Jason Brown

Adam Rippon

Joshua Farris

All Photos © 2015 George Rossano

(2 February 2015)  While the Ladies event was expected to be a contest primarily between Ashley Wagner and Gracie Gold (and so turned out to be the case), the Men's event was wide open with Jason Brown somewhat of a favorite over reigning four-time champion Jeremy Abbott, but with additional serious contenders such as former champion Max Aaron, Adam Rippon, and Joshua Farris also in the race.  Each of these had a real chance of reaching the top spot on the podium, but in the end it was Jason Brown who held off a strong field of men to win his first National title.

Brown gave a technically strong, well presented Short Program ("Juke" by Little Walters) and a strong enough Free Skate ("Tristan et Isuelt" by Maxime Rodriguez) to capture his first National title, though it required a little help from Joshua Farris getting snagged by the rules during his free skate.

Brown did not attempt a quad, which he has yet to master, but relied on a rock solid triple Axel - triple toe loop, strong triple jumps overall, level four spins and steps and confident expressive performing skills.  His only significant error in either program was an under-rotated solo triple Axel in the Free Skate.  In the Short Program he received three tens and in the Free Skate two.

Brown commented on his efforts at the championships saying, "I’ve trained so hard and I’ve trained so consistency, so I went out there like it’s another day in the office. I told myself that I’m going to do what I do every day and enjoy the moment.  I remember that feeling of my debut as a senior – it’s so, so fresh in my mind. To be able to back here right now is special. I just went out there like ‘I’m ready to go there and put on a show.’"

Despite having to skate after a record setting Free Skate performance by Adam Rippon, Brown looked the calmest and focused of all the top competitors when his name was called.  He remarked on his skating after Rippon saying, "I was so excited for Adam and I wanted to keep that excitement going for the audience. I just could not be more happy for Adam. He’s been training so unbelievably well this week. I was in his warm-up group, and he just looked unbelievable every single practice. It’s been so cool to share this experience with him."

Adam Rippon gave a dazzling performance in the Free Skate that many are calling (or at least hope will be shown to be) a breakout performance.  Rippon, who was twice World Junior Champion, has not lived up to his potential the last few years in the senior ranks, and some were starting to write him off.  He showed here that the best from him may be yet to come.

In the Short Program ("Tuxedo Junction" by Quincy Jones) he attempted quad Lutz, which was called under-rotated and received -3s from the judges.  The technical panel at first called it a triple Lutz, but then corrected the call in review.  The points lost in the quad compared to a clean triple cost him a place in the short, program, and his score was further held back but a level two change sit spin and a level 2 change combination spin that got credit for only two basic positions.

In contrast to the short, Rippon's Free Skate (Piano Concerto No.1 by Franz Liszt) was glorious.  He again opened with a quad Lutz attempt, this time downgraded, and followed with seven clean triples.  All his spins and steps were level four, and in components he received ten sixes, more than any other competitor in the event.

After his performance he said, "I feel amazing right now. After the quad Lutz I just let go and trusted my muscle memory.  I wanted to come here and make a statement that I'm a deserving U.S. champion. To do that, you need to skate with tenacity and take big risks. I took those big risks in both programs here and I'm proud of that."

Rippon's two attempts at quad Lutz, which he has worked on for several years, showed tenacity, however, a clean triple Lutz in the short and a clean triple flip in the long would have earned more points -- enough to have won the title.

2013 World Junior champions and 2014 U.S. pewter medalist Joshua Farris made a strong run for the title, but finished third overall.  In the short ("Give me Love" by Ed Sheeran) he trailed Jason Brown, by 2.96 points, the difference being Brown executing the superior triple flip - triple toe loop of the two, and Farris executing a level 2 change combination spin.

In the Free Skate ("Schindler's List" by John Williams) he skated a compelling program, despite minor errors on two jump elements, that received four tens.  Event with these errors and loosing a level on his change combination spin, Farris nearly had the title, until lack of planning, or brain freeze on a triple Lutz - double toe loop combination.

Farris had planned a triple flip - triple toe loop combination as element three, and also planned double toe loops as parts of elements seven and eight.  In such a situation, under IJS it is key the skater have a plan if the triple toe loop in doubles since under current rules the skaters can only execute two of any double in the program.

Farris doubled the toe loop in element three, but then also executed both double toe loops, the result of which element eight was discounted and received no points.  With a triple Lutz also in element ten either element eight or ten needed to be a combination, but the second jump could not be a double toe loop under the rules.  Had Farris cleanly executed one of the triple Lutzes with either a single toe loop, triple toe loop, single loop or double loop that element would have delivered enough points (he needed 7.01) to win the title.

Remarking on the error, Farris said later, "I ended up doing three double toes, though. I was supposed to do triple flip-triple toe and I doubled it, so I ended up doing too many. That cost me a lot of points. I would have won the title if I hadn't made that mistake. That kind of stinks, but you know what, it's OK. The beginning is not the end and I've still improved with every performance from year to year and I'm thrilled to be in the position I'm in.

Regarding his skate overall he said, "I'm feeling really great. I was more nervous today than I've ever been, being in the position I was in after the short, so I'm very happy that I was able to skate the way that I did."

2013 National Champion Max Aaron came into these championships placing his hopes on landing multiple quads.  Although inconsistent over the past few seasons, Aaron, nonetheless, still has had better overall success than most American men with the quads, and this season they have been stronger than last, when he won the bronze medal at the 2014 championships.

In the Short Program ("Footloose" by Kenny Logins) he landed a quad Salchow with a minor weakness on the landing, but his change sit spin was only level 3 and his flying upright spin level 2.  More significant to his score, his components were scored well below his technical score.

His free skate ("Gladiator" by Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard) started off with a very strong quad Salchoe - triple toe loop combination, followed by a quad Salchow that four of the nine judges marked negative.  His change sit spin was gain called level three, with the remaining leveled elements achieving level 4.  Again, his components were scored well below his technical score.

He described his effort saying, "I gave it my all and I have no regrets. I had a fun time out there. I was really working on my mindset, but I had a blast the whole time and no regrets."  For the quad combination he added, " I felt great, but there was more to the program than just the quad. It was great to start off the program that way, so I had a blast."

Despite the quads triples this year, Aaron placed fourth in both segments and finished fourth overall, but it is the technical and component scores that get to the heart of his results this year.

In the short Aaron was scored third in Total Element Score but sixth in Program Component Score.  In his long he was scored second in Total Element Score but sixth in Program Component Scores.  And to break it down further, in both the short and the long, the Transitions scores were the lowest of the components, followed by Choreography/Composition and Interpretation.  The message (or the homework assignment) in the marks is pretty clear, to be more competitive with skaters like Brown or Rippon the judges expect programs with fewer holes in the transitions and choreography, presented in a more sophisticated way.

Over the years from time to time, but still too frequently, one encounters the painful spectacle of an elite skater who does not recognize that the party is over and it is time to go home and get on with one's life.  This year, that skater was Jeremy Abbott, who announced his retirement last season but then changed his mind and continued in competition this year.

In the Short Program ("Lay me Down" by Sam Smith)  Abbott placed third, only 3.47 points behind Brown.  He had the highest Program Component score of the group (by 0.94 points), and received four tens. On the technical side, he trailed Brown due to a minor error on landing triple Axel, by having level three steps and change sit spins, and by having lower quality elements overall as scored by GoEs.  While Brown was scored with mainly twos and threes for GoEs, Abbott was scored mainly in the twos or less, with but a few threes.  Nevertheless, this small point difference left him in the running for the title, if he delivered in the long.

Abbott's Free Skate ("Adagio for String" by Samuel Barber), however, did not go nearly as well for him, where he was scored sixth in elements and fourth in components.  He finished fifth in the long, for a fifth place finish overall.

He fell on his opening quad toe loop attempt, which was under-rotated, and later in the program on triple flip - half loop - triple Salchow, and he also doubled a planned triple Lutz near he end of the program.  He was scored fourth in components and received but a half-hearted standing ovation from a handful of spectators.  I found the program dreary and uninteresting, and was not pulled into the (lack of) emotion in the program.

While neither Brown nor Abbott had a successful quad (though Abbott valiantly attempted one), the difference between these two skaters was that Brown constructed his programs to obtain optimum results from what he knows how to do, delivered elements with the highest quality and put out engaging programs that connected with the audience, and Abbott did not.  After several years of Abbott describing how he is reworking his mechanics and retooling his swing, etc., etc., to no obvious effect in developing either consistency or the elusive quad, combined with what are now often tedious programs, one has to wonder what is the point in his continuing when he also no longer appears to be motivated by a joy of competing.

After his performance he said, "The only thing I was disappointed about was the double Lutz at the end of the program. It was like, OK, you can make a mistake, maybe two and still be OK and get your goal, but I made one too many mistakes, and it was costly. But I was happy with it. Obviously it’s not what I wanted, I wanted to skate the best I could so I could be in the top three and have a chance to go to the World Championships. For me it’s really difficult. I get a lot of criticism for peaking at the U.S. Championships and then not bringing that into Worlds. But when I don’t peak at U.S. Championships, I don’t make the World team. It’s a catch-22."

For future plans he said, "I’ll go home and re-evaluate life. We retooled my swing this season and it’s been so much for the better. I have been able to go through the season completely injury-free. I felt more confident and stronger and much more consistent than I ever have before."  He added, "In the long run, everything we did will be worth it. I have much more security in my skating.  This is the first time ever that I have been off the podium in my senior championships. It’s extremely tough to swallow, but it is what it is."