Alysa Liu (St. Moritz ISC) wowed the crowd with a record-breaking free skate at the 2019 GEICO U.S. Figure Skating Championships at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit Friday night, Jan. 25.
At 13, Liu easily became the youngest lady to win the U.S. Championships with three clean triple Axels - one in her short program and two in her free skate, making her the first U.S. woman to land three triple Axels in competition (and the youngest), as well as two in one program. Her career-best 143.62-point free skate set to "Witches of Eastwick" by John Williams had the highest technical element score of the competition.
"I did want to win, but I really just wanted to do my best when I got here," she said. "I was just happy that I beat my personal record."
Since Liu is too young for an assignment at both the World Championships and the Junior World Championships, she plans on going home and continuing her training to get better for next year.
"I get more time to work on my jumps, skating skills and spins and try to learn more," she said.
Liu won her first senior title in her senior championship debut to follow up her 2018 U.S. junior title.
Bradie Tennell (Skokie Valley Skating Club) fell to second after several costly mistakes in her free skate. Tennell turned out of the landing on her triple Lutz-triple toe loop combination, mentioning that her pattern was off, and then fell on a triple Lutz later in the program.
"It took me by surprise," Tennell, the silver medalist in Detroit, said. "It was very outside of the norm, but mistakes happen."
Despite the technical faults, Tennell felt she performed her Romeo and Juliet program well, something the roaring audience would agree with. Her program featured a Level 4 step sequence and three Level 4 spins, all of which helped keep her score up.
"I really tried to put it all out there," she said. "Even with the little mistakes, it's important not to let things go."
The 2018 U.S. champion said she plans to go back home and work harder than ever on every detail of her program.
"I want to strive for perfection," she said. "I want to be better than I was before."
Mariah Bell (Rocky Mountain Figure Skating Club) secured the bronze medal with 212.40 points. Despite a few mistakes, Bell continued performing to her music, earning the highest components score of the field.
"It wasn't my best performance, but other than the fall, I had a really great time," Bell said.
Bell opened program to "Piano" and "Experience" by Ludovico Einaudi with an explosive double Axel-triple toe loop. She fell on a planned triple Lutz-double toe loop-double loop, but later rebounded and added the combination to another triple Lutz. Her program also included three level 4 spins.
When asked what she'll do when she returns home, Bell said she's going to work on improving the next couple of weeks.
"I think just taking the programs I did here, figuring out where I could be better and working on those," she said, "just focusing on being the best skater that I can be."
Another senior debut skater, Hanna Harrell (Dallas Figure Skating Club), grabbed the pewter medal with 203.11 points. The 14-year-old from Dallas put out a clean performance with positive Grades of Execution on every element.
"The crowd was really supportive, and I felt confident in myself because I had been working really hard," Harrell said. "I just knew I could do my jumps, and I just needed to focus on myself."
Harrell used the energy of the crowd to perform, something she said was completely different from the junior level.
"It was such a great experience," she said. "It was also a big honor for me to be able to share the ice and compete against the other seniors."
The 2018 U.S. junior pewter medalist competed at the Junior Grand Prix Armenia this year, where she placed seventh. Looking forward, she wants to be able to land a triple Axel for next season.
"I want to push myself to have something in my program that will make me stand out," she said.
