Bradie Tennell

Olivia Serefini

Vivian Le

All Photos © 2015 George Rossano

(6 February 2015)  In the Junior Ladies category at the 2015 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, there was Bradie Tennell and then there was chaos.  What looked like a tightly competitive event in the Short Program, with skaters two through four in the short scoring within 0.40 points of each other, morphed into a blowout for Tennell followed by an inconsistent muddle of skaters who moved multiple places from their Short Program results.  Five skaters moved four or more places from their Short Program placement to their final placement.

In her second year as a Junior, Bradie Tennell took the Junior Ladies title with a 16.36 point margin of victory, winning both the Short Program ("Infinity" by Havasi) and Free Skate (music from "Far and Away" by John Williams).  The not quite seventeen-year-old from Carpentersville, IL was the Novice bronze medalist in 2013 and Junior pewter medalist in 2014.

Tennell led by 6.04 points after the short with a clean program that received but one negative GoE for her triple Lutz.  In addition to the Lutz she cleanly landed triple toe loop - triple toe loop and double Axel, and had level four spins and a level two step sequence.  She was one of four ladies who attempted a triple - triple combination in the Short Program (all 3T + 3T) and one of three who cleanly landed it.  She did not attempt a triple-triple in the long, however, but then neither did ten of the other eleven competitors in the event.

In both segments Tennell skated with the greatest consistency and confidence, and led the field in both elements and components by wide margins.  Her long was more highly developed and earned component scores that averaged 6.75 with six judges giving some marks in the sevens.

Trailing Tennell to earn the silver medal was Olivia Serefini, who was the next most consistent lady in the group, with a third place finish in the Short Program ("Bombay Dreams" by Rahman) and second place finish in the Free Skate (music from "The Lord of the Rings", various artists).  This was the third trip to Nationals as a Junior for the eighteen-year-old from Niskayuna, NY, having placed tenth in 2013 and eighth in 2014.

Serifini landed a nice triple toe loop - triple toe loop in the short, but did not attempt a triple - triple in the long.  In the short she also completed a nice level four flying camel spin.  The remainder of her levelled elements were called level three.  A triple Lutz attempt had an edge attention call and six of the judges went to minus three for this element.  The program had a nice Indian flavor, but did not project as well as it might have. Her components averaged just under 6.00

In the Free Skate Serifini gave a stronger performance, but again had an edge attention call on triple Lutz that the judges marked at minus two and minus three.  She landed a nice triple flip - double toe loop, but only a marginal double Axel - triple toe loop.  She ended strongly with a nice level four step sequence and a well executed flying change foot combination spin at level 4.  Her other levelled elements were called level three.  Unlike Tennell who scored well above base value for her Total Elements Scores, Serfini scored slightly below base value for elements in the short and slightly above base value in the long. 

After the first two ladies, things then got a little crazy in the event.  Paige Rydberg, who had a technically strong skate in the Short Program, with only an edge call on triple Lutz as an error, crashed and burned in the Free Skate, where seven of eleven elements were scored negative, and also received deductions for a fall and a time violation.  The flawed performance also pulled down her component scores compared to the short.  She ended up finishing in eighth place.

The fourth, fifth and sixth place skaters also faltered in the long, creating an opportunity for 2014 Novice Champion Vivian Le, who finished third, and Elena Taylor, who finished fourth, to move up onto the podium.

In the Short Program Vivian Le gave a nicely interpreted performance to "East of Eden," but got caught up in several technical errors.  She fell on triple flip in her opening combination attempt, and also had an edge call.  Triple Lutz and double Axel were also scored negative, and her closing layback spin only reached level 2.  She placed seventh and this put her int he second warm-up where chance would have it she ended up skating first in the Free Skate.

Skating to music from "On Golden Pond," Le landed the only triple - triple attempted by any lady in the long, a triple Lutz - triple toe loop.  Her following solo triple Lutz was poorly landed with a step out, and she fell on double Axel.  Nevertheless, she landed a total of five triples and completed three level four spins and achieved level three on the steps.  Choreographically her's was one of the prettier skates of the long.

At fourteen, Le has already mastered the most difficult triple - triple attempted by women skaters, and showed off a fine sense of style that makes her a potential rising star to keep an eye on the next few years.

Elena Taylor had a rough start in the Short Program ("Reverie" by Claude Debussy), missing her first three elements, a double Lutz with a weak landing, a broken combination, and a failed flying camel spin that received no points.  She was able to pull it together for the second half with a nice double Axel and two strong spins and a level four step sequence.  She looked out of the running after the short, but the inconsistent results from other skaters and a significantly better performance in the Free Skate ("On Golden Pond" by Dave Grusin) resulted in her placing fourth in the long and moving up to fourth overall, one place better than her result at 2014 Nationals.

In the long Taylor skated clean, except for an under-rotation on double loop in her three-jump combination.  Her program, however, included only four triples; two toe loops and two Salchows.  Her levelled elements were well executed, with two spins and the steps called level four and the third spin level three.  Her closing level four layback spin was excellent providing a big finish to a well performed program.  With no triples above the Salchow in either segment she placed about as well as she could hope for with the tools she brought to the competition.