McNamara and Spiridonov lead Team USA at Nebelhorn Trophy

Lorraine McNamara and Anton Spiridonov led the U.S. with a top-five finish at the 2022 Nebelhorn Trophy in Oberstdorf, Germany, the third ISU Challenger Series event of the season.
 
Coming off a third-place finish at the 2022 U.S. International Figure Skating Classic in Lake Placid last week, McNamara and Spiridonov placed fourth in the rhythm dance (69.64) and fifth in the free dance. Skating to "Rain, In Your Black Eyes" by Ezio Bosso, the program included a Level 4 dance spin and a Level 4 combination lift, and earned them 96.41 points, resulting in a fifth-place finish overall with 166.05 points..  
 
Teammates Molly Cesanek and Yehor Yehorov earned 138.87 points overall to place tenth in their 2022-2023 season debut. In their rhumba, mambo, and salsa rhythm dance to "Temptation" by Diana Krall and "Fever" by La Lupe, they scored 61.81 points. They executed Level 3 synchronized twizzles and a Level 3 dance spin in their free dance to music from the ballet Spartacus to earn 77.06.
 
The sole competitor in the men's event, Liam Kapeikis, placed eighth overall in his Challenger Series debut. He earned 67.48 points in his short program, executing a triple Lutz-triple toe and a Level 4 combination spin. In his free skate, set to music from Moulin Rouge!, he earned 124.24 points, executing elements including a triple Lutz – Euler – double Salchow sequence and two Level Four spins. His overall score was 191.72.
 
In the women's event, Starr Andrews and Gracie Gold both improved their placements after the free skate.
 
In her season debut, Andrews earned 53.31 points in her short program to "Dancing with the Devil" by Demi Lovato, putting her in seventh place after the short. She earned 103.29 points in the free skate. The program included a triple Salchow-double toe, triple loop and two Level 4 spins. She earned 156.60 overall points, finishing in sixth place.
 
After taking fifteenth in the short program (45.08), Gold rebounded to clinch 12th place. Skating to Sergei Rachmaninoff's "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" in the free skate, she completed a triple Lutz – double Axel – double toe jump sequence and a triple Salchow – double toe, both in the second half of the program. She earned 93.81 in the free skate and 138.89 points overall.

The next Challenger Series event will be the Ondrej Nepela Memorial from Sept. 29 - Oct. 1 in Bratislava, Slovakia.  More information, including streaming links and complete results for past events, can be found at U.S. Challenger Series Competition Central.