(7 February 2015)  Novice Pairs is often an unpredictable event, as so many of the teams are new in any given season. There are often large changes in placement between the short program and the free skate, and the competition at the 2015 U.S. National Figure Skating Championships in Novice Pairs was predictably unpredictable.  Skating last in the event, the team that finished third in the short program, Kate Finster & Eric Hartley, won the free skate at the 2015 U.S. National Figure Skating Novice Pairs Championships.  The team, who are coached by John Coughlin, R. Hartley, and Dalilah Sappenfield scored 77.80 points for their free skate, and 112.91 points overall to claim the gold medal. Their choreographer, R. Mauti, gave the newly formed team a program to the soundtrack of the film "La Strada," composed by Nino Rota.  Finster & Hartley managed to successfully convey the whimsical quality of the Italian buskers of the film, performing on the street for gratuities.  Although the 2015 Midwestern Sectional Champions did not have the most technically difficult program, their speed and performance quality combined to give them the best Program Component scores of the event, the highest score for the free skate, and coupled with their third place scores from the short program, the overall winning score.  Most of the duo's elements were performed extremely well, especially their level four double twist, which had good height and was performed by Finster with both her arms over her head. Their difficult level 3 Axel Entry Lasso lift featured a reversal of rotation by Hartley.  The pair showed nice unison during their double Salchow- single Axel sequence. The team’s combination spin gained slightly negative GOE's because the space between the skaters was quite large, and the team's pair spin only gained a level 1, but these are very minor issues in a fine debut performance at U.S. Nationals for a very promising new team.

Another  new team, Sarah Rose & Joseph Goodpaster, skated the most coherent and enjoyable program of the event to finish second in the free skate and second overall with a score of 109.66 points.  Weaving a spell to "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" soundtrack by John Williams, the Southwest Florida FSC teenagers, aged 13 and 17,  dressed in easily identifiable Gryffindor uniforms, complete with the correct badges and school ties, were very convincing as Harry Potter and Hermione Granger.  It was easy to picture them mixing potions, casting spells, and flying on broomsticks at various points in the routine.  The lyrics to "Something Wicked This Way Comes," were very effective.  The silver medalists at the 2015 Eastern Sectional Championships completed all their elements for positive grades of execution, and achieved the highest Technical Element Score of the event, 37.62.  Their Program Component scores were only third high, and suffered from the duo's early appearance in the start order, due to their sixth place finish in the short program, and, more importantly, their lower speed than some other teams.  The students of Jim Peterson and Amanda Evora's worst elements were a level 2 double twist, which could have been higher, and their side-by-side double flips.  Their best skills were clearly their level 4 hip lift, an ambitious level 3 Step-In Lasso Lift, and a well-executed level 4 pair spin with positions which evoked their Harry Potter theme well. The program finished with a charming choreographic sequence, but the audience would have been quite happy if the entire program could only have lasted a just little longer.

The bronze medal for the event, and third place in the free skate were claimed by Jacquelyn Green & Rique Newby-Estrella, with a total score of 106.26 points. Zuzanna Szwed, their choreographer, chose the uplifting music from the soundtrack "Rudy" By Goldsmith for the students of Craig Joeright & Ethan Burgess.  "Rudy" is the story of Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger, who fulfills his dream of playing football at the University of Notre Dame despite his small size and dyslexia.  While it may seem odd to skate to a move about football, perhaps it was the inspiring nature of Rudy's story  that helped Green & Newby-Estrella skate their very best to rise to the bronze medal position from fifth place in the short program with the second highest Program Component Scores of the event.  The team added and completed a throw triple Salchow, the only one of the event, and even though the landing was not perfect, it was a brave attempt.  The routine was not perfect.  The forward inside death spiral did not gain any points at all because it was a bit short of the required single rotation with the man in the correct position.  Green had a slight step-out on her landing of the throw double loop, and the double flips were not perfectly synchronized.  Their final element of their program was a fastl-rotating level 4 pair spin, a good way to end a program about giving it that old college try.

Vanessa Chen & Robert Przepioski entered the free skate in second position, but a costly mistake in a difficult Axel entry Lasso Lift by Przepioski so affected the team's score that they finished in fifth place in the free skate and in fourth place overall, with a score of 105.05 points.  Przepioski caused the lift to be called as an illegal element because he rotated more than three and half turns while Chen was in the air. As a result, the lift could be called at no more than the Basic level, and a two point deduction was also taken.  Without this error, the team would definitely have won the bronze medal, and could, perhaps, have taken the silver, depending on the level and GOE the lift would have been given had it been done without error.  Doug Mattis had choreographed the pair's routine to a playful Motown medley to "Land of 1000 Dances," by Wilson Pickett, "I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” performed by Marvin Gaye, and "I Want You Back," by the Jackson Five, which included some very nice elements.  The newly paired couple showed good speed over the ice and a feel for the rhythm of their 1960's based routine.  The duo opened with a nice level 3 double twist, a lunge entry to a level 4 hip lift with a soft set-down, a double loop throw, and perky spins that were only slightly out of synchronization.  The team, which is coached by D. Mattis and R. Alexander, only executed a throw single flip, but this appeared to be intentional. At the end of the program, the couple seemed to tire slightly.  Chen put down her foot early in the pair spin, which caused it to be called a Basic level.

The leaders after the short program, Darbie Burke & Griffin Schwab, had an even rougher free skate, finishing in seventh in the segment, and in fifth place overall, with a total of 104.84 points. The fourteen and eighteen year old skated to "Sgt. Pepper Suite" by the Beatles in very bright, orange, yellow, and black costumes. Six of the team's elements earned negative GOE's due to a number of errors.  Their opening level 3 double twist went well, but Schwab popped a planned double flip-double toe combination to a single flip-single loop.  Burke over-rotated her double flip throw, stepped out and put a hand down.  The team's side-by-side spins were not in unison. Schwab singled the planned solo double flip. Even their choreographic sequence had its rough spots with non-matching leg lines in a spiral.  The team finished strong with a double loop throw that covered a nice distance, and had good flow on the landing, and a speedy pair spin, but it was not enough to lift their scores back to a medal position.

In sixth place overall and sixth in the free skate, were Megan Griffin & Andrew Civiello with a total score of 98.42 points.  Twelve-year old Griffin and eighteen-year old Civiello, who are coached by Doug and Larisa Ladret, have a large size difference which may have affected their Program Component Scores.  The couple skated to "Silent Movies" by Zamecnik, a routine choreographed by their coaches.  Although the skaters appeared to be hunting for things, somehow the theme was not obvious from the choreography.  The silver medalists at the 2015 Pacific Coast Sectionals executed under-rotated double Lutzes with an edge call.  The team failed to get credit for the second jump of their double flip combination when Griffin was unable to hold her landing edge from the first jump and so was unable to do the second jump, and both of the team's throw jumps were entered from nearly a dead stop.  Their side-by-side spins were relatively good.  The highlight of their routine was their choreographic sequence, which included a pair spiral, Griffin doing a spiral while Civiello performed a spread Eagle, and a number of varied moves in the field.

Alexandria Yao & Connor Fleming combined a fourth place finish in the short program with a ninth place score in the free skate to finish  in seventh place overall with a score of 98.29 points.  Skating to "Assassin's Tango" from the "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" soundtrack by Powell, the duo made several mistakes.  Yao fell flat on the ice while attempting a throw double flip.  The two skaters took off completely out of unison on their Rippon double Lutzes and failed to do the planned second jump of the combination..  A botched exit from their first lift, a level 4 Step-In Lasso Lift, caused Yao to land off balance and step out.  The team received an edge call on their side by side double flips.  The highlight of the routine was a level 4 press lift with a difficult flip entry and a smoothly executed level 2 forward inside death spiral to end the program.

The pair that finished fourth in the free skate, Emily Chan & Misha Mitrofanov, were only able to manage eighth place overall due to their poor finish in the short program with an overall score of 98.07. The team's program did not start well.  During a level 2 press lift, Mitrofanov was barely able to hold Chan aloft, and she exited by dropping his lap.  Their hip lift only was assigned a level 1.  This was followed by a side-by-side double Axel, notable for being the hardest side-by-side jumps attempted in this competition.  The pair, coached by O. Ganicheva and A. Letov then began to execute a string of very nice elements.  Their choreographic sequence flowed well and had good unison.  Their double loop throw from a dance lift had good distance, and their double flip-double toe combinations were in synchronization with each other and with their rather overwhelming music, "Revolutionary Etude" by Mrvica. 

The team that finished eighth in the free skate and ninth overall, Sapphire Jaeckel & Matthew Scoralle, completed the competition with 93.30 points overall.  The young couple, aged 13 and 17, who just teamed up this season, looked very dashing as the Nutcracker and Clara as they attempted the program with the highest Base Value of the event, 35.68 points.  The pair did everything they planned.  Unfortunately, the duo, coached by Themi Leftheris and Naomi Nam Poor were unable to do all their elements smoothly.  Their most ambitious, and highest scoring element, a level four Toe Lasso lift earned negative GOE's.  The team's best element was a level four hip lift.  At the end of the program, Scoralle fell on the exit of their pair spin.

Christine Fowler-Binder and Phillip Mills have choreographed a lovely, interesting free skate program to the "Les Miserables" soundtrack by Schonberg for Hannah Klopstock & Brandon Kozlowski, but the team was unable to perform it cleanly. The newly paired 2015 Pacific Coast Sectional champions, who are coached by Jenny Meno and Todd Sand, were only able to achieve a total score of 86.46 points, tenth place overall, and tenth place in the free skate.  Klopstock fell attempting a throw triple loop, a very ambitious skill to be included in a Novice program.  She fell again trying a double Lutz-double toe loop combination.  The highlights of the program were a throw double flip entered from a lunge by Kozlowski, and a lyrical choreographic sequence.

The eleventh place pair, Alexandra Iovanna & Matthew Rounis earned a total of 84.07 points for the competition. The team had problems with all their jump elements.  Both skaters hit the ice on during their attempted double flip sequence, but only one deduction for a fall was made. Iovanna & Rounis also took off at completely different times to do their side-by-side double loop jumps.  Their best element was a Basic level double twist, which earned positive GOE's.