Team USA brought home three medals from the second stop of the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series in Linz, Austria, this past weekend.
All first-time Junior Grand Prix medalists, pairs team
Olivia Flores and Luke Wang earned silver, while
Beck Strommer and
Elliana Peal and Ethan Peal both secured the bronze medal in the men's and ice dance disciplines, respectively.
Making their Junior Grand Prix debut, Flores and Wang clinched a medal at the first JGP to contest pairs this season. The 2023 Challenge Cup gold medalists scored more than 15 points with the first three elements in their short program to "Once Upon a December" from the musical
Anastasia to tally a personal best segment score of 52.02, good for second place.
In their powerful Star Wars-themed free skate, highlights included a single Axel-double Axel-single Axel sequence as well as both their lifts, which received Level 4 designations. Flores and Wang earned personal bests of 95.20 in the free skate and 147.22 overall to remain in second, each over 20 points greater than their previous personal bests at the Challenge Cup last season.
In the ice dance competition, siblings Peal and Peal secured a bronze, their first JGP medal.
Their dynamic rhythm dance to Janet Jackson's "What Have You Done For Me Lately" and "Rhythm Nation" included a set of sequential twizzles and an exciting midline step sequence that contributed to a segment score of 56.55, positioning them in third after the rhythm dance.
The two-time U.S. junior medalists brought the magic of Middle Earth to their
Lord of the Rings free dance, completing several strong elements, including a Level 4 combination lift, which was their highest scoring element at nearly 13 points. They finished the free dance with a score of 86.28 and 142.83 points overall to clinch a place on the podium.
Teammates
Caroline Mullen and Brendan Mullen secured seventh place in their JGP debut with an overall score of 135.30.
In the men's event, 2023 Cranberry Cup junior champion
Beck Strommer clinched his first JGP bronze with two clean, confident personal best programs, earning all positive GOEs in both his short program and free skate.Â
His short program to "Hip Hip Chin Chin" included a triple flip-triple toe loop combination, which earned over 10 points, and an effortless triple Lutz in the second half of the program. He finished in third after the short program with a personal best of 69.98.
Strommer moved up to second place in the free skate. Skating to "Tree of Life Suite" by Roberto Cacciapaglia, he opened with his strongest element, a triple Lutz-triple toe loop combination, which yielded 11.03 points and led to a free skate score of 140.94, more than 10 points above his personal best score. He also smashed his overall personal best with a score of 210.92, over 20 points higher than his previous personal best.
Josephine Lee finished in the top 10 of the women's event, coming in eighth overall with a score of 151.40.
For complete results, visit the
U.S. Figure Skating Junior Grand Prix Competition Central.
