This was the first time I've been in the audience for a US Nationals Championship event; I've seen Junior Nationals (back when that was a thing), Sectionals, etc. but this was really so much more impressive. That said, there still isn't a great deal of depth in US women's skating. I mean this in the sense that the girls in the range of places 7-13 will likely continue to finish in those places. Not many standouts, outside of the final group, which, even with the falls showed that America's top female skaters can continue to be competitive in the world.
The most notable exception was Samantha Cesario, whose name I knew but had never seen skate. She was the first real standing ovation of the evening and she deserved it. Her program was well-choreographed and her engagement with it was captivating. Her jumps are also quite good and have this quality almost of "caressing the ice" as Dick Button might say. I think the unfortunate side effect is that this may be due to her hooked landing edges; all the jumps, good as they were, really skirted that line of being under-rotated or even downgraded. But, I loved her. Courtney Hicks was also fantastic and obviously has a lot of raw talent and strength, but I think it still needs to be harnessed. I remember thinking the same thing when she debuted a few years ago. She would benefit from a coach with a very clear vision who can tidy everything up a bit. Barbie Long could be one to watch, but I'm afraid she might end up being one of the middlers too.
It was also my first time seeing Rachel Flatt, and I enjoyed her skating much more in person than in videos. I really wanted her to have this amazing performance to give her a nice exit from competitive skating, but it was unfortunate that it didn't happen.
I came to the event as a Mirai fan and I did not take my eyes off her during the six-minute warm-up (though I certainly caught the other skater's practices as well). No one loves those Nicole Bobek stories of skaters just having so much talent and never making full use of it but, gosh, this girl really does have more natural talent than most of the other's. She was one of the few girls who didn't miss a single thing in the warm-up. I'm always amazed to see her skate one lap, waltz jump, another lap, and then immediately there's a double axel-triple toe. All the jumps were there, effortless, and clean, including a triple flip-triple toe and an unexpected and beautiful triple salchow (why isn't this in her program?!) I thought Christina Gao was going to the Olympics for a minute. The beginning of her program was exceptional. She has good choreography, musicality, attack in her jumps, etc. but seems to forget all that once she makes a mistake. People near me complained of her costume and music, but I was thankful for it not being the same-old thing and thought she pulled it off. I don't know what to say about Ashley. There were three two-footed landings that I caught in addition to the two falls. I'm a convert after the past couple of seasons and think she does deserve the marks she received because the rest of her skating really is top-notch. The fall on the first combination was literally feet in front of me; I knew on the flip she would never pull off a triple toe and hoped she'd double. It probably wouldn't have made a difference as it turned out. This Ashley Cain person was very lucky to have been in the top six after the short from what I could tell. She was another I had never seen before, but, jump troubles aside, the skating did not seem particularly special or polished. I think Polina Edmunds could be very good, but she felt awkward to me. A lot of people around were commenting that she feels like a very skilled junior ladies jumper. Her skating really is pretty decent though and she seems to have a nice sensitivity with her choreography in this program. The jumps looked easy and gentle, but were somehow not that impressive. People around felt Mirai had outskated her, but the judges didn't quite agree. Mirai, though, was on. I'm not sure what all of this looked like on TV or the Icenetwork feed, but I can tell you that everyone around me was very engaged with her performance; perhaps she just has a lot of people rooting for her. I agree the program is rather bland, and I think it's rather ill-suited to Mirai's skating style, but I think she's made strides with it over the season. Everything, save that first combo, which I'm guessing was intended to be a triple flip-triple toe, was just really solid. She's still the skater she was in 2010, but it is unfortunate that she hasn't shown it in competition. Gracie was definitely the class of the field, even with the fall, although I do feel her score was quite inflated. I was amazed by how effortless and huge her jumps really are as well as the crispness of her skating. I don't know how much more Frank Carrol has in him, but I think this partnership could yield amazing things in the years to come.
As far as the teams are concerned, I am of the opinion that we should send Gracie, Mirai, and Ashley to both Olympics and Worlds. I don't care about Polina's age, she should go to Junior Worlds since she's never been, maybe Four Continents. I don't think the possibility of securing three spots for next year's Worlds would be much different with Polina instead. Leaving Ashley off just doesn't seem possible to me. I get that she's not a Michelle Kwan, or whatever, but she's been our best lady and has continued to climb the ranks this season. We'll find out soon enough.
