Cain-Gribble and LeDuc Claim Pairs Title and Zhou Captures Bronze at U.S. International Classic

Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy LeDuc captured their second straight U.S. International Classic title in the pairs competition, while Vincent Zhou claimed the bronze medal in the men's competition on the second day of competition at the 2019 U.S. International Figure Skating Classic in Salt Lake City.

Cain-Gribble and LeDuc scored 205.58 total points to top the field by over 10 points. In their free skate to music from the Moonlight soundtrack, the 2019 U.S. champions opened with a triple twist followed by a triple Salchow-double toe loop-double loop combination. Additionally, they earned Level 4 marks for their combination spin, Group 3 lift and death spiral. Their free skate earned 129.35 points, a new international best.

"We have worked really hard this competition, especially to be this ready this early in the season because of that challenge of the altitude," said LeDuc.  "We relied on our coaches, we relied on our training, we relied on each other and we won."

"Everything we are doing now is to the best of our ability," said Cain-Gribble. "We will grow, yes, but we are able to do everything with a lot of power, a lot of confidence. We don't hold back anymore and I think that you can see that out there."

Tarah Kayne and Danny O'Shea finished in fourth place with 174.02 total points. In their free skate set to music from Les Miserables, the 2019 U.S. pewter medalists had three solid lifts, two of which were awarded Level 4 marks. The pair was also awarded a Level 4 combination spin and earned 109.12 points for their free skate.

"I'm really passionate about this program and I think it will show up throughout the season," said Kayne.

Team USA also captured the fifth and sixth spots in the pairs competition with Audrey Lu and Misha Mitrofanov finishing fifth with 168.50 points and Jessica Calalang and Brian Johnson taking sixth with 166.50 total points.

Lu and Mitrofanov landed a side-by-side triple Salchow-euler-triple Salchow combination in their 104.63-point performance to music from Notre Dame De Paris.

Calalang and Johnson opened with a triple twist and also completed a Level 4 reverse lasso lift, earning 104.39 points for their free skate.

Russia's Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov captured the silver medal with 194.69 total points while Cheng Peng and Yang Jin of China earned bronze with 184.04 points.

In the men's competition, Zhou led the way for Team USA with his third-place finish. In his 142.92-point free skate, Zhou landed five triple jumps and closed his program with Level 4 choreographic sequence and combination spin. The 2019 World bronze medalist finished fourth in the free skate, but claimed bronze with 231.95 total points.
"I'm not willing to make excuses for myself," said Zhou. "There isn't much I can do to change what happened out there. What I have to do is go back and work on how I can make myself better for the next time and that's exactly what I'm going to do."

Alex Krasnozhon finished third in the free skate, jumping from fifth to fourth place overall. In his Dracula-themed program, the Texas-based skater landed his first quad loop in international competition. He went on to land seven triple jumps and score 153.19 points for 230.11 points overall.

"I did pretty well and I think I did my job," said Krasnozhon. "I'm very proud of my choreography in this program."

Just behind Krasnozhon, Tomoki Hiwatashi finished in fifth place with 214.82 total points. The 2019 World Junior champion scored 137.86 in his free skate, which featured a quad toe loop-triple toe loop combination.

Jimmy Ma finished in sixth place, scoring 132.96 in his free skate for 200.30 points overall. Ma's performance included a triple Axel-triple toe loop combination as well as a Level 4 combination spin.

Japan's Keiji Tanaka and Sota Yamamoto took home the gold and silver medal with 249.96 and 240.11 total points, respectively.

The U.S. ice dance contingent dominated the rhythm dance with Madison Chock and Evan Bates taking the top spot and Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko claiming second place.

Returning to the event for the first time since 2012, Chock and Bates made a splash in Salt Lake City with their 80.18-point rhythm dance to "Too Darn Hot" from Kiss Me, Kate. Their performance opened with a Level 4 straight line lift and included Level 4 twizzles. The 2019 Four Continents champions were awarded over 1.50 points for their Grade of Execution on every element.

"We are very happy with how we have been training and this performance was a good start for us for the beginning of the season," said Chock. "We love our program and we are excited to keep growing and keep improving on this."

Also performing to "Too Darn Hot," Carreira and Ponomarenko received 77.18 points for their rhythm dance, marking a new career best for the Michigan-based team. The 2018 U.S. International Classic silver medalists were awarded Level 4 marks for their twizzles and rotational lift.

"It's still very new and there are a lot of things to improve and to smooth out, but I feel like this was a good skate for us in September, so we are really happy about it," said Ponomarenko.

Canada's Carolane Soucisse and Shane Firus rounded out the top three, finishing in third place with 71.33 points.

In the ladies competition, Team USA is in podium position after the short program with Amber Glenn in second place and Ting Cui in third.

Glenn opened her program to "Scars" by Madilyn Bailey with a strong triple flip-triple toe loop combination. In her clean skate, the Texas native was awarded three Level 4 spins and had all positive GOE. With 66.09 points, she is currently in second place.

"I was pretty nervous coming in, just because I've never done an international on home turf before," said Glenn. "I feel pretty good. I did my job. I had a few little silly mistakes, but nothing I can't fix for the free skate so overall I'm happy."

Just behind Glenn, 2019 World Junior bronze medalist Cui scored 63.10 points to take the third spot in the short. Cui also had a clean skate, landing two triple jumps in her performance to "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" by Sergei Rachmaninoff.

"I want to take it one jump at a time," said Cui. "I just need to focus on one thing at a time and go from there."

Three-time U.S. International Classic champion Satoko Miyahara of Japan won the short program with 74.16 points.

Competition concludes tomorrow with the free dance and ladies free skate. Watch competition live and on-demand on the Figure Skating Pass on NBC Sports Gold.