to see anyone between NBC swooping in, the award ceremony, the interviews and it being so late at night. But then I saw Carly and I was so happy. It was such a blur, but it was a blur of great things.”
“I was in the stands watching the free skate
with our parents, so as soon as the scores came up and they said she had won, I knew I had to find her and give her the biggest hug,” Carly said. “I ran as fast as I could. I went down the elevators backstage and they told me she was in the kiss and cry, so everyone led me out by the ice. As soon as I made eye contact with her, I dissolved into a puddle of tears. I told her ‘You did it!’ If I thought about this championships and how everything would go, this is exactly how I would have wanted it. It was an amazing experience to watch her take home her second title.” Edmunds (Peninsula SC), the 2013 U.S. junior champion who made her senior interna- tional debut at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games, proved she deserved to be included in the con- versations about contenders in Saint Paul. Where both Gold and Wagner faltered in the short pro- gram, Edmunds turned in a steady performance to Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata,” putting her
Polina Edmunds
in first place at the U.S. Championships for the first time in the senior ranks. Completing an equally solid free skate, Edmunds finished as the only ladies medalist to execute two perfect per- formances, which ultimately earned her the silver medal, matching her highest U.S. finish, first earned in 2014. “I think that’s what every competitor needs to do at nationals if they want to make the podi- um,” said Edmunds, a senior at Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose, California. “I’m very glad to have shown that example and I think I can be a champion skater with that kind of mentali- ty. When I got to Saint Paul, there was a bunch of hype, but I knew that if I put out two clean performances, that’s what would be in my best interest to make the international teams. I know that I’m consistent and I’m strong mentally, so I knew that doing what I was able to do on the ice would break through the hype and prove myself as a potential champion.” Edmunds, who trains under the direction of
David Glynn, set personal-best scores across the board, earning a total score of 207.51. Wagner (SC of Wilmington), although
crowned ladies champion in 2012, ’13 and ’15, entered the free skate in fourth place, a position she hadn’t experienced since 2014. Revising her free skate from last season to music from Moulin Rouge!, Wagner rallied for her fifth career top- three finish in the senior events at the U.S. Cham- pionships, taking the bronze with 197.88 points. Although she popped a triple Lutz into a single, an unusual mistake for the three-time Grand Prix Final medalist, Wagner turned in an otherwise clean free skate. “Anyone who knows me knows that my
mistakes are two-footing or underrotation,” Wag- ner said. “I don’t pop jumps. Te mistake caught me off guard. I was so excited for the program and then just didn’t think through the very end. Te program was by far my best one yet and that shows that I’m still building and that this is a two- part game. I am a long program competitor.” Tough unable to defend her title, Wagner
ultimately wasn’t disappointed to walk away with bronze, leaving with renewed confidence in coach Rafael Arutunian’s plan for improving her techni- cal consistency and having accomplished her ma- jor goal for the week: earning a trip to the 2016 World Championships in Boston. “Of course I would love to be the champi- on again, but at the same time, I’m a three-time U.S. champion and I think that that has staying power,” Wagner said. “Internationally, Gracie and I are the leading ladies, so I think that my main goal here was to get on the World Team. Mission accomplished, and I am moving on. “I’m really happy, honestly, with how I skat-
ed. On the outside looking in, it looks a little bit messy, but this year I am competing differently and I am committing so much more to my jumps. If I’m going to have a year that’s kind of messy, this is the year to have it. I’m happy with the way that I competed and I’m looking forward to Worlds.” Mirai Nagasu fought through equipment is-
sues to round out the U.S. podium in fourth place with 188.84 points. Nagasu (Pasadena FSC), who
14 MARCH 2016
won the ladies title the last time the Champion- ships were held in Saint Paul, in 2008, suffered a tear in her landing foot’s boot during her short program, leaving her in fifth place and unsure if she’d be able to continue. “Halfway through [my program], my boot ripped, but I think I continued on to the best of my ability and hopefully it wasn’t noticed,” Naga- su said. Ultimately, the on-site staff from Jackson
Ultima worked through the night to repair Nag- asu’s custom boot, doing their best to fix the rip while making arrangements to have a replacement boot and blade sent to Saint Paul, if needed. In the end, Nagasu’s boot was repaired in time to practice the next day, and she executed a sassy free skate to music from the soundtrack to Te Great Gatsby, good for a personal-best free skate score of 129.20 points.
“Tis feeling that I get after I compete, whether it is bad or good, to be able to work up to this moment and to show everybody the hard work I’ve been doing, I still love that feeling,” Nagasu said. “Because of that, regardless of what people say about me, I still keep skating and for that I am so grateful to everyone who supports me.”
Ashley Wagner
PHOTOS BY JAY ADEFF/U.S. FIGURE SKATING
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