Novice Competition Begins at 2019 U.S. Championships

Novice Men's Short Program
William Annis (Yarmouth Ice Club) landed a triple Axel and got the crowd fired up at Detroit Skating Club with his fun rendition of Roy Orbison's classic "Oh, Pretty Woman" en route to the lead after the novice men's short program on Monday night, Jan. 21, at the 2019 GEICO U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

He posted a score of 61.27 and leads Ilia Malinin (Washington FSC) by less than two points entering Tuesday's free skate set for 11 a.m. ET. Joseph Klein (Skokie Valley SC) sits third, a half-point behind Malinin.

"This year, I wanted a fun short program," Annis said. "I looked at a lot of pieces and found this one and really liked it."

"I was most pleased with my triple Axel because sometimes I rush it in competition, but this time I took my time and landed it," he added.

Annis, the 2017 U.S. juvenile champion, left the locker room after the event wearing a Boston Celtics coat. He's a big Boston sports fan and he rooted on his New England Patriots to yet another AFC title on Sunday.

"I was more stressed about that [AFC Championship Game] than competing honestly," he said.

Malinin delivered a strong and entertaining performance to music from Les Miserables by Josh Groban. He missed the U.S. Championships last year because of injuries, which limited his ability to practice.

"I thought [the program] was good, but I kind of messed up on the footwork," he said. "I just didn't think about it and kept going."

Malinin said he feels he's a better skater both from a performance standpoint and as a jumper than he was a year ago. He added that he does gymnastics, which helps his strength for skating.

Klein made the most of his short program to "Dream On" by the cover band Blacktop Mojo.

"This year, I really love my short program," Klein said. "I get to express so much in this smooth rock version of "Dream On." It's super fun. I even got to meet the band that did the cover of it. They were doing a concert in Colorado while I was at the Broadmoor Open. We showed them a video and they posted it on their website."

Representing Strongsville Skating Club, Matthew Nielsen sits in fourth with 57.83 points.

Novice Ladies Short Program
Calista Choi (Skokie Valley SC) and Isabelle Inthisone (DuPage FSC) took a page from the star at their home rink in Buffalo Grove, Illinois — 2018 U.S. champion and Olympic

Team Event bronze medalist Bradie Tennell — to finish first and third respectively in the novice ladies short program on Monday afternoon, Jan. 21, at the 

Choi performed to "Danza Mora Vocal" by Dr. Samy Farag from his Classic Egyptian Belly Dancing Music album. She skated an entertaining and clean program, which opened with a triple Lutz-double toe loop combination. It featured Level 4 spins and footwork.

Her score of 56.84 is three points more than second-place Alena Budko (Winterhawks FSC) entering Tuesday's free skate.

"Bradie provides great inspiration for many skaters," Choi said. "She trains hard and that's what I try to do as well, and I feel her skating pushes me to do better."

Inthisone skated to a softer piece titled "I Dreamed a Dream" by Birdie. She floated between elements and finished with a score of 52.21.

"I had a different short program earlier this season, but my coach didn't like it so we decided to switch it to something that suited me better," Inthisone said.

Like Choi, Inthisone loves sharing ice time with Tennell.

"She motivates me to become a better skater every day," Inthisone said. "She is great to be around."

Budko performed a fan-pleasing program to Taylor Swift's "Look What You Made Me Do." She fell into character immediately and did a nice job of covering the entire sheet of ice.

"I love performing for people," Budko said. "I used to do ballroom dancing, so it's a big part of me; I just like to show my skating off."

All Year Figure Skating Club's Audrey Ignacio sits close behind Inthisone in fourth place after the short program with 52.15 points. The ladies free skate is the first event tomorrow, Jan. 22, starting at 9:15 a.m. ET for a second full day of novice competition.

Novice Pairs Short Program
Cate Fleming and Jedidiah Isbell from the Skating Club of Boston currently sit in first place after a clean short program. Skating to a modern version of "Singin' in the Rain," the

2018 U.S. intermediate silver medalists executed a throw triple Salchow and side-by-side double Axels to score a season's best of 49.48.

"The best part was landing the throw triple Sal," Fleming said. "We attempted it at sectionals, but it went way better here."

Isabelle Goldstein and Keyton Bearinger from the Detroit Skating Club follow close behind in second with a score of 48.35 points, also a season's best. After a stumble on the death spiral, the 15- and 20-year-olds nailed a throw triple Salchow and executed four Level 4 elements. They also achieved the highest components score of the event.

"The competition definitely is not over, and we're ready to fight in the free skate," Goldstein said. "We're going to skate with speed and enjoy ourselves, and we're going to nail some awesome elements."

This is the duo's fourth appearance at U.S. Championships.

Currently in third place are Anastasiia Smirnova (Yarmouth Ice Club) and Danil Siianytsia (All Year Figure Skating Club). The team executed a Level 4 combination spin and lift, earning positive Grades of Execution on six of seven elements to score 44.92 points.

Less than one point behind in fourth place is team Sarah Burden (Broadmoor Skating Club) and Jake Pagano (Nashville Figure Skating Club). The team also earned positive Grades of Execution on six of their seven elements to score 44.43 points.

Novice Pattern Dance
The novice pattern dance opened up the novice competition Monday morning at Detroit Skating Club in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

Representing the Washington Figure Skating Club, Elizabeth Tkachenko and Alexei Kiliakov currently lead the field in first place after scoring 55.23 points total for both pattern dances - the Starlight Waltz and Paso Doble.
 

Skating to "Cinderella Waltz" for the Starlight Waltz and a "Paso version" of "My Heart Will Go On" by Celine Dion from Titanic, the duo said the biggest challenges they overcame were keeping up with the Starlight Waltz music and executing the edge change in the Paso Doble.

"We did everything really well and better than usual," Kiliakov said. "We just really like performing and dancing."

The 12- and 13-year-olds have been skating together for six years and already have five U.S. Championships under their belts, including the 2015 U.S. juvenile and 2016 intermediate dance titles. Last year, the team placed second at Mentor Torun Cup in the advanced novice event.

Jordan Lin, 14, and Morgan Sletten, 14, also from the Washington Figure Skating Club are currently in second just .03 points behind the leaders.

"We were solid, very solid," Sletten said. "The second half of the Paso was definitely the most challenging, with the quick crossovers and holding the edges."

"It went very well," Lin added.

This is the team's fourth year at the U.S. Championships. After placing 10th in novice ice dance last year, Sletten said they are looking forward to skating clean.

Sitting in third are Layla Karnes (All Year Figure Skating Club) and Kirill Aksenov (Skokie Valley Skating Club) with 49.81 points.

Elliana and Ethan Peal from the Skokie Valley Skating Club round out the top four teams after the pattern dance event. The 2018 U.S. intermediate champions scored a season's best 47.56 points.