2016 PROGRESSIVE SKATE AMERICA
Ashley Wagner LADIES
‘Sweet dreams’ for Wagner; Bell earns silver medal
Ashley Wagner earned her second Skate
America title in five seasons, while her new training partner Mariah Bell made a big splash in only her second Grand Prix Series event, claiming silver. Japan’s 17-year-old Mai Mihara secured bronze in her Grand Prix debut. Wagner, the 2016 World silver medalist, won
the short program with an edgy and attitude-filled routine to “Sweet Dreams” by the Eurythmics. “Tonight was a great event for me,” Wagner
said. “My training from this season really pulled me through. I spent a lot of time working on my combinations, my jump quality as a whole and my spins. ... I’m so proud of that short program. Tat is the athlete I really want to be this season.” Te three-time U.S. champion sealed the
title with a free skate that she deemed good, but not great. Performing to a piano piece — Ex- ogenesis Symphony Part 3 by Muse — that built in intensity and emotion, Wagner sold the pro- gram with by far the best program components of the event. She experienced a few technical er- rors on jumps and received lower levels on her spins than she wanted. Wagner finished with a total score of 196.44. “It would be amazing to have perfect pro-
Mariah Bell Gracie Gold
grams every single time, but sometimes you need programs where they’re not bad, but they’re not great,” Wagner said. “It kind of keeps you in check on where you are and what you need to work on.” Bell, sixth after the short program, turned
in the best free skate of the event to win the sil- ver medal with a personal-best 191.59 points. At her first-ever Grand Prix event last year at Skate America, Bell finished eighth. U.S. champion Gracie Gold was solid in
her short program, finishing third. She, however, fell twice in the free skate and dropped out of medal contention and into fifth place. “It was an unfortunate long program, the
score was overly generous,” Gold said. “But I ap- preciate what I was able to pull out. Obviously I need to go back to the drawing board. Te long program isn’t where it needs to be at this point in the season or with the rest of the competitors.”
Bell thriving in California camp
By Troy Schwindt Moments before stepping onto the ice
for her six-minute free skate warm-up at Sears Centre Arena, Mariah Bell received a pat on the back from her new training partner, World silver medalist Ashley Wagner. “She said, ‘Do your stuff.’ Tat meant a lot to me because she’s been so supportive of my ca-
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