US Nationals 2015- Senior Men

The US Nationals was far more dramatic than the Canadian Nationals. The US men's event was indicative of the questions following the event about scoring.

Jason Brown won his first US title, though some question the validity of the scoring. Jason Brown is a strong skater, but the consistency that everyone loved last season is not the same, and the charismatic programs of last year are gone. While still consistent and entertaining to watch, Brown's skating is not as technically difficult as many of the men he competed against, and will not stand up on the world stage as well as it did at nationals with the inflation of his score.

Adam Rippon, however is attempting the most difficult jump in figure skating, and though not fully rotating it, he is still significantly farther along in terms of technical difficulty than Brown. Like Brown, Adam Rippon has phenomenal skating skills and skillful interpretation. He doesn't have the same energetic performances that Brown does that draw the crowd in with their excitement, but rather has a quiet power and graceful expression, which, coupled with his skating skills and technical elements, should give him the advantage. In the freeskate, these things paid off with a monumental score well over Brown's.The problem arises in the scoring of the short program. With the randomized draw for skate order in the short program, Rippon, who skated 6^th was scored low when compared to the other men at nationals. His short program score of 84.71 is a very competitive score for international competitions, but the nationals inflation was not applied to him in the way it was for Brown, whose short program earned him 93.36. When analyzing the GOEs of the two programs, the judges were far more generous with Brown, who skated 13th out of 20, than with Rippon, who skated 6th. When we consider the traditional way skaters are drawn for international competitions, particularly on the Grand Prix circuit, skaters perform in a seated draw, with the top skaters skating last. This mentality plays into judging when skaters do not perform in a seated draw. Judges expect the skating to improve over time, so they leave room for the later skaters to improve on the scores of  those who skated earlier. In the end, Rippon lost the title because of bad luck in the draw. Had he skated later, he probably would have won the title, if the 6 point difference in the freeskate is any indication. Rippon lost by only 2.5 points, which would have been made up by receiving the same nationals inflation that Jason Brown did. 


Joshua Farris had a strong finish, finishing in third overall and second in the short program. He is slotted to attend both the Four Continents Championships and the World Championships. He is a consistent skater, with a style similar to that of Adam Rippon.

Max Aaron needed a new short program. It is clear his coaching staff knew that something was not quite right with the program, deciding to change the version of Footloose he skated to, but this really did not solve Max Aaron's short program problem. The freeskate he performed is much more in the realm of what Max Aaron does well. Unlike the top three men, he is not really a performer. This is a big factor in why he is not being sent to Four Continents or Worlds. He is not consistent enough, and unlike the others, he does not have the other skills necessary to make up for any technical mistakes. Next season, he needs to stick to what he does best, while also improving his skating skills and interpretation so that going forward he has the skills to make up for any technical mistakes he makes, This was probably the intention behind the Footloose short program, but it seems to be a failed experiment.

Jeremy Abbott, a former national champion did not live up to the expectations many had of him, and that he likely had of himself. He finished just outside of fourth place, but was a long way off the top of the podium. His total of 258.29 fell quite far short of Jason Brown's 274.98. He will not be attending the Four Continents  or World Championships, and people are questioning if he is returning and if it is worthwhile for him to return, It seems sometimes that Jeremy's best is not enough to compete against the top men, though he is a pleasure to watch. There is an ease to his skating between the elements that is quite beautiful, but when the jumps don't work, his programs tend to fall flat.