Bell, Cain-Gribble and LeDuc Lead After First Day of Championship Competition in Nashville

While the snowy weather outside of Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, may have been a surprise, the strong performances on the ice inside were exactly what was to be expected to kick off the 2022 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

2019 U.S. champions Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy LeDuc sit in first place following the pairs short program, and 2020 U.S. silver medalist Mariah Bell leads the ladies in pursuit of a U.S. title and the Olympic dream.

Earlier in the day, junior-level competition drew to a close with the junior ladies free skate. Last year's bronze medalist, Clare Seo, moved up to take gold at this year's competition, leading a talented field.
 
Junior Ladies

Representing the Broadmoor Skating Club, Seo delivered a dramatic performance to win the free skate and the title. She completed a difficult double Axel-Euler-triple flip combination and three level 4 spins to earn 118.15 in the free skate, for a total of 185.53.
 
"Some things [were] good and some things bad," Seo said of her long program. "Next time, I want to make [it] better."
 
Seo, a Korean-American, skated to music from a Korean television program. She identified with the theme of the show.
 
"The main character is Korean-American," Seo said. "He tried to fight for the USA and Korea both. I feel like that character is similar [to] me. So I chose that music."
 
Tammy Gambill, Seo's coach, said that the skater is starting to work on a triple Axel.
 
Ava Ziegler (SC of New York) placed second in the free skate to take the silver medal. Skating a poignant program to "Gravity" by Sara Bareilles, Ziegler landed a triple flip-double toe loop combination to score 115.26 in the free skate and 175.50 overall.
 
"I just focused on one thing at a time," Ziegler said of her free skate. "I took it step by step, and enjoyed every single second. I was really happy. I didn't get the triple-triple [combination] in, but there's always another time. Every competition is another stepping stone and I'm just glad I got to be up there."
 
Steven Rice, one of Ziegler's coaches, revealed that she recently suffered some injuries that left her status in doubt prior to the U.S. Championships.
 
"We had a few setbacks in December, leading up to this," Rice said. "We actually didn't know if she was going to be here today. She sprained her ankle; then she had a sesamoid bone injury that affected the ball of her foot. She's been wearing a boot here all week, and she couldn't do Axels, Salchows, and toe loops for about three weeks. But Ava is a true fighter, and when it counts, she'll do it. She's very tough mentally."
 
Josephine Lee (All Year FSC) was third after the short program and sustained that placement in the free skate to earn the bronze medal. Lee's program to "Red Ballerina" from Don Quixote included two strong jump combinations: triple toe loop-triple toe loop and double Axel-Euler-triple Salchow. She scored 111.47 for a total of 172.08 points.
 
"I feel really good that I got out there for my first Nationals [U.S. Championships] experience," Lee said. "I feel like there are many, many things I can improve on. I need to go home and work, so that I can come back next year and do an even better program and set out a better score. But, considering the circumstances, I think I did a really great job, and I'm very proud of myself. I'll take this experience and learn from it."
 
Lee credited working with coaches Amy Evidente and Naomi Nari Nam for helping her make the podium in Nashville.

"My coaches taught me that you need to be the whole package, instead of just the jumps," Lee said. "I only thought about the jumps before. They've improved my jumps and skating skills and worked on my spins. They know what the judges are looking for."
 
Katie Shen (Glacier Falls FSC) was the surprise pewter medalist. Shen is a novice who was invited to compete in the junior competition in Nashville. She placed eighth in the short program, but won the free skate with a light, joyful program to "Halo" that included a triple toe loop-double toe loop-double loop combination and three Level 4 spins. She scored 119.57, for a total of 170.77.
 
"My short program wasn't the best," Shen said. "During the free skate, I thought: 'This is it. It's the only time to let everyone know the real me.' It was really fun, being able to compete with the more advanced skaters."

Championship Pairs

Heading into the pairs short program in Nashville, a lot of the chatter was about who wasn't there, as reigning champions Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier had to withdraw when Frazier tested positive for COVID-19.

However, by the time it ended, Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy LeDuc (SC of New York/Los Angeles FSC) had made it all about them.

Cain-Gribble and LeDuc are in first place following their short program to music from The White Crow by Ilan Eshkeri, which earned a personal-best of 79.39 points.

"We're really grateful to be here, grateful to have a U.S. Championships with fans, grateful to be doing something that we love amidst everything that's happening with the pandemic," LeDuc said. "We're really pleased with our effort today. We feel like we did what we do in practice."

Since 2017, Cain-Gribble and LeDuc have never finished off the podium at a U.S. Championships. They won pewter in 2020 and 2018, bronze in 2021 and 2017, and the U.S. title in 2019. This season, the duo claimed bronze at Skate Canada International and placed fourth at NHK Trophy.

With a U.S. title and Olympic berth on the line, Cain-Gribble and LeDuc came up huge, setting themselves up for the free skate. But they've trained to be prepared for anything, and are moving forward with level heads.

"We've set ourselves up every single day in practice to not be surprised by anything," Cain-Gribble said. "And that's the thing that we'll carry into the long program as well. At the end of the program today, we just said to each other, 'Okay, check that off and move forward.' That was one program, but we still have another."

In second place, Jessica Calalang and Brian Johnson (DuPage FSC/SC of New York) scored 77.48 points for their short program to "Come Together" by Gary Clark Jr. & Junkie XL.

The performance was a huge victory for them after what's been a difficult season. Last year, Calalang tested positive for a banned substance and was suspended for eight months before being cleared of any wrongdoing.

"What we went through was really awful," Calalang said. "We didn't even know if we were going to be here at this U.S. Championships. If we learned anything this year, we just have really connected on such a deeper level, and we have so much of a deeper respect for each other. And it's been a wild ride, for sure, especially this year, but I think what we went through in the offseason and into the fall has really helped us come together for our short program.

"No pun intended," she joked.

Calalang and Johnson are the two-time reigning U.S. silver medalists. They finished fifth at 2021 Guaranteed Rate Skate America and second at Warsaw Cup.

Reigning U.S. pewter medalists Audrey Lu and Misha Mitrofanov (SC of Boston) sit in third with 68.11 points for their short program to "Toxic" and "Survivor" by 2WEI/TMS Remix.

"We're really happy to be here," Mitrofanov said. "Really grateful for the amazing quality that everybody is doing, so we're really happy."

Emily Chan and Spencer Howe (SC of Boston) are in fourth place with 61.94 points for their skate to "Nyah" by CH2.

At the 2021 U.S. Championships, their first as a team, they placed fifth.

"We've kind of gone into this competition with some ups and downs, and we've been trying to really train hard in preparation for this event," Howe said. "And we definitely haven't been this trained before, and so that definitely helped out there today. Obviously we had that fall on the toe, but overall, just feeling good out there."

Championship Ladies

When Mariah Bell (Rocky Mountain FSC) was wrapping up her short program at the 2022 U.S. Championships, she remembers having one thought: don't trip.

"A couple years ago, I fell on my footwork because I was a little ahead of myself," Bell said with a laugh. "So I was trying to kind of keep myself mellow today."

Staying mellow was a tough task, however, as Bell earned 75.55 points for her short program, a new event record, to "River Flows in You" by Yiruma and sits in first place following the short program.

"I've never won the short at U.S. Championships, so that's exciting for me," Bell said. "But honestly, I've been in every position possible going into the long program, and the objective is always the same. I wouldn't want to skate any worse or any better if I was lower or higher. I just want to do the best long that I can. But I feel like I have good confidence going into the free."

Following a career-best silver-medal finish at the 2020 U.S. Championships, Bell slipped to fifth place in 2021. This season, she finished fourth at the Rostelecom Cup and sixth at the Internationaux de France.

But the most important finish will be this one in Nashville, as she's one free skate away from a potential U.S. title – and a potential trip to the Olympics.

"It's a culmination of a lot of years of work, and it's an obvious thing that we all want to be on that team because we've all put the work in all these years," Bell said. "We're all very lucky to be here and have this amazing opportunity to be able to really make our dreams come true."

2018 Olympian Karen Chen (Peninsula SC) sits in second place with 74.55 points for her short program to "Requiem for a Tower" by Clint Mansell.

"I'm super proud of my attack and the way I skated as fearlessly as possible, especially with all the pressures of it being the Olympic year and whatnot," Chen said. "I'm really proud of my skate. I'm glad I just went for everything and just full-on attacked this program, especially since I chose this program to be this character, to be fearless, and to be powerful. So I'm really glad that I was able to perform it that way."

The 2017 U.S. champion and reigning U.S. bronze medalist placed fourth at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2021 to help the U.S. women gain to opportunity for three Olympic entries. She did the same in 2017, helping earn the U.S. women three berths in PyeongChang in 2018.

"It definitely helps knowing that I have a lot of experience being in situations where I've felt a lot of pressure," Chen said. "But at the same time, each situation with pressure feels different, so I trust myself to just go with the flow and focus on the things that I can control."

Two-time U.S. champion Alysa Liu (St. Moritz ISC) is in third place after her short program to "Gypsy Dance II" from Don Quixote earned 71.42 points.

The 2020 World Junior bronze medalist finished fourth and fifth at her first two senior-level Grand Prix assignments this season and won the Nebelhorn Trophy to secure the U.S. women a third Olympic spot.

"I'm happy with my program," Liu said. "It's easier to do here than in Colorado, because less altitude, so I enjoyed my program a lot because I could actually breathe. I'm glad I went for the triple Axel, and I felt pretty good."

Isabeau Levito (SC of Southern New Jersey) is in fourth place, earning 71.00 points for her short program to "The Swan" by Joshua Bell.

The 2021 U.S. junior champion is making her U.S. Championships debut at the championship level, but at 14 years old, she's too young to be able to compete at the Olympics.

"This is a very interestingly exciting moment for me," Levito said. "I felt very comfortable. It was very peaceful for me. I think this competition, it was a little bit easier for me to be relaxed because I don't really have anything to lose here."

Competition continues tomorrow with the championship rhythm dance and ladies free skate. Fans can tune into the action on NBC and USA, and watch live and on-demand on Peacock Premium. Visit the 2022 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships Virtual Fan Experience for a behind the scenes look at the event.