JUNIOR LADIES
mitted. “Of course I’m kind of dis- appointed with my score based on the difficulty of the program, but I’m really happy with my skate and that’s all I can really do.” Edmunds earned 101.70
points for the segment, crediting choreographer and Olympic ice dancing champion Marina Klimova for her exquisite components. “I love Marina Klimova; she’s
so great and I love her choreogra- phy,” Edmunds said. “She makes the most beautiful programs. I’m so happy to be able to skate them and show everyone Marina Klimo- va’s choreography because I think everything she does is gorgeous.” Edmunds, who trains under
coach David Glynn, won the event by more than seven points, erasing a disappointing sixth-place finish at last year’s U.S. Championships and proving herself to be a serious contender among the country’s top skaters.
“Last year I wasn’t well- GOLD MEDALIST EDMUNDS POLINA by MIMI WHETSTONE
POISED EDMUNDS CLAIMS TITLE Poise, class and effortless grace
have become synonymous with those crowned U.S. ladies cham- pion. Tis year’s junior champion, 14-year-old Polina Edmunds, is no exception. Winning both segments of the competition, Edmunds re- ceived an overall score of 159.87 points to stand atop the podium. Mariah Bell earned the silver
medal, while Barbie Long claimed the bronze hardware. “I’m really excited to be a na- tional champion,” said Edmunds, who calls San Jose, Calif., home. “Tis is my first national medal, so for it to be gold is really amazing.” Her short program performed
to “Two Guitars,” a Russian gypsy folk song, was packed with difficult elements including a triple Lutz-tri- ple toe combination that generated a program-high 10.80 points.
trained,” Edmunds said. “I was slacking off the whole season. I went into the short and I did really well, which was a fluke because that was probably the first clean short that I had done in competition that season. Tis year, I feel a lot better- trained and I learned a lot from last year’s experience. I’ve worked so much harder this year.” Bell, 16, disclosed her last sea-
son’s struggles as well. “I was at the junior level last
“I’ve been working on my tri-
ple-triple all year,” Edmunds said after her short program. “I did it a little bit last year, too, so I’m really happy that I nailed it in my pro- gram.” In addition to her jumps, Ed-
munds received a Level 4 on each of her three spins and garnered an impressive 58.17 points for the seg- ment, a score that would hold its own in the senior event. For her free skate, Edmunds took the ice in a delicate cream- colored dress to Nino Rota’s Romeo and Juliet. Despite receiving a series of downgraded marks for underro- tation, Edmunds emerged on top after a performance that featured seven triple jumps, including two triple-triple combinations. “I don’t know where things were underrotated,” Edmunds ad-
year and I think I’ve matured so much,” said Bell, who lives in West- minster, Colo. “Last year I let myself get nervous. I had to understand that this is just a sport. I love it, but it’s just a sport. It’s something that
I’ve had to get used to, not making myself really nervous, because I do everything in practice and this is no different.” Bell earned 152.80 points for
the week, finishing with a free skate to music from West Side Story, a se- lection she admits was not her first choice.
“I feel like it’s a good thing that
I didn’t love the music right at first,” Bell said. “I’ve done that in the past and by the end of the year I’m like, ‘I don’t know, I guess it’s OK.’ Tis year I was really picky about it. I started working with a new chore- ographer, Cindy Stuart, and I abso- lutely love her. She’s efficient when she works and she has a total plan before we even start working to- gether.”
Also performing her free skate
to selections from West Side Story, Long bounced back from a disap- pointing fourth-place finish in the short program to tackle her nerves and round out the podium. “I think I was a little too ner-
vous,” said Long, 16, who hails from St. Louis. “I could have re- laxed a little more and felt the program instead of thinking about every little detail. I have trouble with confidence sometimes, just because I always want everything to be perfect. I’m getting better, but it’s something that still needs work.” Long, who claimed the silver medal last fall at a Junior Grand Prix event in Slovenia, placed sec- ond in the free skate and finished less than a point behind Bell, with 152.53 points. Karen Chen, the 2012 U.S.
novice champion, garnered 144.56 points and placed fourth.
SILVER MEDALIST
MARIAH BELL
BRONZE MEDALIST
BARBIE LONG
SKATING 35
PHOTOS BY JAY ADEFF
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