INTERMEDIA TE “I think she’s on a good path. She had only
one triple jump, but has good GOEs, good com- ponents. She has the whole package. Te other jumps will come and she’ll be someone to be reck- oned with.”
Ariela Masarsky (DuPage FSC) landed five triple jumps in her program to “Moonlight Sona- ta” en route to 120.55 points and the bronze med- al. Te Glenbrook (Illinois) High School fresh- man is coached by Alex Ouriashev, who coached two-time U.S. champion Gracie Gold early in her career.
“It could have gone better but it was prob- ably my best long program of the season,” Ma- sarsky said. “It was the first time putting the triple loop into my program.” Zhang, the pewter medalist, won the free
skate by completing six triple jumps — three in combination — including a triple Sal- chow-loop-triple Salchow that generated an
Stephanie Ciarochi
event-best 10.52 points for a single element. Te high school freshman was eighth after the short program, but recorded 83.58 for her free skate.
MEN BY MIMI MCKINNIS
When you ask Ilia Malinin (Washington FSC) if he thought he could win back-to-back U.S. titles, the answer is simply, “Yes.” At just 12 years old, Malinin is now a two- time U.S. champion, following his juvenile title in 2016 with the intermediate title in Kansas City. But Malinin didn’t just win, he took home gold in convincing fashion. Bringing a 2.99-point lead into the free skate, his total score of 125.44 was nearly 14 points higher than his nearest challeng- er.
“He likes to compete, loves the pressure,” his father Roman Skorniakov, who coaches Ilia with
Ilia Malinin
wife Tatiana Malinina, said. “It was really hard out there but he pulled out an awesome skate.” Performing his free skate to music from the
Puss in Boots soundtrack, Malinin landed three tri- ple jumps in the final segment, including a triple Salchow that received bonus points for being in the second half of the program, despite a slightly wobbled landing. He earned 80.59 points for the segment, nearly 10 points ahead of silver medalist Nicholas Hsieh (SC of Wilmington). In third place after the short program, Hsieh pulled himself up a spot with a strong free skate to “Piano Concerto No. 2” by Sergei Rachmani- noff. In an on-ice career that spans fewer than four years, Hsieh has already gained valuable experience, bouncing back from a disappointing sixth-place finish as a juvenile to stand on the in- termediate podium with 111.66 points. “I was really motivated after not having a good skate at nationals last year,” Hsieh said. “I
SKATING 57
JAY ADEFF/U.S. FIGURE SKATING
JAY ADEFF/U.S. FIGURE SKATING
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