JGP Tallinn Entries

[ordinary person]

Yes Gracie had a little more speed and height but her jumps seemed a bit stiff when she landed them whereas Risa's looked more elegant nevertheless you're right about the rest.

 

[just wondering]

Hannah Miller was initially listed in the EGL Regionals Junior Ladies starting order on IceNetwork 2 weeks ago like Gracie Gold currently is for UGL Regionals -- both received "late" byes due to their JGP assignments as alternates and their internationals being 7 or fewer days before or after Regionals. I assume their names were not submitted as byes to the USFS Regional accountants early enough to be removed from their respective SP draws.

Samantha Cesario qualified for a bye through her Regionals in 2 ways -- because she won the Senior Ladies event at Eastern Sectionals last year and also because her 2nd JGP in Estonia was the week before North Atlantics.

Here's the link to my post in the US Regionals thread that contains a link to my unofficial US Sectionals qualifiers page and list of known byes: http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/sh...als-discussion&p=582393&viewfull=1#post582393

Interesting!!! I didn't know about this bye type. Seniors only, I presume. Thanks for the info, Sylvia.

 

[mskater93]

No, if you win the level you are skating in the previous year, you get a bye. Nathan Chen stayed Novice last year and had a bye all the way through to Nationals as a Novice.

 

[Sylvia]

Interesting!!! I didn't know about this bye type. Seniors only, I presume.

Yes, Seniors only. Another example - Scott Dyer won the Senior Men's event at Eastern Sectionals last season and received a bye through the Senior Men's event at SWP Regionals this year (even though he switched regions/clubs).

No, if you win the level you are skating in the previous year, you get a bye. Nathan Chen stayed Novice last year and had a bye all the way through to Nationals as a Novice.

No, as the 2010 Novice National men's champ Chen only had a bye through Regionals last year; he had to compete at Sectionals to qualify for 2011 Nationals.

(These are rules published in the USFS rulebook.)

 

[silverlake22]

Yes Gracie had a little more speed and height but her jumps seemed a bit stiff when she landed them whereas Risa's looked more elegant nevertheless you're right about the rest.

I agree with this but watching her FS, Risa was visibly tentative and nervous. It wasn't as obvious as it was for Sam, but you could tell she was thinking through that performance. Gracie OTOH had nothing to lose and just went for it, and that was visible in her programs. Samantha's PCS in the FS were much lower than both Risa and Gracie, while in the SP all three girls had essentially equal PCS, so I really do think the nervous skating makes a difference. Risa was probably feeling the pressure of qualifying for the final and you could tell. I love Risa's skating and think she is definitely more elegant than Gracie, at least at this point, but I think Gracie having no pressure and skating with all guns blazing made her seem more impressive than if she was facing pressure to make the final herself. So I'm ok with it. 50.51 is pretty high PCS for a junior lady as is, so I'm not too worried about Risa. If she skates well at the JGPF I think she can definitely medal. If she had rotated the lutz, her score likely would have been around 108, maybe 110, which is pretty impressive. I doubt she will beat Julia but I think she has a good shot at finishing ahead of all the others. I'd love of podium of Julia, Risa, and Zijun.

 

[mskater93]

Elegant =/= "good PCS mark". It can affect presentation and execution mark and interpretation if it's appropriate to the program choreography, but "fierce and free" can be a style as well which if pulled off in the context of the choreography can push the PE and IN mark just as high. You don't have to like that style and can choose to root for a different one, but why not embrace something different? I love the fact that people complain that everyone tries to skate "waif like" (baby ballerina/pretty little princess) and then when a lady skater chooses a different style of skating (fierce, or as Joe would have called it "bravura") everyone b----s about her PCS mark being too high and that her "skating isn't mature".

 

[lcd]

I always think Junior Grand Prix scores tend to be upwardly skewed, almost by the nature of the fact that in large fields, there will be a small handful of skaters (or a skater) at the top who stands out. And that fact alone is enough to drive the differential and make for a higher score than people may find "right" in the bigger picture/broader context. This seems especially true in dance, but can happen in singles obviously, and I think the top two ladies in this event warranted the differential step up. Whether they would score these same numbers in a senior event with a stronger field overall, is moot.