Ice dancers
Jasmine Robertson and Chase Rohner captured their second Junior Grand Prix medal of the season and first career gold at Junior Grand Prix Italy this past weekend in Varese, Italy.
With their gold, the team training out of Novi, Michigan, has a strong chance to qualify for the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final Dec. 4-7 in Nagoya, Japan. The team secured bronze earlier this season at Junior Grand Prix Latvia.
The duo swept the competition, leading both days thanks to international personal best scores in all three segments.
Skating to "Groove Is in the Heart" by Deee-Lite and "100% Pure Love" by Crystal Waters in the rhythm dance, Robertson and Rohner scored 9.24 points for their midline step sequence and 8.94 points for their Level 4 sequential twizzles to take the lead on day one with a score of 62.08.
The duo maintained their lead in the free dance with a segment score of 94.44 points. Their highest-scoring element was their diagonal step sequence at 9.54 points. The team's free dance to "Le Temps des Cathédrales" and "La Fête des Fous" from the musical "Notre Dame de Paris" by Richard Cocciante and Luc Plamondon also featured a Level 4 set of synchronized twizzles that scored 8.61 points, a Level 4 dance spin and two Level 4 lifts for a score of 156.52.
Also competing for the United States, Annelise Stapert and Maxim Kororcov tied their best result at a Junior Grand Prix with a fifth-place finish and also set new personal bests in all three segments.
Their rhythm dance to "Step by Step" and "Games" by New Kids on the Block and "Groove is in the Heart" by Deee-Lite was bookended by a set of sequential twizzles that collected 7.50 points and a midline step sequence followed by a Level 4 rotational lift that scored 8.95 and 6.14 points, respectively, for a score of 57.77. Â
In their free dance set to music from
Les Miserables, the team opened with a Level 4 stationary lift and Level 4 set of synchronized twizzles worth a combined 14.46 points toward an 84.91-point free dance score
. The team out of Leesburg, Virginia, finished with 142.68 points in total.
In the men's event
Nicholas Brooks and
Aleksandr Fegan both secured top-10 finishes. Â
In his Junior Grand Prix debut, Brooks earned international personal best scores in the short program and his total score to place sixth overall.
Starting off strong in the short program, Brooks executed a triple Axel that was awarded 9.83 points and a triple loop that tallied 6.09 points. He then ended his program set to "Suit and Tie" and "SexyBack" by Justin Timberlake with a Level 4 step sequence and a Level 4 sit spin with flying entry for a short program score of 70.49.
In the free skate, he opened his performance to "The Awakening" by Ivan Torrent with a quadruple toe loop followed by a triple Axel which collected 6.79 and 9.14 points, respectively. In total, he scored 124.85 points in the free skate. His overall score of 195.34 beat his previous international personal best by 8.87 points.
Finishing one spot behind Brooks in seventh place with a new international personal best total score of 193.26 was Fegan.
Competing in his third year on the Junior Grand Prix circuit, Fegan received Level 4s on all three spins in his short program set to "Always with Me, Always with You" by Joe Satriani. His triple Salchow-triple toe loop also contributed 9.72 points to an international personal best short program score of 67.97.
The 2025 U.S. junior men's silver medalists free skate to music from the ballet "The Firebird" by Igor Stravinsky was highlighted by a triple Lutz-double toe loop worth 8.04 points and a triple loop-double Axel-double loop in the second half of his program that collected 11.24 points. With a day two score of 125.29, Fegan moved up from eighth after the short program to sixth in the free skate to finish seventh in the final standings.
In the women's event,
Annika Chao led the way for the United States, finishing in fifth place with a score of 193.26.
In the short program, Chao's skate to "The Swan" by YoYo Ma and Kathyrn Stott opened with a triple Lutz-triple toe loop combination worth 8.84 points and earned Level 4 marks on each of her three spins as well as her step sequence. She tallied a new international personal best segment score of 59.37.
Entering the free skate in fifth place, Chao came out of the gate with a triple Lutz-double toe loop combination which collected 8.21 points. She also tallied a program-high 11.73 points for her a triple Lutz-double Axel-double Axel sequence and once again received Level 4 distinctions on all three spins and her step sequence during her performance to "Waiting on a Wish" by Rachel Zegler and Karl Hugo. With a free skate score of 116.38 to clinch fifth overall, Chao tied her best finish at a Junior Grand Prix event.
Logan Higase-Chen earned 56.55 points in the short program and 76.15 points in the free skate for a two-day total score of 132.70, finishing in 21st place
For full results from Junior Grand Prix Italy, visit theÂ
2025 Junior Grand Prix Series Competition Central.
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