The 2021 U.S. Novice and Junior Challenge Skate closed on Sunday afternoon at the Skating Club of Boston's facility in Norwood, Massachusetts. Champions were crowned in novice ice dance and in junior ladies, men's and ice dance.
Novice Ice Dance
Sylvia Li (North Jersey FSC) and Rowan Le Coq (SC of New York) jumped from third in the pattern dance to first place in the free dance to win the novice ice dance competition with a total score of 80.03. Their winning free dance set to Keltic music included two Level 4 lifts, a Level 4 combination spin and Level 3 twizzles, earning 58.90 points.
"During the last month we have been working really hard," Le Coq said. "But in this competition, I was really surprised of our score at 58 for the free dance. We were both in shock."
Hailing from the Washington Figure Skating Club, Olivia Ilin and Dylan Cain earned the silver medal with 75.74 points overall. The team won the Westminster Waltz pattern dance but fell to fourth in the free dance with 52.49 points. Their
Suicide Squad-themed performance included a Level 4 straight line lift.
The bronze medal went to Anna Sophia O'Brien (North Jersey FSC) and Steven Wei (All Year FSC). The duo notched 52.82 points for their free dance set to music from
Aladdin, which included a Level 4 curve lift, to collect 74.02 total points. The team was second in the pattern dance.
Junior Ice Dance
Helena Carhart and Volodymyr Horovyi topped the field by over 10 points to win the junior ice dance competition with 143.07 points. The team from the Florida Everblades Figure Skating Club notched 83.72 points for their free dance, which included two Level 4 lifts and a Level 4 combination spin. The tandem also won the rhythm dance.
"I think we work really well as a team, and we communicate well before we skate," Carhart said. "We talk about everything we want to focus on. Getting out of that nervous zone of worrying about getting things wrong, we just love skating together. That's our goal to portray on the ice."
The sibling duo of
Elliana Peal and Ethan Peal grabbed the silver medal with 130.88 points, jumping from
third place in the rhythm dance to second overall. The Scott Hamilton Skating Club athletes opened their free dance with a Level 4 curve lift and closed with a Level 4 rotational lift.
Vanessa Pham (SC of Houston) and Jonathan Rogers (Texas Gulf Coast FSC) earned the bronze medal with 125.98 points. They received 73.69 points for the free dance, which included a Level 4 curve lift.
Junior Ladies
The junior ladies competition was decided by less than a point after a close free skate. All Year Figure Skating Club's
Josephine Lee came away with the gold medal, tallying 149.95 points. Lee was first after the short program and placed fifth in the free skate, as she finished with just enough points to hang on to the title. Her 91.65-point program included a triple toe loop-triple toe loop combination and two Level 4 spins.
"I definitely didn't skate my best, but I am glad that I got it out there," Lee said. "This arena so beautiful and it was an honor to skate in front of these judges and all of these people."
Elsa Cheng (Skokie Valley SC) was narrowly behind Lee with a total score of 149.67, just 0.28 point out of first place. Chen was third after the short program and won the free skate with 97.39 points to secure the silver medal. She landed six triple jumps during her free program.
Sarah Everhardt from the Washington Figure Skating Club grabbed the bronze medal with 148.10 points. She was fourth after the short program and placed second in the free skate with 96.68 points.
Junior Men
Robert Yampolsky secured the junior men's title, winning the free skate to total 183.09 points. The North Jersey Figure Skating Club athlete opened his program with a triple Axel (under-rotated)-Euler-double flip and went on to land six additional triple jumps. His performance to a Havasi medley earned 123.35 points, more than 10 points higher than the field.
"To have international judges is something you can't experience every day, or to be in a venue this great or be able to compete in front of a crowd," Yampolsky said. "I will definitely try to move forward and will learn from what I've done today."
After winning the short program,
Maxim Zharkov (Dallas FSC) took second in the free skate and secured the silver medal with 181.57 points. He was the only skater to attempt a quadruple jump, a toe loop, in the competition. His free skate earned 111.68 points and included a triple Lutz-Euler-triple Salchow combination.
Philip Baker bounced back from a fourth-place short program to collect the bronze medal with 166.11 points. Skating for host club, the Skating Club of Boston, Baker landed six triple jumps to notch 108.98 points in the free skate.
On Saturday afternoon, champions were also crowned in novice ladies and men. The medalists are listed below:
Novice Ladies
1. Phattaratida Kaneshige (Broadmoor SC) – 145.34
2. Elyce Lin-Gracey (Pasadena FSC) – 145.22
3. Lilah Gibson (Columbus FSC) – 137.50
Novice Men
1. Aleksandr Fegan (SC of New York) – 142.12
2. Patrick Blackwell (Warwick Figure Skaters) – 132.31
3. Lucius Kazanecki (North Jersey FSC) – 121.08
Fans can watch the entire competition on-demand on the U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone.
Full results and event information
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