NOVICE L AD I ES “She’s a hard worker, dedicated, consistent,
self-motivated,” Nikodinov said. “She’s just been working on getting the triples, getting her body strong and she just excels at what she does.” Nina Ouellette, sectional champion from
the Pacific Coast, finished second in the short program and third in the free skate en route to a total score of 128.55. Te 12-year-old, who rep- resents the St. Moritz ISC and trains in Oakland, Calif., showed great resilience and the ability to think on her feet. “I was pretty confident about how she was
going to perform today, and she peaked at the right time,” coach Diana Miro said. “She learned how to be a competitor this
year,” Justin Dillon, her choreographer/coach, said. “She does clean programs for Diana every day, so to come here and do that was a matter of also knowing how to compete well. Tat combi- nation was why she was successful this year.” Anna Grace Davidson, 13, and a member
of Salt Lake Figure Skating, secured the pewter medal with 118.82 points. “She’s fought back,” coach Lisa Kriley said.
Emily Chan by TROY SCHWINDT
Chan embraces new start, wows crowd A change of scenery was all Emily Chan
needed to propel herself to the top of the novice ranks in Greensboro.
Chan, who competed for the fourth season
at the novice level, demonstrated a quiet confi- dence during her soft and romantic free skate to “Meditation” from Tais performed by Joshua Bell. Te 17-year-old moved seamlessly from her opening combination jumps through her Level 4 ending spin. Ninth last year at the U.S. Championships,
Chan finished with a score of 149.25 points, nearly 15 points better than the silver medalist. She recorded the top program components score of 48.55.
“I had a coaching change and I moved up
here to Dallas from Houston,” Chan, a member of the Dallas FSC, said. “I started training with a big group of amazing skaters who helped moti- vate me and inspired me to work harder.” Chan trains at the Dr Pepper StarCenter
in Plano, Texas, under coach Aleksey Letov and choreographer Olga Ganicheva. Her mother, a dress designer, makes her costumes. Chan, who also won the short program,
changed her free skate halfway through the sea- son. “I wanted to try something more soft and pretty, to help keep pace and tempo throughout the program,” she said. She landed four triple jumps, including the first two in combination. Level 4 spins and Level 3 footwork helped weave a spellbinding program that was rewarded not only by the judges but by the appreciative fans at the Greensboro Colise- um.
“She was intermediate champion (in 2013), and she wasn’t able to compete for almost two years. She was dealing with Osgood-Schlatter disease (a painful knee condition) and other injuries. I’m so happy for her getting back out there and doing so well in novice.”
Te footwork sequence, she said, was her
favorite part of the program. “I feel like I get to tell a story through the
footwork and that kind of transfers my emotions to the audience,” Chan said. Chan’s sterling performance wasn’t a sur-
prise, according to her coaching team. “She has great self-discipline, does every- thing right and this is the result,” Letov said. Chan will advance to the junior level next
year, where Ganicheva predicts big things from the young star. “She can do the triple toe-triple toe, and
the loop and flip,” Ganicheva said. “She needs to learn the Lutz. We feel she is going to be a strong junior skater next year based on her everyday work and what she did today.” Chan also competed in novice pairs with
Misha Mitrofanov, where they finished eighth. California dynamo Akari Nakahara, a member of the All Year FSC, seized the moment during her free skate to music from the Spirited Away soundtrack. Te 12-year-old, who claimed bronze at the juvenile level in 2013, landed five triple jumps — two in combination — and exe- cuted three Level 4 spins. Her overall score of 134.63 points included
the event’s second-best free skate. “It was really exciting and I was happy to
skate on the (main arena) ice,” said Nakahara, who placed fifth in the intermediate division at sectionals in 2014. Her coach of 18 months, Angela Nikodin- ov, praised her young pupil’s efforts.
Akari Nakahara
Nina Ouellette SKATING 41
JAY ADEFF/U.S. FIGURE SKATING
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