I managed to catch part of senior lady's freeskate and men's freeskate last night. Unfortunately, I arrived just after Rachael Flatt skated. Lindsay Davis skated well -- she's really petite in person. If I remember correctly, she only attempted 3 kinds of triples: 3R, 3S, 3T.
Kristiene Gong was really wonderful: she's very graceful, good extension, carriage, presentation, and also strong jumps. I saw her skate a couple years ago at Golden West, I think, and she had all five triples but a lot of under-rotations. Her jumps were higher and better rotated this time. She fell on the opening 3Z hard, and it looked like she was in pain and might not be able to continue with the program, but she skated to the other end of the rink and hit a 3F out of nowhere, then came back round and hit another triple (either 3R or 3S, I can't remember). Her jumps got stronger as time went on. Late in the program, she also hit a fabulous 2A-3T. And she also has wonderful extension and flexibility in her fast spins. She was really gutsy to finish that program, she limped off the ice gingerly and shook her head after she was done; that first fall must have hurt. I think she would do really well on the JGP if USFSA was smart enough to send her! I actually think that she has more of that natural "it" factor than Christina Gao; Kristiene really sparkled on ice.
Until recently Kristiene was coached by Mingzhu Li -- she's now with Frank Carroll. It confuses me that she has such nice spring and attack to her jumps, including that beautiful 2A, unlike Caroline Zhang. But then again, Lulu had really nice jumps, and China's Zijun Li, who's been coached by Mingzhu Li for a while now, also has really nice jumps including the 2A. I don't know why Caroline's jumps are singularly bad... What Kristiene, Caroline, and Zijun all have in common though are fast, centered spins with good positions and variations. Zijun's spins visibly improved in the time she was coached by Ms. Li.
I saw Jason Brown skate in person for the first time, and I was very impressed. He jumps high and rotates fast for such a little guy, and he moves across the ice with fluidity and lightness. He struck me as a real natural talent, and if he had the 3A, he'd definitely challenge the top guys in the U.S. He reminds me of a young Johnny Weir. He has the same potential to mesmerize the audience, and the same delicate, subtle touch.
Richard Dornbush hit a fabulous 3A-2T to start his program -- the only 3A attempted that I saw. It looked like he was going for a second 3A later in the program, but it turned into just a 2A. He skated his program with speed and power, but, like quite a few of the other competitors (except Brown and Caluza), he lost steam toward the end.
Speaking of Caluza, he skated an awesome LP. All the jumps were perfect, despite an imperfect warm-up. He was so happy at the end! I was surprised he only got 4th in the LP, I thought he would've beaten Johnson, maybe skating first didn't help his PCS, or maybe he had under-rotations? And I'm even more surprised that his total was only good enough for 7th (and last). He must have really bombed the SP.
, her name could appear on a JGP roster soon. 
