JUNIOR GRAND PRIX FINAL BUSINESS TRIP ICE DANCE TEAMS LEAD WAY; CHEN EARNS BRONZE Like their senior counterparts at the Grand
Prix Final, the U.S. juniors delivered impressive results at the 2013 Junior Grand Prix Final in Fu- kuoka, Japan.
Te ice dance team of Kaitlin Hawayek and
Jean-Luc Baker emerged with the silver med- al, while teammates Lorraine McNamara and Quinn Carpenter exited with the bronze medal. Nathan Chen led the charge in the men’s di-
vision, winning the bronze medal. Te U.S. sent a total of six entries to the international competi- tion.
“We’re very happy with not only the medal
but the two performances we put out this week,” Hawayek said. “We skated from the heart and gave every ounce of energy we had.” Hawayek and Baker, who train in Bloom- field, Mich., and are the reigning U.S. junior sil-
Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker
ver medalists, finished second in both segments of the competition en route to a score of 139.42. Tey were 13 points behind the winning team from Russia. “We are happy with the scores for the lev-
(l-r) Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker, Russia’s Anna Yanovskaya and Sergey Mozgov, Lorraine McNamara and Quinn Carpenter
els we got this week,” Hawayek said. “Levels are something we’re going to be pushing toward for our next competitions, nationals and hopefully the World Junior Championships. We’re not go- ing to give up the fight. We are going to really work on drilling those levels.” Te team achieved personal-best inter-
national scores for their free dance and overall score. Tey won both of their JGP Series events in Poland and Mexico to qualify for the JGP Fi- nal.
McNamara and Carpenter, who train in
Rockville, Md., generated a score of 135.89 points, finishing with personal-best international marks for their short dance, free dance and over- all score. “It feels really good considering it’s our first
JGP Final,” McNamara said. “It’s only our sec- ond year on the circuit.” McNamara and Carpenter, the two-time
and reigning U.S. junior bronze medalists, won gold and silver in Belarus and Latvia, respectively, to qualify for the JGP Final. “We were really lucky to go to two JGP
Lorraine McNamara and Quinn Carpenter 38 JANUARY 2014
events this year and then to be able to qualify for the final is almost a dream come true,” Carpenter said. “Te fact that we did so well is really grati- fying.”
Nathan Chen A third U.S. ice dance entry, Rachel Parsons
and Michael Parsons, finished sixth with 116.60 points.
Chen, who trains in Artesia, Calif., placed
third in both segments of the event and scored 214.61 points. Skaters from China and Russia finished just ahead of Chen, the 2013 U.S. ju- nior bronze medalist. “I did as well as I could have,” Chen said of
his free skate. “Tere is room for improvement always but overall I think I did very well. I got my triple Axel, which is a big bonus for me. I did everything basically the way I planned it to go.” Chen won gold medals in Mexico and Be-
larus to qualify for the JGP Final. In the ladies division, California’s Polina Ed- munds placed second in the free skate and just off the podium in fourth place with a score of 161.71. “Today I really fought for everything, and
I didn’t want to let anything go after yesterday, when I let a few moments slip,” Edmunds said of her free skate. “I’m happy I did that.” Edmunds, the 2013 U.S. junior champion, earned a trip to the JGP Final with victories in Mexico and Belarus. Her teammate, Angela Wang, placed sixth
with a score of 131.58. Ladies from Russia swept the podium.
ATSUSHI TOMURA/GETTY IMAGES
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