Hiwatashi claims crown on
ÿĄXL FMVXLHE] By Mimi McKinnis As the music of Charlie Chaplin fi lled
the Xcel Energy Center, Tomoki Hiwatashi ap- proached the fi rst element of his free skate — a triple Axel, which had eluded him in the short program, and in every other competition of his career. In the end, Hiwatashi not only landed the jump when it counted, he won his fourth U.S. title, and did both on his 16th birthday.
“I think he made a great present for
himself,” Hiwatashi’s coach, Alexan- der Ouriashev, said. “His fi rst tri- ple Axel and an almost clean program, a gold medal for his birth-
Kevin Shum
having fallen on both his triple Axel and Lutz combination. “For the free skate, I just told myself, ‘I’m going to do it for my family, and I’m going to do it for myself,’” Krasnozhon, who fi nished fourth in juniors last season, said. “You can’t ever give up. Sometimes things go quite diff erently than you expect them to go, but those are the times you have to get stronger and learn. Every failure is a new experience. You have to take them and con- tinue working until you reach your goals.” Krasnozhon, coached by Peter Cain and
Darlene Cain in Euless, Texas, fought for every point in his “Bolt” free skate, landing two triple Axels – one in combination with a double toe – to win the bronze medal with 176.21 points. Paolo Borromeo (Los Angeles FSC), the 2015 U.S. junior bronze medalist, fi nished fourth with 170.78 points.
day. I think this will be a great memory for him for the rest of his life.” T ree years prior, Hiwatashi (DuPage FSC)
was on a perfect upward trajectory. He won con- secutive titles at the juvenile, intermediate and novice levels from 2011 through 2013, and was named to Team USA, receiving an assignment to compete at the 2013 Junior Grand Prix Series event in Mexico City. While practicing at his in- ternational debut, Hiwatashi suff ered a fractured left ankle — an injury that cost him the chance to compete for his fourth-straight U.S. title. “I had sprained it in practice and was off
the ice for two weeks while it healed,” Hiwatashi said. “About two months later, I sprained it again. When I fractured it in Mexico, I was off the ice for three months, so that ankle basically kept me out for half the year.” Forced to regain his momentum, Hiwatashi,
who trains in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, returned to competition under the direction of Ouriashev at the 2015 Midwestern Sectional Championships, where he placed third, before concluding his sea- son with a fi fth-place fi nish in the junior ranks at the 2015 U.S. Championships. T is season, Hiwatashi placed fi fth and third at his JGP as- signments and qualifi ed for the 2016 U.S. Cham- pionships by way of a silver medal at the Mid- western Sectional. He reclaimed his place atop the podium in Saint Paul with a personal-best score of 202.73 points. “It’s been really hard to fi ght my way back,”
Hiwatashi said. “I’m just trying to do my best right now and come back little by little.” Kevin Shum earned the silver medal, main- taining his place on the junior men’s podium for a second straight year. He was happy to reclaim the
40 MARCH 2016
Tomoki Hiwatashi
second spot on the podi- um after relocating from California to Boston last
July to become a student at the Massachusetts Insti- tute of Technology (MIT). “I’m very proud be-
cause there have been a lot of changes in my life,” said Shum, who now represents T e Skating Club of Boston and trains with Mark Mitch- ell and Peter Johansson. “I didn’t really know what to expect when I took it all on, so being able to adjust to ev- erything, start to settle down and fi gure out how to train the way I need to — and go to school full time — has been hard, but I’m very happy. I love what I’m doing.” Shum landed seven triple
jumps in his free skate to music by
Sergei Rachmaninoff , pulling himself up from a third-place short program with 187.95 total points.
Aleksei Krasnozhon came to Saint Paul hun-
gry for a medal, having set personal-best scores across the board en route to the 2016 Midwest- ern Sectional title. Winning the event by more than 34 points over silver medalist Hiwatashi, Krasnozhon (Dallas FSC) was surprised to fi nd himself in seventh place after the short program,
Aleksei Krasnozhon
PHOTOS BY JAY ADEFF/U.S. FIGURE SKATING
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