was amazing, too. I loved how she sang along to her song while skating. So much energy, personality and sass. And those skating skills! She’s literally flying across the ice. Her jumping‘s good, too, although she still wasn’t in her test skates form. That entry into the lutz is great. She really is special and it makes me mad that her quality isn‘t rewarded more. Why is she so underscored in PCS? Imo, she‘s the best at the moment of the top 4 in that regard. She has to clean up her FCSp a bit, though, she‘s losing a lot of speed on it and the position, while unique, looks a bit messy.
Zhilina is a very special talent. Congrats on the 3A+3T. Incredible jumping technique. The rest, however, is still not all that impressive to me. I don‘t see how she could ever get more PCS than Osokina when she‘s obviously less invested in her program and doesn‘t perform at all. Also, she stumbled a few times. It‘s okay, she‘s got time - but right now she‘s focusing mostly on TES and that should be reflected in her PCS. Imo, she‘s quite a bit behind all of the others in the top 4.
Sad for Alina Gorbacheva, hopefully she can bounce back tomorrow.
Overall, the standings are correct, I would probably just close the gaps a bit. Osokina should not be 5 points behind Petrosyan who made a mistake. Similarly, the PCS should be different, too, in my eyes, though I realise this is highly subjective.