2021 U.S. Figure Skating Championships

Four days after the conclusion of Championship-level competition at the 2021 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships, a full slate of junior competition kicked off on Wednesday with pairs, ladies, ice dance and men all competing their short programs or rhythm dance. Competition featured a surprise leader, a bloody nose, a team that withdrew and reentered, and more.

PAIRS

As the reigning U.S. junior silver medalists, Anastasiia Smirnova and Daniil Siianytsia entered this year's U.S. Championships with their eyes on the gold medal.



Leading after the short program, Smirnova and Siianytsia are halfway to their goal after scoring 59.07 points, which is a personal best for the team. They lead the rest of the field by 6.93 points, though were still disappointed they did not fully execute their throw triple loop.

"We didn't do what we planned, so it's a little bit of a bummer, but I think we're pretty happy with that," Siianytsia said. "We stayed on our feet, didn't have falls, so that's an improvement from last year I think."

The Ukrainian-born skaters received Level 4s on their death spiral, lift and spin.

They are trailed by Isabelle Martins and Ryan Bedard, whose James Bond-themed short program earned 52.14 points – 0.02 points shy of their personal best.



"We had a couple mistakes, but we can fix them for the long," said Martins, who fell on the side-by-side double Axels.

Martins and Bedard are the 2016 U.S. juvenile champions. After finishing third at the junior level in 2019 followed by fifth in 2020, they are seeking a return to the podium this year.

"Our second year was a bit rough, we made a lot of mistakes," Bedard said. "But from last year, we've definitely gotten closer and built up more, and this year we're feeling good."

The teams sitting in third and fourth place after the short both partnered up within the past year and are competing at their first in-person competitions together.





Sydney Cooke, who said she is often compared to 2014 Olympic Team Event bronze medalist Marissa Castelli, and Keyton Bearinger are third with a score of 48.61 points.

"Of course, we've done better in practice, who hasn't?" Cooke said. "Honestly, it went better than I thought it would."

Valentina Plazas and Maximiliano Fernandez – the oldest woman and oldest man in the field at 20 and 25, respectively – are in fourth after scoring 47.04 points in the short. Plazas fell on the double Axel.

Fernandez is the 2017 U.S. junior champion with Joy Weinberg and 2016 U.S. novice silver medalist with Cirinia Gillett, though went close to four years without competing in figure skating.

"It's my passion to be back in this sport, so no matter how it turns out, she's going to give it her all and I'm going to give it my all," Fernandez said. "One step forward."

The pairs free skate will kick off the final day of competition tomorrow at The Orleans Arena. Watch it live and on-demand on Peacock Premium starting at 3:55 p.m. ET.

ICE DANCE

Katarina Wolfkostin and Jeffrey Chen went from qualifying for and entering the U.S. Championships – with hopes of upgrading their 2020 silver medal to a gold – to withdrawing from the competition, then back to reentering just minutes before their flight to Las Vegas.

Chen had twisted his left knee in practice earlier this month. According to one doctor, the MRI results showed an ACL tear, which meant he would have to be off ice for 4-6 weeks. After seeking a second and third opinion, Chen was given different results and told he could continue skating – and just in time. They rebooked hotel rooms, made sure they were back in the competition and were on a plane later that day.



"At first, I was very heartbroken; I was very sad," Wolfkostin said. "I was like, oh, we've been preparing all season for nationals and it got canceled because of a silly injury, but then I was getting into the mindset of, ok, there's next season, we can take time to rest, work on our skills. Then the day arrived where we were supposed to catch our flight, but we weren't planning to. I received a call from Jeffrey, and I was like, 'Oh my gosh, we can skate possibly?'

"So I had all these emotions going on; I was anxious because I had to pack everything. Overall, I was really happy we had a second chance to skate."

It's a good thing they got on the plane because the 2020 Youth Olympic bronze medalists are leading the way following the rhythm dance, in which they scored a personal-best 68.81 points.

They earned Level 4s on all but one element, their mainline step sequence.



"We were both happy with our performance, and the score was the highest we've ever gotten," Wolfkostin said. "It shows improvement, which is always great. It's a great encouragement to keep slowly getting better and better, and know that all of the hard work and preparation you put into something pays off."

Siblings Oona Brown and Gage Brown, who earned the bronze medal last season, are close behind with 66.20 points. The Browns won the U.S. Championship Series to qualify for this event.

They kept their 2019-20 rhythm dance to music from The Boy from Oz for this season.

"I feel like we probably have improved technically, seeing as this is the second year we're doing this dance now," Gage said. "We really have been zoning in on each element, trying to bring up the GOE score, the quality – just everything about each element."

Similarly, Katarina DelCamp and Ian Somerville, also held on to their rhythm dance music to "City of Stars" and "Planetarium" from the La La Land soundtrack from the previous season. After placing fifth last year, they currently sit in third with 60.26 points.

DelCamp and Somerville partnered together in 2019 and this is the only rhythm dance music they have known so far.

"Throughout the program, it was just a relieving feeling of happiness," Somerville said. "This program has summed up our partnership; we've been doing it for two years straight. Knowing this would be the last time we'd be competing it, let alone skating it, it just felt new again."

Isabella Flores and Dmitriy Tsarevski, who are in their first season together, are nipping at DelCamp and Somerville's heels with 59.98 points.

"We were definitely a little bit nervous going into it, but it's kind of a surreal experience," Flores said of the team's first live competition together. "Even the cardboard cutouts are really unique."

"The crowd was definitely my favorite part," Tsarevski added.