Ashley Wagner reclaimed her national title in Greensboro North Carolina, taking a victory over Gracie Gold by a wide margin. Though I am personally not a fan of her freeskate this season, with much of the same choreography this season as the program she used in the last two seasons with the past freeskate, it is clear that she has the best programs in terms of PCSs, and her technical flaws have lessened significantly over the course of the season. However, the judges still seemed generous in her technical judging.
Gracie Gold finished in a solid second place well behind Ashley Wagner and with a solid 6 point lead over Karen Chen. It seems that Gold's performance, especially in the short program was judged more harshly than Wagner's. Though Gold's programs this season were less enticing and with the freeskate she fell into the trap of skating to The Phantom of the Opera, like far too many skaters this season. The programs tend to fall a little flat, they don't have anything to entice the judges into being more forgiving, like they are with Wagner's programs, despite the fact that the choreography in Wagner's freeskate in recycled from the past 2 years.
Karen Chen was a bit of a surprise to those of us who did not watch the US sectionals before nationals. She is still competing at the Junior level, and will stand a great chance at taking the Junior World title this year, and in the future, should she continue to skate like she did at nationals, she may be one of the US ladies looking for a world title in the next few seasons.
Polina Edmunds has not been as good this season as she has in the past, a growth spurt has been a major setback this season, and the greatest testament to her future in the sport will be how she recovers next season. She is beginning to recover now, and has managed to peak at just the right time, but her consistency this season has not been good, and her programs feel very young and do not fit the profile of a senior ladies competitor. The freeskate in particular feels very much like a program that would be given to young girls as they start competing, which is a style most girls grow out of quickly. Edmunds is younger than most of the other ladies competing internationally for the US, and rather than creating mature programs that suit the style of senior ladies and pushing Polina to mature as a performer, her freeskate this year is far too young and stands out in a negative way in many international competitions. As she gets older, the programs will need to mature, and the sooner that happens, the better.
Mirai Nagasu had a tragic free skate, after a collision with the boards continuing to skate, but losing the performance and the jumps. Though she appeared to be in significant pain, even pausing to grab her leg mid-performance, she did not stop her program and take the three point deduction, which likely would have made a huge difference in her overall score. She has not been the most consistent skater, and her jumps are not as good as they could be, so the loss of performance quality as well as the loss of technical points from all of the mistakes she made left her with a dismal score and a
10th place finish overall, placing 12th in the freeskate. Her finish is well below her potential and she could have been far closer to the top had she made the decision to take the three point deduction to recover from her fall.
