2012 Skate America Ladies LP | Page 12 | Golden Skate

2012 Skate America Ladies LP

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
Flatt's score at the 2010/2011 GPF: 127.57
Flatt's score at Skate America, 2012: 136.09

It's more than one bad year, imo.

Host picks are selected first and there were no TBAs, so when Flatt was chosen, even Ashley didn't have two spots yet.

Rachael was still in the top 10 for season's best in the 2010-2011 season, thanks to her performances during the GP season.

2010 NHK 161.05
2010 Skate America 162.86
2010/2011 GPF: 127.57
2011 Worlds: 154.61
2011 Skate Canada 128.22
2011 Cup of Russia 147.63
2012 Skate America 136.09

So it's more like bad year-and-a-half.

And since host picks are chosen first, it's likely that Rachael was chosen because it was assumed that Mirai would get two on her own because of her being #11 on the SB list. Who knows maybe USFSA was just as surprised for all we know.
 

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
So back on the thread, here are my notes from the area:

Rachael Flatt: 92.37, total 136.09: Not her best, but considering the injury, a good effort. She did five non-UR triples and did not fall. The low score reflected low PCS and low level on spins. Given her current state, probably the best she could have done.

Alena Leonova: 106.67; total 153.49. Lots of little mistakes and initially felt she was slightly overscored. But looking back, she actually did six non-UR triples, though not perfectly, so she probably would have been in the arena of Christina's score if she did the program without the mistakes. She ended up finished fifth in the FS, which is about right. Otherwise, the program was blah. Didn't help she wasn't her usual selling self -- felt like a generic Spanish program.

Sarah Hecken: 85.98, 134.09. Sarah can only basically do 3S and 3T well. But in the past, she always had interesting programs to make up for the lack in difficult content. I give her credit for trying the 3F, but ultimately the low difficulty hurt her. She ended up doing 3F, 3S (2), 3T vs. Rachael's 3F, 3L (2), 3S (2). The program was utterly forgettable otherwise.

Haruka Imai: 107.82, 157.72 -- Personal best! And she deserved it. She had a few close calls but she managed to save the landings. And her non jump elements were great, as usual. She's sort of the Japanese Alissa Czisny for having the great non-jump elements but can easily miss the jumps and she is sort of a Japanese pre-2012 Ashley Wagner as she has tended to do poorly in the SP before going gangbusters in the FS. (In Nebelhorn, she was 9th before jumping to bronze with a 3rd place FS). She finished 4th in the FS and jumped two spots to 5th.

Viktoria Helgesson - 94.56, 144.85 -- Not her best effort. She struggled with the jumps. But she had some pretty elements, such as her footwork.

Valentina Marchai - 104.77, 158.79 -- I wish she had more transitions in her programs and she had a lot of long lead-ins into some of the jumps, but all in all she stayed on her feet and did some nice jumps including two really nice 3Zs. One of them came after a cool catchfoot spiral move.

Mae Bernice Mette - 101.54, 155.95 -- She was great here, thought not as good as the SP. She had some big jumps including a really great 3F-2T-2T combo. But that follow with a fall and a few two foots. I think France's ladies figure skating has a great future with Mette and Silete leading it.

Christina Gao -- 117.62, 174.25 -- WOW WOW WOW! The audience started cheering during her footwork sequence. The audience couldn't wait to give this girl a standing ovation and rightfully so. Besides the clear flutz, everything was clean as a whistle and even her non jump elements was very much improved. This was her best skate in her senior career for sure.

Adelina Sotnikova - 110.03, 168.96 -- Lots of great ice coverage and speed. A few mistakes, including the two-foot on the 2A and a fall on the 3F, but I thought the overall presentation would put her over Gao. Obviously it was the invalid combo that cost her the silver, so I think she would have easily received silver otherwise. But as some coaches say--just do the program. Adlibbing will get you in trouble.

Ashley Wagner -- 127.76; 188.37 -- A great start. She had a few wild landings, but she managed to land them like a cat. She had great transitions and speed. She looked confident and ready and she really projected herself to the audience, who gave her a standing ovation when she was done. Yes, it's similar layout to the programs she did last season, but I think that she's working the programs in stronger way now then she did last season and I think that really showed in her PCS scores. This program still has room to grow with 3T at the end of the 2A and probably some extra transitions, but this is good start.

Overall this was a great FS. We had a few falls, but for the most part, a good competitive segment.
 

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll
Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
:laugh: They do it every time! Sandra gushed about Meite's powerful and high triple lutz, and then Meite fell on it, on cue.

ETA:
Ashley's Mr. Nicks has her prepared and ready to perform; now Ashley fights for all her jumps.

She must have been fighting more than we know, then, with Scott's jinxing abilities - still amazed! :laugh: If you can't have FUN with this kind of stuff it's just not worth it, right? No need to be serious or looking for conspiracy all the time...

though I guess I wasn't being super nice when Scotty was saying stuff that I knew would jinx Ashley - my dad was cracking up. I was all "you don't understand!!!!" lol Thankful she hung on. ;)
 

Puchi

On the Ice
Joined
Sep 26, 2010
Adelina's LP music is just dreadful. Even though the choreography fits the music, it's so deafening it makes the program look busy and rushed. Good choreo wasted in such a horrid music. I can't believe this lovely girl will be forced to listen to this mess everyday for a whole season.
 

tulosai

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 21, 2011
Flatt's score at the 2010/2011 GPF: 127.57
Flatt's score at Skate America, 2012: 136.09

It's more than one bad year, imo.

Host picks are selected first and there were no TBAs, so when Flatt was chosen, even Ashley didn't have two spots yet.

I mean, perhaps a bad year and a half, but she MADE the grand prix final that year. I know she had weak assignments but it's hard to call that a failure.

I didn't know host picks go first but that doesn't change the heart of my point- USFSA knew/strongly suspected Rachael would not get an assignment. They therefore gave her one.
 

mskater93

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 22, 2005
Ashley was also GUARANTEED two spots to begin with from finishing 4th at Worlds as she is now seeded, so they knew for sure Wagner was getting 2.
 

Bluebonnet

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 18, 2010
Wagner and Gao were great! Even though Ashley is not my favorite skater, I was actually holding my breath for her during her skating, and I was very happy for her when she finished her last jump. She beared well for this huge pressure from her country and fans' expectation. And she answered by giving a clean, beautiful performance if it was not very fast. Good for Ashley! Well done! I don't really like her music selection combine with this choreography. It seemed that the music was too fast to skate for her.
 

pangtongfan

Match Penalty
Joined
Jun 16, 2010
Flatt's score at the 2010/2011 GPF: 127.57
Flatt's score at Skate America, 2012: 136.09

What is most telling about those scores is she had the worst meltdown of her career at the 2010/11 GPF and she skated fairly well at this Skate America. So she has fallen downwards so far in the judges eyes she a good competition by her today scores less than 10 points higher than her worst competition ever 2 years ago. Pretty much says it all to what her future prospects in the amateur side of the sport are.
 

jenaj

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 17, 2003
Country
United-States
What is most telling about those scores is she had the worst meltdown of her career at the 2010/11 GPF and she skated fairly well at this Skate America. So she has fallen downwards so far in the judges eyes she a good competition by her today scores less than 10 points higher than her worst competition ever 2 years ago. Pretty much says it all to what her future prospects in the amateur side of the sport are.

I finally watched Rachael's LP at Skate America. She skated pretty well. I don't really understand her low score. I haven't looked at the protocols but she skated relatively clean, unlike most skaters these days. The fact that she is being held down, apparently, by low PCS shows that skating hasn't really changed. It's still a sport where looks and body type matter.
 

mskater93

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 22, 2005
Flatt looked REALLY slow and people who were in the arena and reported live verified that she was noticeably slower than the other skaters. This affects SS and the rest of her PCS will fall in line with that (even if that isn't right, that IS what happens - SS is the starting corridor for a skater's score). It looked like she just really couldn't generate any power from the ankle suffering from tendonitis.
 

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
Flatt looked REALLY slow and people who were in the arena and reported live verified that she was noticeably slower than the other skaters. This affects SS and the rest of her PCS will fall in line with that (even if that isn't right, that IS what happens - SS is the starting corridor for a skater's score). It looked like she just really couldn't generate any power from the ankle suffering from tendonitis.

That is a pretty accurate statement -- she was quite slow and lacked the power she usually gets on her programs, so yeah that reflects on PCS. That said, as many have said, her programs are quite pleasant to watch and could be really great programs if she can get past her injury issues.

Rachael does seem to overachieve relative to her current physical ability. Five triples is pretty good all things considered. But one could argue that is perhaps why the injuries won't let up.
 

Layfan

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 5, 2009
Gosh, I was pretty impressed with Ashley. I only just now got to watch her freeskate .... having trouble finding time to keep up with skating this year. Her upperbody carriage has always been fairly good but seems to have improved (thank you Mr. Nicks) and I did like this choreo for her. I liked that her spin combo at the halfway mark timed the position changes with the music (her last combo spin though ...hmm, no so much). I also liked a lot of the entries into her jumps and thought she looked a bit less like she was muscling into them as ... or am I just imagining things? I dunno, her shoulders looked squarer or something on some of the jumps. Overall she still the same Ashley with her same strengths and weaknesses (she definitely seemed to slow toward the end but hopefully she will gain stamina and sharpness as the season progresses, not lose it) ... but this choreo did a good job overall of showing her off. I'm in the minority on this but I did NOT like Swan Lake for her. I don't know if she will try the harder jumb combos that people are talking about but I say good for her for staying in such great shape and maintaining her skill level at least. And certainly wish her good luck on the harder combos - that would be the bomb.

Oh, and also loved seeing the Charlotte spiral even if she did hold it only briefly.
 

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
Gosh, I was pretty impressed with Ashley. I only just now got to watch her freeskate .... having trouble finding time to keep up with skating this year. Her upperbody carriage has always been fairly good but seems to have improved (thank you Mr. Nicks) and I did like this choreo for her. I liked that her spin combo at the halfway mark timed the position changes with the music (her last combo spin though ...hmm, no so much). I also liked a lot of the entries into her jumps and thought she looked a bit less like she was muscling into them as ... or am I just imagining things? I dunno, her shoulders looked squarer or something on some of the jumps. Overall she still the same Ashley with her same strengths and weaknesses (she definitely seemed to slow toward the end but hopefully she will gain stamina and sharpness as the season progresses, not lose it) ... but this choreo did a good job overall of showing her off. I'm in the minority on this but I did NOT like Swan Lake for her. I don't know if she will try the harder jumb combos that people are talking about but I say good for her for staying in such great shape and maintaining her skill level at least. And certainly wish her good luck on the harder combos - that would be the bomb.

Oh, and also loved seeing the Charlotte spiral even if she did hold it only briefly.

Hi Layfan! Glad to see you posting here again! :) She looked amazing out there (was lucky to see it in person). I think this will be a very good program for her. According to one of our fellow GS posters, she was very consistent with the 2A-3T + 3F-3T in practice, so we will probably see it soon!
 
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