Sadly i think Gracie will skate as a Junior at Nationals. She would put a scare into some of the top Senior ladies who can't seem to rotate or land their jumps. Someone like Gracie would make them either start getting it together or get left in the dust.
Does Gracie have to do Sectionals, does anyone know? If so, it will be hard on the girls in her Section!
It would actually be good for her to do Junior Nationals because she'd very likely get sent to Junior Worlds if she skates well. Vanessa Lam opted to do Senior Nationals last year, and while she skated very well and placed like 5th or something, it wasn't enough for an international assignment. If Gracie does go to Junior Worlds and holds her own against the Russian girls, I could see her skipping the JGP and going straight to seniors in the 2012-2013 season, like Agnes Zawadski.
It also might be good that she didn't get a second JGP assignment and potentially qualify for the JGPF, because that's a lot of traveling and competing for someone who's never competed internationally before, especially after her loaded summer schedule. This way she'll have more left in the tank for Nationals and whatever might come after that.
Does Gracie have to do Sectionals, does anyone know? If so, it will be hard on the girls in her Section!
This is true. JW's is going to have a scary, deep field.
AFAIK yes. This JGP event gave her a bye through regionals, but sectionals isn't for another few weeks, so I assume she will be there as she doesn't have another international assignment around that time.
As as for "skipping the JGP", even if Gracie opts to do GP next season (which I think she probably should considering her age and that she won this JGP with one of the deepest fields handily) she still would have competed on the JGP this season, so it doesn't seem as arbitrary as Agnes's decision last season. Of course, if Gracie doesn't medal at Junior Worlds then giving the JGP another go round might not be a bad idea, but considering the field, she could very well end off the podium and still score 170+!
If she's got a bye through regionals, IceNetwork doesn't seem to know it...she's on the roster I linked to in my post above.
Vanessa Lam was in 7th. And the reason she didn't get to JW was because Agnes and Christina placed above her in 4th and 5th and I think Courtney Hicks got in automatically as the junior nationals champion.
In any case I agree with you, I think it was better for her to make her one statement during JGP and then focus on Nationals. Let's face it, while she's great, there's something to be said about conquering your prior demon (in her case, Midwestern sectionals).
If she's [Gold] got a bye through regionals, IceNetwork doesn't seem to know it...she's on the roster I linked to in my post above.
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.Speaking of which, how does Samantha Cesario have a bye for her regionals? Her regionals are the same time as Gracie's so she couldn't get out of it due to JGP. (Sylvia, can you explain?)
ETA: It looks like per Sylvia's site that Gracie does indeed have a bye (though she's listed on the roster).
Gold has to go to Sectionals. If she had 2 events and had qualified for the final, she would have gotten a bye.So do these girls get a bye to Nationals or do they still have to qualify?
Risa presentation is even more beautiful when she grow up, better than many senior in my opinion. Her posture and flow on ice is amazing. She is like mini Arakawa + Chen.
Personally, I prefer her presentation more than gold (she totally deserve to win here, and USFSA should give her 2 grand prix) and other juniors this year.
I agree, after watching their programs again i had a feeling they gave Gracie too many points because she didn't seem to be that much better than Risa considering the sp and the lp altogether...