Over the weekend, 15 athletes from Team USA competed at the Finlandia Trophy Challenger series in Espoo, Finland.
Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker earned silver at their 2022 ISU Challenger Series debut.
In the ice dance competition, Hawayek and Baker captured their first Challenger Series medal after securing a personal best in their free dance (118.55) and total score (197.45).
Hawayek and Baker executed six level 4 elements in their "Requiem, Sofia" free dance to achieve their personal best score of 118.55. Their rhythm dance featured a strongly executed, level 4 straight line lift and all elements received positive grades of execution to earn 78.90 points and a total overall score of 197.45
Caroline Green and Michael Parsons finished fifth, executing a set of level 4 synchronized twizzles and a rotational lift in the free dance to secure a total score of 177.34.
Angela Ling and Caleb Wein came in seventh with 140.83 points, receiving positive execution grades on all their lifts.
Canada's Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Soerensen won gold with a combined score of 203.76. Juulia Turkkila and Matthis Versluis of Finland brought home the bronze with 186.30 points.
In the pairs competition,
Valentina Plazas and Maximiliano Fernandez finished fifth overall with 161.98. Their "Captain America/Avengers theme" free skate started off strong with a triple twist lift and featured three level 4 elements, all receiving positive grades of execution.
Anastasiia Smirnova and Danylo Siianytsia finished seventh with a total score of 152.88, completing a well-executed group five reverse lasso lift in their "Je Suis Malade, perf" free skate.
Maria Mokhova and Ivan Mokhov finished in eighth with a combined score of 145.20.
The gold and silver medals went to Germany, with Annika Hocke and Robert Kunkel taking the gold with a total score of 180.62. Alisa Efimova and Ruben Blommaert captured silver with 177.11 points. Canada's Brooke McIntosh and Benjamin Mimar earned bronze with 166.61 points.
In the men's event,
Dinh Tran finished thirteenth with a total score of 191.34. Tran finished strong in his
Matrix free skate with four elements all receiving positive grades of execution.
Junhwan Cha of Korea won gold with a total score of 253.20. Georgia's Morisi Kvitelashvili earned the silver medal with 231.30 points and Sweden's Andreas Nordeback won the bronze with 229.88 points.
In the women's event,
Lindsay Thorngren came in sixth overall with a total score of 165.09. Her "An Amalgamation Waltz/Often a Bird/Nostos" free skate featured a strongly executed triple loop and double axel to earn 112.23 points. In her 52.86 point short program, she completed two level 4 elements, receiving positive grades of execution.
Hannah Lofton finished twenty-third overall with a combined score of 109.90, performing a triple lutz, double toe combination in her "I Medici" free skate.
Korea took home the gold and silver, Yelim Kim won the event with a total score of 213.97 and Chaeyeon Kim captured silver with 205.51 total points. Georgia's Anastasiia Gubanova earned bronze with 197.56 points.
The ISU Challenger Series will continue next weekend with the Budapest Trophy in Budapest, Hungary Oct. 13-16.
