Junior skaters?

Of all the current junior skaters, who are your favorites? If you like some that aren't listed, just click other, and post who they are. (This might happen a lot: I'm from the US, so I can mainly follow US and Canadian skaters. Sorry!) My favorites are Samuelson/Bates and Crone/Poirier.

Mirai Nagasu - brilliance.

Jr. Nationals was when I fell totally in love with Mirai's skating. She had never competed in junior nationals/international events events before this season and I thought she did outstanding. Mirai is an absolutely exquisite skater - she has everything; the jumps, the artistry, marvelous technique and elegance on ice. She leaves me fascinated after watching her programs, as simple as that.

Some people may argue that Caroline is much more talented and 'better' because she does the pearl spin and a spiral almost identical to Sasha's (in other words, "more flexible"), but her double axel mostly makes me cringe. Caroline's intimidating high-kicks on flips and lutzes make me be scared for her as she prepares for a jump. I also find little fluidity on her jump landings and all the difficult elements are just chopped together with little emotion. Don't get me wrong, Caroline is a wonderful young competitor (she is also a very, very sweet girl!), but she does not appeal to me yet as a skater. My definition of a skater is someone who has everything equally - breathtaking jumps, beautiful spins, inspiring artistry and presentation on ice. Mirai has it all. Also, this is totally obvious, she skates with so much more speed! And has the elegant, willow-y posture of Yu-Na Kim.

Mirai

I think Mirai Nagasu a marvelously wonderful skater.

She has great speed and smooth edges. Her extension, stretch, and the overall line make every movement of hers look so elegant. She is also extremely flexible. She also has much more difficult, centered, and faster spins than many senior skaters. Her jumps are effortless.

She did an excellent job conveying the joyful, lively atmosphere of her heavenly-beautiful LP music. It was so pleasant to watch her.

As I see her interviews, she is also a very good-natured child. She is very positive, happy, humble, and modest. It is just so refreshing and pleasant to see her happy aura as she skates.

I don’t like young skaters trying to be sexy to make them look “grownup.” She has great elegance, class, and maturity of her own without using such disgraceful tricks.

Great future for Mirai

Definitely Mirai. Her jumps are exquisite. *thumbs up*

Though Caroline has potential as well. Her "Pearl" spin is amazing, but not her 'high kick' jumps. >.>

mirai_asada said:

Though Caroline has potential as well. Her "Pearl" spin is amazing, but not her 'high kick' jumps. >.>

Click to expand...

Zhang's lutz and flip are really scary to me. Her spins are extraordinary but not so beautiful. Anyway I'll cheer for both Mirai and Caroline.

I would like to see the list of JGP skaters so I can familiarize myself with them, and hopefully Ice Network will show some of the competitions.

Joe

I spent yesterday afternoon at YouTube watching the many Jr. Men's programs skated this past summer at either Detroit or Liberty & I was really impressed by:
Adam Rippon, Austin Kanallakan, Douglas Razzano & Brandon Mroz.