What's your top 5?

For me it's :

1) Wagner sp

2) Cain Leduc sp

3) Hubell Donohue sp

4) Chock Bates sp

5) Hawayek Baker sd

Jason Brown LP: persevering through pain to give us such a lovely program.

Nathan Chen SP: because the SP is where Nathan shows us he actually has some artistry and performance chops.

Sean Rabbitt LP: I mean, really, how can you *not* love it?

Deanna Stellato/Nate Bartholomay SP: I mean really, how can you not love that story and their reaction as well?:gclap:

Chock/Bates LD: I used to like other teams more, but these guys are bringing it and trying new things. :cool2:

And so many of the men: Grant, Jordan Moeller, Andrew T. Yes!:agree:

1. Karen Chen's long. I love that piece of music, and this made me see her skating in a new light and won me over as a fan.
2. Ashley's long. So beautiful, and oh so close to winning.
3. Chock and Bates free dance
4. Nathan's long
5. Jason's long

1. The men. Seriously. There were enjoyable performances from every warm-up group: It was nice to see Shotaro do a nice skate (even if it was POTO), Dennis Pham had such a serene and beautiful program (and made a Cher song bearable!), Max put a good fight, Sean was entertaining and fun, Alexander had a beautiful program and the Peter Gabriel music is on point, Andrew attacked his skate well, Jordan made a nice comeback after being out from injury last year, Jason did a beautful program under uncertainty, Nathan and his five quads, and Vincent did great despite having to go after him, as did Grant having to go after Jason (and a second pewter, yay!) and even those Ross made mistakes, he still skated that program beautifully. So instead of taking all my spots with men, I'll just take one and say hooray for everybody!
2. Shibutanis SD.- Maia danced her heart out!
3. Chock and Bates FD- I'm a Shibs stan, as many know, but they definitely deserved the win in the FD.
4. Caroline Zhang FS - The 3Lo-3Lo
5. Stellato/Bartholomay SP - As I said elsewhere, I wish she took up pairs earlier. She's a natural and they seem to mesh so well!

Honorable mentions: Ashley Wagner FS, Karen Chen's SP, Cain/LeDuc SP, Hubbell/Donahue SD

Mine, not necessarily in any particular order.

1) Alex Johnson's FS. So balanced and my favorite from Sunday. I was impressed.
2) Caroline Zhang's FS. I'm so proud of her for placing 5th in her comeback! And her dress was beautiful.
3) Cain/LeDuc & Stellato/Bartholomay SPs. Making me excited for the future of US Pairs.
4) Livvy Shilling's SP. Definitely impressed me, even without considering it was her first ever Nationals.
5) Shib's SD. I just love the twizzles!

Honorable mentions:

Ladies: Ashley's everything. Mariah's FS, Tessa's SP, Karen's everything, Mirai's SP
Men: Nathan's FS for sheer technical prowess, Ross's SP, Jason's FS, Sean Rabbitt's FS
Pairs: Denney/Frazier's FS
Dance: Hubbell/Donohue's everything, Pogrebinsky/Benoit's FD

I second Caroline Zhang. True, she cannot rise any higher until she improves her speed, and her in-betweens were more like resting than skating.

Still, in the last few years, every time she took the ice I prepared myself for "Oh, Caroline. I feel so bad for you."

Instead, she nailed every jump with assurance and precision, threw in a couple of trademarked spins, and Bob's your uncle!!

Caroline and Grant together got a joint "3 Olympic spots" score: 5+4 = 9 <13.