First Two Junior Champions Named at Little Caesars Arena

Junior Men's Free Skate
Ryan Dunk of the Baltimore Figure Skating Club exited the ice at Little Caesars Arena after his free skate at the 2019 GEICO U.S. Figure Skating Championships with four men still to compete.

A little while later, he was crowned the U.S. junior men's champion.

Dunk earned a score of 132.85, winning the free skate with his program set to music from the La La Land soundtrack, and an overall score of 201.43. It was his first time scoring over 200.

He was so nervous prior to the start of his program that his coach made him take several deep breaths. But as soon as he hit his first jump, a triple Salchow, he settled in.

Dunk included a triple flip-triple toe loop combination in his program for the first time, and completed it successfully.

"I was really happy about that. I think a little too happy, because I fell on my Lutz, which was my only really big mistake," Dunk said with a laugh. "Then, my coach yelled at me

[from the boards]. He was like, 'Come on, don't give in to the mistake.' So I finished strong."

That strong finish earned the White Hall, Maryland, native his first national title at any level. He placed fourth in 2018 and third in 2017, both as a junior.

Nonetheless, he wasn't entirely satisfied with his performance.

"I had some bobbles in both my programs, but overall, I think there was way more good than bad," Dunk said. "And it's nationals, so it's hard to not get overzealous."

Prior to learning he was the new national champion, Dunk was asked how reaching the podium would make him feel: "I would be very happy, because it'd be like all my hard work paid off."

In second place was Dinh Tran of the Skating Club of San Francisco, rebounding from a fourth-place showing in the short program to duplicate his U.S. Championships result from 2018. He earned 131.19 points for his free skate, set to a Woodkid medley, and 196.03 points overall.

"I was pretty confident going out," Tran said. "I had really good morning practices and I felt a little more relaxed than yesterday. Throughout the program, I focused on my technique and tried to think every jump out and I think that helped a lot."

Tran was also attempting to rebound from a string of injuries: three sprained ankles in three weeks. The injury, which occurred heading into sectionals, forced him to rely more on his technique, and it paid off in his free skate: he landed his triple Axel, which he'd missed in his short program.

"I knew if I relaxed more and not muscle through each jump, that my ankle would be okay," Tran said. "I just told myself to basically be more relaxed when I go into jumps, and I know I can do every jump. It's not like I haven't done it before. And I understand it's a challenge. It's kind of weird - when it's a challenge, I'm more motivated to do well."

After his first-place finish in the short program, Joonsoo Kim of the Los Angeles Figure Skating Club placed third overall with 187.95 points. He finished fourth in the free skate with 117.23 points for his program to "Concierto de Aranjuez" by Joaquin Rodrigo.

"I came into today in a position that I've never been in before, which is first after the short program in a group of junior men that is very strong," Kim said. "Considering that, I feel like I was able to handle my nerves pretty well. And even though I didn't have the skate that I wanted out there, I fought for everything and I'm proud of that, and I can have that as a basis off of which I can move forward."

Kim, who is studying neuroscience as a freshman at UCLA, is something of a surprise medalist. He has one prior U.S. Championships medal to his name – pewter at the novice level in 2017, yet he had some of the most vocal supporters in the crowd, with several signs cheering him on.

"It means everything to me," Kim said of the support. "It shows that my skating journey isn't just for me, and that I have family and friends out there who come to support me."

Rounding out the podium in fourth place is Peter Liu of the Skating Club of Wilmington. Liu earned 117.99 points for his free skate to "Rhapsody on a Theme" by Paganini, and 182.32 points overall. He was in fifth place after the short program but earned the pewter medal by virtue of his third-place finish in the free skate.

"It wasn't my best performance, but for the past few years, when it came to the long, I cracked under the pressure," Liu said. "This year, I had to fight those demons out. So going into the long, I was like, I can't have a repeat of the last two years. It wasn't perfect, but I fought my way through it."

While the program may not have lived up to Liu's own standards, it's a remarkable performance for a skater who nearly walked away from the sport this season after a poor showing at a Junior Grand Prix. Following some talks with his coach, Liu decided to continue skating for himself, because he enjoys it.

"This year was very different from my past few experiences where I came to the arena and really felt like I was comfortable with the environment," Liu said. "I really felt like I was confident and comfortable."
 

Junior Ladies Free Skate
When short program leader Gabriella Izzo (Mitchell Johansson Method) popped the second jumping pass early in her free skate on Wednesday night, she didn't panic.

Instead, she calmly and methodically went to work. The 17-year-old from Brighton, Massachusetts, went on to deliver an otherwise flawless performance to "La Vie En Rose" en route to a score of 172.42 and the junior ladies title.

Izzo's rinkmate in Revere, Massachusetts, Emilia Murdock (SC of San Francisco), earned the bronze medal with 154.48 points, while Audrey Shin (SC of New York) garnered the silver medal with 165.61 points.

"I've been working a long time on [planned combo triple flip-single Euler-triple Salchow] and at every single competition, I've done a double Salchow," Izzo said after her skate. "So I was like, 'I want to get this done' and it just slipped away from me."

Izzo ended up doubling the flip and missing the combination, but the early error pushed her through the rest of her performance: "After that, I was like, 'That's it, I'm just going to get the rest of this program done,' and I started checking off boxes. The only thing going through my head was just keep going."

Those boxes she checked off included three more triple jumps, in addition to her opening triple Lutz combination, two double Axels, Level 4 spins and Level 4 footwork.

"Her greatest strength is her determination," her coach Mark Mitchell said. "On a day-to-day basis, she works her butt off."

Murdock, meanwhile, didn't fare as well in her free skate to "Moon River," but the fact she made it back to the U.S. Championships and to the final warm-up group was a major accomplishment in itself.

"Ever since last year,  I've tried to get myself back on track and find why I love skating and why I wanted to keep on doing it," Murdock said. "Going into this season, I just decided to work really hard for it and enjoy every step of the way."

The Skating Club of San Francisco representative earned 96.33 points in her free skate for a total of 154.48.

Shin, who was ninth in novice in 2017 and ninth in junior in 2018, took a major step forward in Detroit. She attacked her free skate to Romeo and Juliet to win the segment and silver medal.

"I felt like today, I just went out and tried to be more aggressive and tried to show that I can do these jumps and I can perform," said Shin, who moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado, last summer and is coached by Tammy Gambill.

Shin landed seven triple jumps, including three in combination, though several received underrotation calls. Her triple Lutz-triple toe loop generated a program-high 11.20 points.

"She's an amazingly hard worker with a lot of talent, a lot of potential," Gambill said. "Like she said, she held back in the short program; we talked about learning a lesson from that experience and not repeating it. So, I was really proud of her tonight that she went out and attacked the program much more. I told her it didn't matter if she made a mistake as long as I felt like she was going 100 percent for it and not holding back."

Maryland's Columbia Figure Skating Club representative Sarah Jung stood on the last step of the podium, winning the pewter medal with 150.88 total points.

Junior Rhythm Dance
Caroline Green (Skating Club of Cleveland Heights) and Gordon Green (Washington Figure Skating Club) lead with 70.82 points following the rhythm dance after missing the majority of the season due to illness.

"The goal at this competition was to lay down really clean programs," Caroline said, "And I think this was a really great start to achieve that goal."

The 15- and 17-year-olds said they felt "jittery" at the beginning, but easily settled into the program to achieve a Level 4 on every single element, hitting all of their key points of the Argentine Tango.

Avonley Nguyen (Washington Figure Skating Club) and Vadym Kolesnik (Skating Club of Novi) trail the Greens with 65.92 points. Nguyen fell out of her twizzle in the step sequence, which Kolesnik said left some points on the table.

"It wasn't perfect, obviously, but I think the overall feeling was pretty good," Nguyen, 16, said. "I think we felt really together and to the music."

"We've only been skating for two years, so we just wanted to go out there and impress everybody," Kolesnik, 17, added.

Representing the Skating Club of New York, sibling team Oona Brown and Gage Brown sit in third with 63.34 points. The 14- and 16-year-olds hit their key points and achieved Level 4 on three elements.

"We need to get our pattern stronger with the correct turns and correct feet placement," Gage said. "We're aiming for the highest level possible."

Eliana Gropman (Pavilion Skating Club of Cleveland Heights) and Ian Somerville (Washington Figure Skating Club) currently sit fourth with 62.60 points. Though they earned Level 4 on four elements, Somerville, 18, said he felt shaky after skating so late in their group but felt they performed well.

"It was really strong and we focused on the music and connections," Gropman, 17, said.

The junior competition continues tomorrow with the pairs free skate and concludes on Friday, Jan. 25, with the rhythm dance at Detroit's Little Caesars Arena. Coverage is available with the Figure Skating Pass on NBC Sports Gold.