For all four U.S. couples entered, Ondrej Nepela Trophy held a particular import: for Gretchen Donlan & Andrew Speroff, it was an opportunity to recoup after the ups and downs of the 2012-13 season; for U.S. silver medalists Alexa Scimeca & Chris Knierim, a return to the major competitive stage after a mid-summer ankle injury; and for pair Haven Denney & Brandon Frazier and dancers Alexandra Aldridge & Daniel Eaton, a chance to make a senior international splash after gold and bronze medals, respectively, at the 2013 World Junior Figure Skating Championships.
1. The Pairs — While Donlan & Speroff’s skates were not without error, including underrotation and a fall by Donlan on the side-by-side triple toe in the free skate, multiple level 4 elements did allow the team to earn new international highs of 56.63 in the Meditation short program and 103.56 in the long, their previous bests (though unofficial by ISU standards) coming at the 2010 and 2012 Nebelhorn Trophy. The team’s PCS of 53.86 in the long program was also the highest in that segment by nearly 2.5 points, their best marks coming for interpretation and performance/execution of their faithfully balletic Nutcracker “Pas de Deux.”
For Scimeca & Knierim, the event marked a return to major competition after Knierim’s fibula break and surgery. The couple’s return was not without bumps, including a fall for Knierim on the triple salchow and an unusual in-hold fall in the short program’s step sequence, resulting in no credit for an element with a base value ranging from 1.50 to 3.90 — which, combined with the three-point deduction for the team’s falls, may have moved the team to first with 5.46 points separating them from Donlan & Speroff in the segment, particularly with a segment high PCS of 24.74 an advantage. And despite another fall on the triple salchow for Knierim in the long program, a TES of 52.63 in their third-place long was the second-highest in that leg of the event.
Fourth-place finishers Denney & Frazier, too, were beset by step sequence woes; though no falls were incurred, they failed to meet all the step requirements for the minimum leveled choreographic sequence in the Notre Dame de Paris long, a loss of 2.00 in base value. The team was also affected by falls on the side-by-side salchow in both programs, for Frazier in the short and Denney in the long, and the combined errors gave the team a total of 142.48, more than 13 points below the personal best set at March’s World Junior championships — though the early date and a move to the senior ranks also play their parts.
2. The Dancers — Aldridge & Eaton had earlier debuted their programs at July’s Lake Placid Ice Dance Championships, finishing first overall in the short dance and first in their free dance group. While their free dance score of 78.99 here was a .96 improvement on that event’s score, their short dance score dropped by nearly two points to a 51.50 here courtesy of six points lost in TES. In both dances at Ondrej Nepela, in fact, the team struggled on elements, with lifts — including a slight glitch on the conclusion of their Level 4 rotational, bringing a negative GOE of -0.17 and an extended lift deduction, and a Level 3 on the curve lift — proving an issue in the free dance, and two Level 1s dropping their short dance score. One of those low levels came on the second Finnstep sequence with the team missing all three key points, despite picking up a decent Level 3 on the first; the other came on their concluding rotational lift due possibly to a slight pause from Eaton midway through the lift, at 3:08 — an error and a mark unlikely to be repeated in their next outing.
3. The Takeaway — Of the four teams discussed above, only victors Donlan & Speroff are not currently assigned to a Grand Prix event. Their win, however, does place them at the bottom of the list of alternates, a possibility that actually landed Scimeca & Knierim their first Grand Prix appearance last season. The team otherwise stands a fair chance of assignment to another international, having competed at both Nebelhorn and Ice Challenge in the 2012-13 season.
For Donlan & Speroff as well as Scimeca & Knierim and Denney & Frazier, their results land them in the middle of the pack for international season results; while marks at the U.S. International Skating Classic were slightly higher overall, Donlan & Speroff’s 160.19 total puts them nearly directly between Marissa Castelli & Simon Shnapir’s 165.91 at that event and Lindsay Davis & Rockne Brubaker’s 156.91 at Nebelhorn Trophy. With further training time and a cleaner competition more in line with last year’s performances, Scimeca & Knierim will likely improve upon the 153.34 earned here in their appearances at Cup of China and Rostelecom Cup.
For Denney & Frazier as well as Aldridge & Eaton — whose score of 130.49 places them a few points behind Lynn Kriengkrairut & Logan Giulietti-Schmitt in the race to date — further predictions are more difficult to make given each team’s unfamiliarity with the international senior field. While each has clear room to grow on the technical end, with time likely to smooth out some rough edges, components can be more difficult to grow, as young skaters move up to encounter expectations for senior skaters — and senior skating skills — which may require additional time for development.
4. The Odds and Ends — Both Scimeca & Knierim and Aldridge & Eaton will be competing at Cup of China, November 1-3, with Scimeca & Knierim also assigned to final event Rostelecom Cup from November 22-24. Denney & Frazier make their Grand Prix debut at NHK Trophy, November 8-10.