2019-20 U.S. Ladies Figure Skating | Page 144 | Golden Skate

2019-20 U.S. Ladies Figure Skating

chuckm

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 31, 2003
Country
United-States
From reports, the Warsaw ice was badly chopped up when Bradie started her program--she slid into a fall as she set up for her first jump. She did well to continue as she did, making small changes to make up for the lost element. She is one tough competitor.
 

macy

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2011
A really nice post from Gracie's dress designer Brad Griffies on her performances this weekend. He also added this tidbit on her dress change from Regionals :)

On another note, I’m sure you noticed the costume change from Regionals to Sectionals. Gracie has toned up a bit from training since Regionals and the dresses became too big. Her wanting to be loyal to me(which I GREATLY appreciate) and wanted to wear my dresses for Sectionals, scoured very last minute for anyone who may have a dress of mine that would work. She found two VERY vintage BG dresses from about 15 years ago from one of my past customers(thanks Paige!). However I will be making her look Fierce AF for Greensboro, so watch out HENNYS! Tink ��

https://www.instagram.com/p/B5BCo2fgF7v/
 

Mishaminion

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 12, 2014
Sounds like she has been working very hard to her conditioning, and I liked the new-not-so-new dresses.

Looking forward to whatever he comes up with for her to wear at Nationals!
 

TeeSaurus

Rinkside
Joined
Feb 14, 2018
Looking forward to whatever he comes up with for her to wear at Nationals!
I always thought Gracie looked badass in her all black training clothes and think those would go so much better with the FS music than a conventional dress.

But I'm at least realistic in that I know that not many people are going to agree with me on this one 😅
 

lusterfan

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 23, 2018
A really nice post from Gracie's dress designer Brad Griffies on her performances this weekend. He also added this tidbit on her dress change from Regionals :)

On another note, I’m sure you noticed the costume change from Regionals to Sectionals. Gracie has toned up a bit from training since Regionals and the dresses became too big. Her wanting to be loyal to me(which I GREATLY appreciate) and wanted to wear my dresses for Sectionals, scoured very last minute for anyone who may have a dress of mine that would work. She found two VERY vintage BG dresses from about 15 years ago from one of my past customers(thanks Paige!). However I will be making her look Fierce AF for Greensboro, so watch out HENNYS! Tink ��

https://www.instagram.com/p/B5BCo2fgF7v/

Thank you for sharing! That speaks a lot about Gracie's character and I admire the extra effort she put in to remain loyal to her original costumer. I don't want to veer on the more toxic side given Gracie's past struggles, but it's nice to see that she's actively working on her conditioning and getting more fit. The free skate is very demanding, and she will need the extra conditioning if she plans to add back more triples.
 

natsulian

Final Flight
Joined
Oct 14, 2018
I hope Gracie works on cleanliness for Nationals. Putting together two clean programs regardless of the difficulty will be a major push forward if she can accomplish such a feat. Since the 3F seems to be her nemesis as of late, I think putting it in the second half of the program is not pragmatic.

- 2A, 3Lz+2T, 3Lz, 2A / 3S+2Lo, 3Lo+2T, and 3T

Having her most consistent jumps in the layout and leaving the 3-3s and 3F for next season would be more ideal. Just get out two solid and clean programs and build from there. Best of luck to her, she is SO courageous.
 

drivingmissdaisy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
I hope Gracie works on cleanliness for Nationals. Putting together two clean programs regardless of the difficulty will be a major push forward if she can accomplish such a feat. Since the 3F seems to be her nemesis as of late, I think putting it in the second half of the program is not pragmatic.

- 2A, 3Lz+2T, 3Lz, 2A / 3S+2Lo, 3Lo+2T, and 3T

Having her most consistent jumps in the layout and leaving the 3-3s and 3F for next season would be more ideal. Just get out two solid and clean programs and build from there. Best of luck to her, she is SO courageous.

She really needs the 3-3 so she doesn't get buried after the SP. We've seen her do them in practice and warm-up, and conditioning shouldn't be an obstacle in the SP. It's important for her to do as much difficulty as she can because a higher placement will help secure international assignments for next season.
 

lusterfan

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 23, 2018
She really needs the 3-3 so she doesn't get buried after the SP. We've seen her do them in practice and warm-up, and conditioning shouldn't be an obstacle in the SP. It's important for her to do as much difficulty as she can because a higher placement will help secure international assignments for next season.

I'm not sure she's shooting for the podium anyway. Really depends on what her goal is for Nationals, but I think two clean skates is what she should strive for. Skating clean will do wonders for her mental game and confidence, whereas adding too much difficulty too fast could give her more mental blocks.

If she's landing clean 3-3's in program runthroughs then great! If not, 3+2 would be more than suffice, even in the SP if everything else is clean.
 

mrrice

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 9, 2014
:eek:topic:

I just saw a news report that Sasha Cohen is expecting a child. Has this been reported and I missed it? Congratulations!!
 

natsulian

Final Flight
Joined
Oct 14, 2018
If Gracie does well enough at Nationals to place within the Top 8/10, I'm sure the US Federation will send her off to a "timely" Challenger event so she does not have to compete through Regionals and Sectionals next season. If Gracie manages to complete a 4 to 5 triple program and brings back the speed, improved choreography, and does not fall, I think judges will score her within the 175-180 range. Enough to place well but also enough to motivate her to work harder. Gracie's end goal is not clear, but based on past interviews, it seems as though she's bent on being back on the Worlds team and possibly making it to 2022 Beijing. I know it's premature to talk about something that's two years away, but it is exciting to see such a top echelon athlete re-starting the engines. Wherever the road takes her, I hope Gracie can look back and say, "I am proud of myself. I did everything I could and am proud of that fact." That, in my opinion, is worth more than gold.
 

lusterfan

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 23, 2018
If Gracie does well enough at Nationals to place within the Top 8/10, I'm sure the US Federation will send her off to a "timely" Challenger event so she does not have to compete through Regionals and Sectionals next season. If Gracie manages to complete a 4 to 5 triple program and brings back the speed, improved choreography, and does not fall, I think judges will score her within the 175-180 range. Enough to place well but also enough to motivate her to work harder. Gracie's end goal is not clear, but based on past interviews, it seems as though she's bent on being back on the Worlds team and possibly making it to 2022 Beijing. I know it's premature to talk about something that's two years away, but it is exciting to see such a top echelon athlete re-starting the engines. Wherever the road takes her, I hope Gracie can look back and say, "I am proud of myself. I did everything I could and am proud of that fact." That, in my opinion, is worth more than gold.

Not to jump the gun, but Bradie and Mariah are looking strong enough to potentially bring back a 3rd Worlds spot for next year. That bodes well for Gracie if she's really trying to get back onto the Worlds team. If there's only two spots again, it's hard to see her surpass Bradie and Mariah soon. I sure hope she steadily and healthily makes progress!
 

Nathan13

Medalist
Joined
Dec 1, 2015
Not to jump the gun, but Bradie and Mariah are looking strong enough to potentially bring back a 3rd Worlds spot for next year. That bodes well for Gracie if she's really trying to get back onto the Worlds team. If there's only two spots again, it's hard to see her surpass Bradie and Mariah soon. I sure hope she steadily and healthily makes progress!

Was thinking the same thing regarding 3 spots...3 Russians and 1 Japanese seem pretty much out of reach, but after that all bets are off. 3 spots will be crucial for the Olympic season as well, since Alysa will likely be taking one of them...
 

lusterfan

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 23, 2018
Assuming the the Russian ladies and Rika place Top 4, Bradie and Mariah's main competition would be: Kaori Sakamoto, Satoko Miyahara, Elizabet Tursynbaeva, Young You, and Eunsoo Lim.

Bradie and Mariah have a realistic shot at finishing #6 and #7. It's a stacked field just to make Top 10 though, so I wouldn't blame them if they just fall short. I'd just feel bad for the American ladies next year who may yet again not be able to challenge Bradie-Mariah for the 2 spots (Ting, Hanna, Amber, Starr, Karen, and Gracie).
 

mrrice

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 9, 2014
Was thinking the same thing regarding 3 spots...3 Russians and 1 Japanese seem pretty much out of reach, but after that all bets are off. 3 spots will be crucial for the Olympic season as well, since Alysa will likely be taking one of them...

Exactly. I love Gracie and if she can get back to 2016 form....She has a real shot at making the team. She's improving with every outing so all we can do is hope for the best and cheer like crazy!!!
 

okokok1777

Rinkside
Joined
Feb 16, 2018
Not to jump the gun, but Bradie and Mariah are looking strong enough to potentially bring back a 3rd Worlds spot for next year. That bodes well for Gracie if she's really trying to get back onto the Worlds team. If there's only two spots again, it's hard to see her surpass Bradie and Mariah soon. I sure hope she steadily and healthily makes progress!

It will be interesting to see if the US can regain that third spot. Barring major errors, the top 4 spots will probably be filled by the Russians and Rika. Bradie & Mariah are gonna need either a 5-8 or 6-7 place finish against skaters like Kaori, Satoko & You Young (assuming that they all make their respective world teams) to get that spot. It won't be an easy task but it's definitely possible.

I'm incredibly impressed by how these two young women, who are both in their early 20's, have been able to keep up in these deep fields.
 

macy

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2011
If Gracie does well enough at Nationals to place within the Top 8/10, I'm sure the US Federation will send her off to a "timely" Challenger event so she does not have to compete through Regionals and Sectionals next season. If Gracie manages to complete a 4 to 5 triple program and brings back the speed, improved choreography, and does not fall, I think judges will score her within the 175-180 range. Enough to place well but also enough to motivate her to work harder. Gracie's end goal is not clear, but based on past interviews, it seems as though she's bent on being back on the Worlds team and possibly making it to 2022 Beijing. I know it's premature to talk about something that's two years away, but it is exciting to see such a top echelon athlete re-starting the engines. Wherever the road takes her, I hope Gracie can look back and say, "I am proud of myself. I did everything I could and am proud of that fact." That, in my opinion, is worth more than gold.

:clap: great post!

i too have been wondering what Gracie's goals are for nationals, now that she's made it. i hope she isn't focusing on a certain placement, but more on what is in her control. i also think it would be silly to try to go for a 3+3, she should just focus on putting out 2 solid programs. she still has a lot of work to do if she wants to aim for the podium next year, which i think she will need to in the lead up to 2022. next season is going to be really important for her to start making her mark again in US ladies. having 3 spots for the olympics is also going to be crucial for someone like Gracie with Alysa, Mariah, and Bradie already in the mix. who knows who else will be contending by then too- probably Ting and Hanna.

i wonder who besides Vincent and a personal trainer her team consists of right now. is she working with any choreographers or dance coaches regularly? does she have any other coaches besides Vincent?

i do hope she does well enough to get a challenger for next year, and maybe even the 3rd SA spot. she has to begin thinking long term and how to accomplish goals for next year as well, as her performances at nationals will determine much of that. i also hope she finds some smaller competitions to do after nationals too, i think she can only benefit from repeated exposure.
 

gkelly

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
How is the starting order determined for juniors at nationals?

Random draw for the short program.

https://www.usfsa.org/content/2019-20 Rulebook.pdf

2722 For the U.S. Collegiate Figure Skating Championships and all standard-track and adult-track qualifying competition events except the championship (senior) ladies, men’s, pair and ice dance events at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships (see rule 2721), there will be a random draw for starting order in the first segment of each event.
 
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