SENIOR ME N Electric company
Brown dazzles crowd en route to title; Rippon, Farris simply sensational
by LYNN RUTHERFORD Some say there is no formula for cha-
risma. You’re either born with it, or you ar- en’t.
Jason Brown would disagree — polite-
ly, of course, and with a big smile. His abil- ity to touch every person in a 15,000-seat arena doesn’t come naturally. Long hours in a cold rink, attention to the smallest detail and endless program run-throughs let him hone his muscle memory, wrap it in exuber- ance and pour it over the ice. “For Jason, the formula is about his
hard work and his training,” Kori Ade, Brown’s coach of 15 years, said. “Te reason he can go out there with such confidence and be such a showman is because that’s what he does every day.” In the 30 days leading up to the U.S. Championships, Ade challenged Brown to perform 40 clean routines, short program or free skate, at their rink in Monument, Colorado. He did her three better, hitting 43 clean programs. Te 20-year-old Highland Park, Illi-
nois, native, who won U.S. silver last season and placed in the top 10 at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, took inspiration from another Chicago area skater: 2010 Olympic cham- pion Evan Lysacek. “Every time he took the ice he was
ready to fight, ready to do the best he could do,” Brown, who represents Skokie Valley FSC, said. “It’s cool to look at his values when he [competed] and try to learn from that. He’s definitely been a big inspiration.” In Greensboro, Brown built a lead
with a virtuoso performance of his swinging short program, choreographed by Rohene Ward to Little Walter’s “Juke.” He snapped off a fine triple Axel, triple flip-triple toe loop combination and ’Tano triple Lutz (one arm bent over head) along the way. His dynamic free skate, set to Maxime
Rodriguez’s “Tristan et Iseult,” had one mi- nor blemish: a two-footed landing on his second triple Axel, which was judged un- derrotated. But he hit two tough triple-tri- ple combinations in the program’s second
16 MARCH 2015
half, and his choreographic steps built ef- fectively to climactic double Axels and a fast closing combination spin. His 274.98 point total set a new U.S. record and edged Adam Rippon by 2.50 points. “I’m so honored and humbled,” Brown said. “I was just checking [elements] off the list, enjoying the audience and every single moment out there.” Ade has coached Brown since the day
the skater’s mother, Marla, took his older sister to a local rink for lessons and decid- ed to enroll her overactive son as well. Te partnership moved to Monument in the spring of 2013, after Brown graduated from Highland Park High School. “When it all pays off in a big way like
this, it’s hard not to get emotional,” Ade said. “My reaction is really about his reac- tion. Tis is what every skater dreams of, being national champion.” Greensboro was sweet redemption for
the silver and bronze medalists, both of whom battled their share of demons earlier in the season.
After disappointing performances
in his two Grand Prix events, Rippon, a member of the SC of New York, arrived in Greensboro with a new short program he choreographed himself to Hans Zimmer’s Latin-themed “Nyah” from the Mission: Impossible II soundtrack.
“I said, ‘OK, I need to get my life to- gether; I need to do the quad Lutz again.’ I needed rejuvenation,” Rippon, 25, said. “I needed music that would inspire me to land the quad, something intense. ‘Nyah’ sounds like the music of a champion.” Rippon’s quad was judged underrotat-
ed in the short program, but his newfound aggression — plus a pristine triple Axel — helped him stand fifth heading into the free skate. Tere, he delivered a mesmerizing program to Franz Liszt’s “Piano Concerto No. 1,” choreographed with Tom Dickson. Te quad Lutz was again short of rotation, but everything else — two triple Axels, his own “Rippon” Lutz (arms straight up) in
GOLD Jason Brown, 274.98 SILVER Adam Rippon, 272.48 BRONZE Joshua Farris, 267.98 PEWTER Max Aaron, 259.19
JAY ADEFF/U.S. FIGURE SKATING
MEN
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