Post by Admin on Nov 3, 2020 19:15:49 GMT
Knierim And Frazier Making Stunning Grand Prix Debut To Win Skate America
Skating together just six months, Alexa Scimeca Knierim and Brandon Frazier may have made the most exciting Las Vegas debut since Frank Sinatra hit Sin City in the 1950s.
The freshly minted pair skated clean programs on Friday and Saturday to win Skate America with 214.77 points, some 7.37 points more than their Irvine, California, training partners, Jessica Calalang and Brian Johnson. But it was the calm and confidence of their performances that stood out most.
On Saturday, Knierim and Frazier hardly put a foot wrong in their free skate to “Fall on Me” by Andrea Bocelli and Matteo Bocelli. Opening with triple toe loop-double toe loop combinations and a stunning throw triple loop, they went on to land triple salchow jumps as well as a throw triple lutz. Their lifts were secure; their pair spin, interesting and challenging.
When their total points — an impressive 214.77 points — flashed up, Knierim couldn’t hide her glee.
“I made a joke to Brandon when we got our score — I said, ‘This partnership is going to work,’” she said. “We feel like our hard work is being validated. We’re excited to keep improving.”
Knierim and Frazier also won Friday’s short program in commanding style, with another set of clean side-by-side triple toe loops — especially impressive, considering this is Frazier’s first season competing with the triple toe. Their 74.19 points put them more than three points ahead of the pack.
Both athletes had long careers with their former partners. Knierim won three U.S. titles, including the most recent one, with her husband, Chris, as well as a team bronze medal at the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018. Frazier is the 2017 U.S. champion with Haven Denney.
In April, Frazier relocated from Florida to join Knierim and coaches Jenni Meno and Todd Sand, three-time U.S. champions who competed in two Olympics (1994, 1998) together. The new pair’s development was challenged by limited ice during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, but they still seem to have gelled in record time.
“With Alexa and I having such long-term partnerships in the past, it’s been learning (about) each other, getting the timing on certain elements,” Frazier said. “But I would say for the most part, the biggest thing we’ve done such a good job on is working well together through these unprecedented times and trying not to get everything all at once. We’re taking each thing step-by-step.”
“We both thrive off hard work, and we kind of get more excited the more we do on the ice,” Knierim said. “That adds fuel to the fire to keep going and building. I think having that same mindset and drive every day has allowed us to gel so rapidly.”
That gelling requires compromise from both skaters. While Frazier takes the lead developing lifts, he changed his throw technique to better match his new partner’s. Chris Knierim, who retired from competition in February, joined the coaching team in Irvine and is helping his wife and her new partner develop their elements.
“He’s kind of a secret weapon, especially with the twist,” Frazier said. “Todd and Jenni are great with the technical (elements), but having someone like Chris — who is fresh off the (competitive) scene and had one of the best twists in the world — to kind of guide you, it plays such a big part in Alexa and I gelling as fast as we are.”
Skating together just six months, Alexa Scimeca Knierim and Brandon Frazier may have made the most exciting Las Vegas debut since Frank Sinatra hit Sin City in the 1950s.
The freshly minted pair skated clean programs on Friday and Saturday to win Skate America with 214.77 points, some 7.37 points more than their Irvine, California, training partners, Jessica Calalang and Brian Johnson. But it was the calm and confidence of their performances that stood out most.
On Saturday, Knierim and Frazier hardly put a foot wrong in their free skate to “Fall on Me” by Andrea Bocelli and Matteo Bocelli. Opening with triple toe loop-double toe loop combinations and a stunning throw triple loop, they went on to land triple salchow jumps as well as a throw triple lutz. Their lifts were secure; their pair spin, interesting and challenging.
When their total points — an impressive 214.77 points — flashed up, Knierim couldn’t hide her glee.
“I made a joke to Brandon when we got our score — I said, ‘This partnership is going to work,’” she said. “We feel like our hard work is being validated. We’re excited to keep improving.”
Knierim and Frazier also won Friday’s short program in commanding style, with another set of clean side-by-side triple toe loops — especially impressive, considering this is Frazier’s first season competing with the triple toe. Their 74.19 points put them more than three points ahead of the pack.
Both athletes had long careers with their former partners. Knierim won three U.S. titles, including the most recent one, with her husband, Chris, as well as a team bronze medal at the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018. Frazier is the 2017 U.S. champion with Haven Denney.
In April, Frazier relocated from Florida to join Knierim and coaches Jenni Meno and Todd Sand, three-time U.S. champions who competed in two Olympics (1994, 1998) together. The new pair’s development was challenged by limited ice during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, but they still seem to have gelled in record time.
“With Alexa and I having such long-term partnerships in the past, it’s been learning (about) each other, getting the timing on certain elements,” Frazier said. “But I would say for the most part, the biggest thing we’ve done such a good job on is working well together through these unprecedented times and trying not to get everything all at once. We’re taking each thing step-by-step.”
“We both thrive off hard work, and we kind of get more excited the more we do on the ice,” Knierim said. “That adds fuel to the fire to keep going and building. I think having that same mindset and drive every day has allowed us to gel so rapidly.”
That gelling requires compromise from both skaters. While Frazier takes the lead developing lifts, he changed his throw technique to better match his new partner’s. Chris Knierim, who retired from competition in February, joined the coaching team in Irvine and is helping his wife and her new partner develop their elements.
“He’s kind of a secret weapon, especially with the twist,” Frazier said. “Todd and Jenni are great with the technical (elements), but having someone like Chris — who is fresh off the (competitive) scene and had one of the best twists in the world — to kind of guide you, it plays such a big part in Alexa and I gelling as fast as we are.”