2011 U.S. Nationals

Senior Men

Photos copyright 2011 by George S. Rossano

Bradley's performance was fast and strong with excellent expression.  Typical of his style, however, the routine was bit thin on transitions and a bit wild in control.  His components reflected this with highest marks in Performance and Interpretation and lowest in Transitions and Skating Skills.  His component marks averaged near 7.25 overall.

The two time U.S. Champion, Jeremy Abbott placed second in the short, exactly 2 points back.  He was the leader in component by over three points, with an average component score over 7.75 and four judges going into the eights.  Abbott gave up over five points to Bradley in the element marks, and it was only the strong component scores that kept the competition close.

Abbott landed a super triple flip - triple toe loop, a solo triple Axel and triple Lutz that was landed on the toe with a very minor skid.  He gave up 1.5 points on levels in the spins compared to Bradley, but more importantly 5 points on the combination.  The base value for his elements was a full 6 points behind Bradley.  Bottom line, the result in the Short Program was all about the quad.

Brandon Mroz placed third in the short with a fairly clean skate.  He performed with good speed, decent power and a rare glimmer of personality.  He landed an opening quad toe loop - double toe loop combination which had wonky landings for both jumps.  Six judges went to -1 on the GoE, with the remainder scoring it at 0.  The combination was followed ith a good triple Axel and later a clean triple Lutz.  Two of his spins were called level four and the other level three, while the step sequence was level 2.  His flying sit was slow and wobbly and seven judges scored it at -1.  His components averaged just below 6.75, ranging from 5.75 to 7.75, a fair bit of disagreement among the judges.

In his second year at Senior, the 2009 Junior Men's silver medallist placed fourth in the Short Program.  He opened with a triple Axel with a bit of a break on the landing, which three judges dinged with a -1.  His triple Lutz - triple toe loop was clean, but his solo triple flip had an edge call which received eight -1s and one -2.  Two of his spins were called level four and were well scored by the judges, picking up a few +3s.  The remaining pin and step sequence were called level two and were also well scored by the judges, with 0s through +3s.  His components, averaging below 6.50, were respectable but below what is needed to move into the elite ranks.  Homework for Messing, one would hope, would be a quad and components each a full point higher.

Adam Rippon, though to be a medal contender coming into the competition, had a difficult skate.  After a fifth place finish at 2010 Nationals, and third and fourth place results at Skate Canada and Skate America he was under the pressure of high expectations at this competition.

Rippon opened with a step out of triple Axel which was scored at -2 and he fell on a later triple Lutz attempt.  His remaining elements were cleanly skated, with his change foot combination spin called level four, and the remaining elements levels two and three.   Other than the jump issues, it was a well presented program, expressed better than one might have hoped given the two glaring jump errors.  His component marks averaged just below 7.00 giving him the third best Program Component Score.  But he gave too many points away in the elements and is now buried in ninth place, 14.10 point back.

Another competitor under scrutiny as a future star was Armin Mahbanoozadeh, who was third at Skate America this season.  He gave a respectable performance, with all but his triple Lutz executed cleanly.  The attempt was downgraded and he fell on the jump.  It was a catastrophic error that pushed him to eighth in the short program, compared to a potential fourth place finish had he landed the jump.  His components averaged just above 6.50.

At the end of the night Bradley and Abbott have significant leads over the rest of the pack.  After that, the standings are a bit constipated, with roughly five points separating the next seven skaters.

2011 Senior Men Medalists