NOVICE MEN Naumov stands tall
en route to title BY MIMI MCKINNIS
Maxim Naumov’s season resembled his free skate at the 2017 Prudential U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Both started out shaky. Both required perseverance. Both finished with a U.S. novice title.
After winning the novice bronze medal at the 2016 U.S. Championships, Naumov (Char- ter Oak FSC) was assigned to his first interna- tional competition, winning the novice title at Gardena Spring Trophy in Bolzano, Italy. From there, he encountered a string of minor injuries his father and coach Vadim Naumov pins to a three-inch growth spurt. “When we came back from Italy, he really
started to grow,” said Vadim, the 1994 world pairs champion with Maxim’s mom, Evgenia Shishkova. “Ten everything fell apart completely. Within the month, he had lost pretty much all of his jumps. He was really struggling and had all of these aches and small injuries as a result of his growing. He finally got on track, but it was too late to be ready for any summer competitions. He’s competed at regionals, sectionals and nation- als this year. Tat’s it.”
After adjusting to his newfound stature and getting his training back on track, Naumov showed up in Kansas City ready to go with his eyes set on gold. “Before I even skated today, I woke up and I thought ‘Tis is it. Today is going to be the day,’” Naumov said after his free skate. “I knew what I had to do and I had my mind made up.” First after the short program, Naumov opened
his “Spanish Flame” free skate with a wobbly triple Lutz-double toe loop that received negative GOEs across the board. As he did with his season, Nau- mov persevered, executing an otherwise clean per- formance that included seven triple jumps. “You have to leave the past behind,” Nau-
mov said. “Everything that happened in the past? Forget about it, because you can’t change it. Tat’s what I did this season and that’s what I did after the Lutz.” “It’s been a tough season, but I’m so proud of
how he’s handled it,” Vadim said. “He’s learned to keep fighting and never give up. Obviously win- ning is a great accomplishment, but as his coach and as his dad, I’m more proud of the way he pulled himself out of that tough spot. He pulled himself back together, and that’s a bigger accom- plishment to me.” Naumov finished the week with 177.85
points — more than 11 points ahead of silver medalist Joseph Kang (University of Delaware FSC) and more than 28 over bronze medalist Dinh Tran (SC of San Francisco). Kang experienced growing pains of his
own this season, both in height and in skating levels. As the 2016 U.S. intermediate champion, he admittedly felt extra pressure to continue his success, despite battling growth spurts and the muscular imbalances that followed.
46 MARCH 2017
Maxim Naumov
Joseph Kang “Joseph’s had a strong season, but an unfor-
tunate time between sectionals and now,” Kang’s coach, Pam Gregory, said. “Because he was so well-trained, I think that pulled him through. We’ve had to take it very slow, but I’m very proud of him for doing what he did here.” “I’m proud of what I did today, especially
with what I’ve been through and with moving up a level from last year,” Kang added. Kang earned a total score of 166.59. Tird after the short program, Tran survived a rocky free skate and finished with a total score
Dinh Tran
of 149.41 points. Despite a popped Lutz and a fall on a triple flip in the final segment, the Cali- fornia native was excited to finish on the podium, a victory sweetened by the memory of failing to qualify for last year’s championships. “It definitely motivated me to come back
stronger,” Tran said. “I’ve been taking my training seriously and not fooling around as much.” JoonSoo Kim (DuPage FSC) rounded out
the top four, moving up from a fifth-best short program to finish the week with 147.95 points.
PHOTOS BY JAY ADEFF/U.S. FIGURE SKATING
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