2012 US Figure Skating Championships: Junior Pairs Free Skate

1) Cali Fujimoto & Nicholas Barsi-Rhyne

   Music: Swan Lake

•  I love the lacing detail on the back of her dress
• Nice strong lasso lift, a bit of a thud on the exit
• They have nice flow across the ice
• That carry lift in the spread eagle took a lot of strength on his part
• She is a very glamorous skater, wonderful carriage
• That was a very nice program overall
• I believe he may be sick, because he looked like he wasn't invested in the program at all

33.79 (TES) + 35.20 (PCS) = 68.99

 38.45 (SP) + 68.99 (FS) = 107.44

2) Audrey Goldberg & Joseph Dolkiewicz

   Music: Mulan

•  Her hair is so long, I really hope it doesn't get in the way!
• Starting with the death spiral is an interesting choice
• She really needs to point that foot
• Really good split twist
• Oh, tough fall, she didn't open up out of the throw fast enough
• They both look scared to death out there, I'd love to see them open up and smile a little!
• I'd forgotten hos fantastic this music is
• One major difference between Jr. and Sr. pairs is the height and distance of the throws
• Those spins were starting out so great, he may have caught an edge
• Odd exit out of that lift, a bit of a stumble it seemed
• This coach is being really hard on them, said "quite a few mistakes"

 38.91 (TES) + 33.93 (PCS) -1.00 (DED) = 71.84

 37.15 (SP) + 71.84 (FS) = 108.99

3) Olivia Oltimanns & Joshua Santillan 

   Music: Assassin's Tango

•  Good positions and upside backflip exit form opening lift
• I love the detail and beading on her costume
• I like that swinging exit into the spins
• Wonderful unison on the spins until the foot change, but they got it back
• I really like this piece of music, it's edgy and theatrical
• She took a hard fall on that throw
• Better landing on the 2nd throw, but a cautious takeoff
• They are really starting to run out of energy toward the end, they look like they almost tripped over each other on some crossovers
• She steps out of the SBS jump, this is starting to ravel a bit her
• Not there best, but a very strong first half

 34.77 (TES) + 38.13 (PCS) -1.00 (DED) = 71.90

 37.40 (SP) + 71.90 (FS) = 109.30

4) AnnaMarie Pearce & Craig Norris

   Music: Music from Rodeo

•  I love Aaron Copeland music
• She is such a little performer and he is very expressive as well
• Good quick split double twist
• Oh they're opposite jumpers, I always like the look of that
• Good save on that hand-to-hip lift, he looked to be losing his footing a bit
• Throw looked to be good, but just a step out, nothing huge
• Nice arch in the death spiral
• I like this team a lot, they're a joy to watch
• It's really hard to see unison when they pairs spin the opposite way
• Lost quite a bit of speed on the pair spin
• I love this music so much
• Good flexibility by her on the spiral
• That drop split was a nice moment of choreography
• Great speed on those lifts
• Nice musicality, this piece is well choreographed
• Fantastic skate from them!

 35.08 (TES) + 41.59 (PCS) = 76.67

 45.54 (SP) + (FS) = 122.21

5) Madeline Aaron & Max Settlage

   Music: Romeo and Juliet

•  Oddly enough, they're right around the same age as Romeo and Juliet
• Beautiful side by side jumps
• This team has gorgeous posture and carriage
• Slight leg separation on the split double twist
• That was a gorgeous throw, just leaned a little too far left
• Nice double axels, slight unison issue on the 2nd jump in the series
• I don't know why, but I've never liked when the music changes mid-spin
• Oh no, another fall on the 2nd throw
• This is not the skate they wanted after winning on the novice level last year
• This clearly is not the skate they dreamed about, but they have wonderful qualities if they stay together and keep skating 
• I really like the simplicity of these costumes

 38.35 (TES) + 43.73 (PCS) -3.00 (DED) = 79.08

 46.26 (SP) + 79.08 (FS) = 125.34

6) Brianna de la Mora & Taylor Wilson

   Music: Transformers/Batman 

•  Wow hello costumes!
• Oooo was that throw titled in the air, I'm glad she didn't fall harder than she did
• Really tight split twist
• Nice upside down entry and exit on that lift
• This team really has good unison
• They have some really nice elements, they just need to loosen up a bit
• They are really flying, good speed
• They should be really pleased with that performance

 37.55 (TES) + 38.28 (PCS) -1.00 (DED) = 74.83

 39.44 (SP) + 74.83 (FS) = 114.27

7) Jessica Pfund & AJ Reiss

   Music: Music from Treasure Island

•  They are skating so fast right now, that split twist was zippy!
• Oh no, he had that jump and just slipped off the edge
• Nice big throw
• She holds a lot of tension in her hands, loosening up the upper body would do wonders for her
• Really clean double axel sequence, good unison
• This is also their first season together so kudos to them
• Some unison issues on the spins, they are really losing speed
• The exit from that carry lift was a little scary, I"m not going to lie
• Wonderful flexibility on her part in that layback position on the pair spin

 43.96 (TES) + 43.32 (PCS) -4.00 (DED) = 83.28

 43.71 (SP) + 83.28 (FS) = 126.99

8) Britney Simpson & Matthew Blackmer

   Music: Music from Titanic

•  When I first saw this I was surprised that it isn't done more
• It think this pairing highlights Britney's elegance more than her last one
• Gorgeous split twist
• Wonderful throw, great flow out of it
• Nice double axels
• I love this choreography, it really builds with the music
• Nice arch in her back on this lift
• I love the musical arrangement 
• They have a great connection with one another
• They have great unison for a pair that hasn't even been together a year
• That 2nd throw was better than the first
• They are just cool as a cucumber out there, they're making this look easy
• This is one of those programs that I could watch over and over again 
• I loved that she went down on the death spiral as the music built
• So beautiful, that looked like a senior pairs program

 46.63 (TES) + 50.68 (PCS) = 97.31

 49.12 (SP) + 97.31 (FS) = 146.43

9) Jessica Noelle Calalang & Zack Sidhu

   Music:

•  Uh oh, hard fall for Jessica
• They are flying
• Solid split double twist
• I've seen them much better this season, there is just something missing tonight
• This poor girl has taken some hard falls tonight, I hope she is okay
• I love there skating normally, but they just weren't at their best today

 41.01 (TES) + 44.99 (PCS) -2.00 (DED) = 84.00

 50.84 (SP) + 84.00 (FS) = 134.84

10) Haven Denney & Brandon Frazier

   Music: Pearl Harbor

•  I don't really understand this costume for Pearl Harbor
• Really nice split twist, perfectly timed with the music
• Good double axels
• Haven seems to really be having fun out there
• Really clean throw
• If they keep going like this, it's really going to be close
• It's very unclear which character she is supposed to be playing
• Aww, a fall on that throw after such a lovely skate is unfortunate, she just couldn't hang on
• This is still a fantastic program, even with that one fall

 47.01 (TES) + 50.00 (PCS) -1.00 (DED) = 96.01

 52.83 (SP) + (FS) = 148.84

11) Kylie Duarte & Colin Grafton

   Music: Doctor Zhivago

• This team has really long lines, very elegant
• SO far so good, I love their look on the ice
• She totally saved that jump, it looked like she was going down
• Very stifled landing on that throw, she saved that one as well
• I love their posture, they'd look great in ice dance

 46.87 (TES) + 48.65 (PCS) = 95.52

 48.83 (SP) + 95.52 (FS) = 144.35