Technical controller Bob Horen couldn’t say enough good things about the junior ice dance event as he walked off of the officials stand. “It was fantastic,” said Horen, a former World and Olympic judge in ice dance, and member of the ISU Ice Dance Technical Committee. “The last group was as good a junior group as you are ever going to get anywhere. We gave a couple of Level 4 step sequences, which you don’t find very often, especially in juniors.” The top two teams, Lorraine McNamara and
Quinn Carpenter, and Rachel Parsons and Michael Parsons, performed dynamic programs, full of energy, storytelling and intricacy. “It’s probably the best junior dance event that I
can remember as far as depth, as far as talent,” Mitch Moyer, senior director of athlete high development at U.S. Figure Skating, said after the short dance. “We are looking at two teams that have the potential to medal at the World Junior Championships.” The rest of the junior disciplines received similar
praise. Emily Chan, the novice champion last year, per-
formed two mature, technically challenging programs to claim the ladies crown. She finished ahead of her Dallas FSC training mate, Vivian Le, who won the silver medal. Le, a great jumper, struggled with her triple-tri- ple opening combination in Saint Paul. Chan spent four years at the novice level and now
appears to be coming into her own as she moves up the ranks. “She’s a lady and she skates like that,” Moyer said
of the 18-year-old Chan. “It’s nice to see.” “Vivian let nerves get the best of her in this com- petition, but when she’s on she’s brilliant,” Moyer add-
ed. “I think it’s part of her development of understand- ing what she has to do and how she has to approach competition.” On the men’s side, Tomoki Hiwatashi celebrated
his 16th birthday by landing his triple Axel for the first time in competition and winning the men’s title. Kevin Shum, a freshman at Massachusetts Institute of Tech- nology, was also electric with six triple jumps, includ- ing a triple Lutz-triple toe combination, en route to the silver medal. Aleksei Krasnozhon fell on his triple Axel in the short program, but rebounded nicely in his free skate, landing two triple Axels — one in combination — and attempting a quad loop. “He fought back, which is always good to see,
Moyer said of Krasnozhon. “I think he was surprised missing that triple Axel; it’s probably his best jump. He’s one of our up-and-coming athletes.” The top two pairs teams also showed great prom-
ise. Joy Weinberg and Maximiliano Fernandez joined forces on Mother’s Day 2015 and quickly developed chemistry and a growing technical arsenal that includ- ed a triple twist in both programs. They edged another up-and-coming team, Lindsay Weinstein and Jacob Simon, who finished with the event’s best components marks. “The winning team has been together a short
time but has a great look on the ice,” Moyer said. “Give them a few years under their belts and they are going to be one of our better teams. Weinstein and Simon really stepped it up in the last couple months, even. Things started to come together for them. There was a swagger there. They were ready for this competition and skated well.”
Pairs: (l-r) Lindsay Weinstein/Jacob Simon, Joy Weinberg/Maximiliano Fernandez, Meiryla Findley/Austin Hale, Madeleine Gallagher/Justin Highgate-Brutman; Ice Dance: (l-r) Rachel Parsons/Michael Parsons, Lorraine McNamara/Quinn Carpenter, Elliana Pogrebinsky/Alex Benoit, Christina Carreira/Anthony Ponomarenko
Ladies: (l-r) Vivian Le, Emily Chan, Rebecca Peng, Megan Wessenberg Men: (l-r) Kevin Shum, Tomoki Hiwatashi, Aleksei Krasnozhon, Paolo Borromeo
MEDALISTS
LADIES gold | Emily Chan silver | Vivian Le bronze | Megan Wessenberg pewter | Rebecca Peng
MEN gold | Tomoki Hiwatashi
silver | Kevin Shum bronze | Aleksei Krasnozhon pewter | Paolo Borromeo
PAIRS gold | Joy Weinberg/
Maximiliano Fernandez silver | Lindsay Weinstein/ Jacob Simon bronze | Meiryla Findley/ Austin Hale pewter | Madeleine Gallagher/ Justin Highgate-Brutman
DANCE gold | Lorraine McNamara/
Quinn Carpenter silver | Rachel Parsons/ Michael Parsons bronze | Elliana Pogrebinsky/ Alex Benoit pewter | Christina Carreira/ Anthony Ponomarenko
38 MARCH 2016
PHOTOS BY JAY ADEFF/U.S. FIGURE SKATING
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