US Nationals

I'm hoping Mirai will get the 3rd spot for 4CC and *will not* go to Jr. Worlds. Junior events are worth very little these days in terms of points and it really is not worth the trouble anymore to have a senior-level skater tweak their long programs and cut it down by 30 seconds. The US has several talented junior girls and they should do just fine in terms of keeping the Jr. World and JGP berths for next season.

Looking at the protocols I don't really see where Rachael was overscored at all - there is nothing suspect as far as the TES is concerned (three jumping passes with -GoE and one UR), and it shouldn't come as a surprise that Mirai's base value is quite low since the flying sit didn't count and she only attempted five triples today. The PCS are a different story, but even then Mirai was not her usual self and was visibly tentative for the majority of the program.

Worlds: Czisny, Flatt
1st alternate: Nagasu

4cc: Czisny, Flatt, Nagasu
Alternates: Wagner, Zawadski, Gao

Jr Worlds: Gao, Hicks, Zawadski
Alternates: Lam, Siraj, Gong

Alokya wrote:

Just a couple minutes ago - worlds team is officially Alissa and Rachael, 4CC will be announced later today. Hopefully Mirai can make junior worlds at the least. She should make 4CC, it would be insane not to let her go.

Hopefully Alissa and Rachael can get 3 spots for the US this year! Although international judges seem to dislike Rachael, so it will probably be all up to Alissa to make it in the top five. I hope she medals, it would be wonderful for her (and her coaches, Yuka Sato and Jason Dungjen - they've done an amazing job with her).

I think Mirai should have won the silver. She didn't double any of her jumps, only had one obvious mistake (that death drop killed her spirit, though) besides a tough skating out of her opening triple lutz-double toe. However, for some reason the US has always liked Rachael's skating most likely because of her consistency (she got a 130 last year!). In all honesty, she's the first consistent skater the US has had since Michelle Kwan, but still, a 121 for that? A bit much.

I do hope Mirai can really build on this experience - in the press conference, she was talking about how a lack of training did not help her. I think a lot of training helps her feel more secure and calms her nerves down so that she can rely on muscle memory. So, if we see her at 4CC/junior worlds, I hope she really takes what she learned at nationals to heart. If she can pull it together, she will be the future of US skating. And I'm glad that she said, "It's not like my career's over, I'll just take the bronze and run away with it." She will have some extra fire at next year's nationals because of this.

I believe Mirai's second triple lutz was downgraded to a double, though. That left Mirai's four triple jumps to Rachael's five (her 3toeloop was downgraded). Both girls only had one ratified triple lutz, but Rachael also had two triple flips while Mirai only had one. IMO Rachael was over scored PCS wise, but her higher TES was justified. As clovera mentioned, Mirai did have that botched spin as well, and I just don't feel she did enough. She looked really tense and uptight tonight.

I just feel bad for her, she looked devastated in a shot shortly after the results were in. I wish all three girls could go tbh. I think they all deserve it.

roma wrote:

Worlds: Czisny, Flatt
1st alternate: Nagasu

4cc: Czisny, Flatt, Nagasu
Alternates: Wagner, Zawadski, Gao

Jr Worlds: Gao, Hicks, Zawadski
Alternates: Lam, Siraj, Gong

Thanks roma!

Czisny did great job.
I like Nagasu's costume for FS this time but hate SAYURI.
It's not Japanese but Chinese music. Hope that I can see
Nagasu at 4CC

I feel so bad for mirai last year she barely missed the gold at nationals and now her nerves are doing it again i soo would have loved seeing her at worlds, but maybe I years time will help her, control her nerves more and come back as strong as ever next year like czisny and have a strong comeback...


now it all depends on how these girls consistency is, since if they want three spots next year they better deliever, and not become inconsistent at the last moment....

I don't understand why the US judges love Rachael so much, when the international judges clearly don't. The international judges prefer Mirai and Alissa - even Ashley gets higher PCS than Rachael. Also, her spins should not receive +GOEs, and her PCS were too high. Agnes, Gao, Ashley, and Mirai all deserved better PCS than Rachael but she beat them. Her interpretation looked fake and not believable, and she was slow and heavy throughout. I just don't get it.

IMO, I think Rachael deserves better PCS than Mirai this time. Mirai was very nervous and very slow last night.

tianrushui wrote:

IMO, I think Rachael deserves better PCS than Mirai this time. Mirai was very nervous and very slow last night.

Yes, I agree that Nagasu wasn't her best last night, but Flatt's choreo and performance makes me cringe. The international judges don't like it either.

maofan93 wrote:

tianrushui wrote:

IMO, I think Rachael deserves better PCS than Mirai this time. Mirai was very nervous and very slow last night.

Yes, I agree that Nagasu wasn't her best last night, but Flatt's choreo and performance makes me cringe. The international judges don't like it either.

This... For me it's a mystery how US judges can't get it. Mirai could get her head together till Worlds, Rachael , I don't agree with their choice.

polosatik wrote:

maofan93 wrote:

tianrushui wrote:

IMO, I think Rachael deserves better PCS than Mirai this time. Mirai was very nervous and very slow last night.

Yes, I agree that Nagasu wasn't her best last night, but Flatt's choreo and performance makes me cringe. The international judges don't like it either.

This... For me it's a mystery how US judges can't get it. Mirai could get her head together till Worlds, Rachael , I don't agree with their choice.

Ah, but Mirai hasn't been exactly delivering during the GP series either. Part of it is most certainly due to her not skating clean programs, but her PCS this season on the GP have not been that far ahead of Rachael and Ashley as some people think. This year's 4CC should be interesting in that regard since Rachael and Mirai will both be competing in addition to how Mao fares against Miki and Akiko internationally now.

polosatik wrote:

maofan93 wrote:

tianrushui wrote:

IMO, I think Rachael deserves better PCS than Mirai this time. Mirai was very nervous and very slow last night.

Yes, I agree that Nagasu wasn't her best last night, but Flatt's choreo and performance makes me cringe. The international judges don't like it either.

This... For me it's a mystery how US judges can't get it. Mirai could get her head together till Worlds, Rachael , I don't agree with their choice.

I don't think Mirai's choreo and performance are that great. And at this specific competition, I DO think that Rachael deserved higher score than Mirai.
And there is no guarantee that Mirai could get her head together in Worlds. Look at how many times Mirai bombed in LP. Actually, the only competition Mirai had good performance was Olympics. Although many people hate Rachael, but at least she has consistency. She is a safer choice. And I don't think Mirai has a better chance to win a medal at Worlds than Alissa does. So, to me, USFS's choice is quite obvious. They have Alissa to go for a medal and have Rachael to help regain 3 spots.

tianrushui wrote:

And there is no guarantee that Mirai could get her head together in Worlds. Look at how many times Mirai bombed in LP. Actually, the only competition Mirai had good performance was Olympics. Although many people hate Rachael, but at least she has consistency. She is a safer choice. And I don't think Mirai has a better chance to win a medal at Worlds than Alissa does. So, to me, USFS's choice is quite obvious. They have Alissa to go for a medal and have Rachael to help regain 3 spots.

To be fair, Mirai had a spectacular showing at both Nationals and the Olympics, but was already feeling pain from her injury by Worlds right after the Olympics. After that, she was off the ice for two months healing from the injury, so she wasn't in nearly good enough shape for the GP series. I think she actually did fairly well for recovering from an injury during her free programs at her GP events. I don't think her competitions after the Olympics are a fair measure of how she'll approach the free program from now on. She also said in the press conference yesterday that she still hadn't gotten as much training as she'd wanted in preparation for Nationals, and that may have been why she was more nervous and tentative than we've ever seen her so far.

With that said, though, her nerves were still a large factor yesterday. I hope that at 4CC and her future competitions, she'll get fired up instead. I want to see her come roaring out the gate like at last year's Nationals.

Armin just passed... lets see at what place he ends he skated GREAT in my opinion

Armin right now is in 3rd place

bellarina wrote:

tianrushui wrote:

And there is no guarantee that Mirai could get her head together in Worlds. Look at how many times Mirai bombed in LP. Actually, the only competition Mirai had good performance was Olympics. Although many people hate Rachael, but at least she has consistency. She is a safer choice. And I don't think Mirai has a better chance to win a medal at Worlds than Alissa does. So, to me, USFS's choice is quite obvious. They have Alissa to go for a medal and have Rachael to help regain 3 spots.

To be fair, Mirai had a spectacular showing at both Nationals and the Olympics, but was already feeling pain from her injury by Worlds right after the Olympics. After that, she was off the ice for two months healing from the injury, so she wasn't in nearly good enough shape for the GP series. I think she actually did fairly well for recovering from an injury during her free programs at her GP events. I don't think her competitions after the Olympics are a fair measure of how she'll approach the free program from now on. She also said in the press conference yesterday that she still hadn't gotten as much training as she'd wanted in preparation for Nationals, and that may have been why she was more nervous and tentative than we've ever seen her so far.

With that said, though, her nerves were still a large factor yesterday. I hope that at 4CC and her future competitions, she'll get fired up instead. I want to see her come roaring out the gate like at last year's Nationals.

All I meant are international competitions.
And I don't want to be harsh on Mirai, but she is not the only one who has injuries. Don't forget that Rachael is also injured. And Rachael even had one more competition than Mirai-GPF.

I can't believe Mirai won't be at worlds!

Oh no...not a good skate from Jeremy at all.
He's currently in 3rd behind Dornbush and Ross and we still have Brandon and Ryan left.

ETA:


Well, that was certainly a bizarre competition. Congrats to Ryan! I wonder who USFS will pick now for Worlds.

This season has been really bizarre.

what?????? Mirai is not at worlds????
i´m sad

And the final standings -

Bradley, Dornbush, Miner, Abbot. However, they MAY elect to send Abbot to worlds instead of Miner as the difference is .20 and Abbott has more experience. On the other hand, Abbott has always bombed international competitions. We will see - USFS is taking quite a while to decide the men's delegation.

congrats to bradley he was GREAT

Does anyone have the videos of the FS for the ladies yet? I'm excited to see Alissa's, Mirai's, and Rachael's!

The top three men are going to worlds. Poor Jeremy. 4CC team is going to be announced later today... I kind of hope he at least gets on that one. His free skate is beautiful.

And yes!! Here is Alissa's. Breathtaking and magical. I can see why Mirai struggled after that one!!

Short and fluff piece - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGS7PtG6Ofk&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

Long - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfBkr9ioSCE&feature=feedf

Mirai's - poor girl.

Short - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3ODzdB4_6E&feature=feedf
Long - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ulektq3x-WI&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

Rachael's -

Short - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87Ib6INSEzY&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
Long - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b53RWYRUvg8&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

And update, Jeremy, Armin, and Adam are going to 4CC. YES!!! All of them are absolutely AWESOME!! Although I feel sorry for Brandon Mroz, it's the end of his season.