For the third year in a row, 12-year old Nathan Chen won a U.S. title. After two consecutive wins in the novice division, he moved up to the junior division and took the gold there as well, overtaking short program leader Timothy Dolensky. The top four men all delivered strong free skates and separated themselves from the rest of the pack.
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Second after the short program, Chen opened with a solid triple lutz-triple toe and never looked back. He went clean through his free skate with seven triples total. Dolensky put up a fight for the battle, also landing seven triples. But the judges gave Chen higher marks for the execution of his elements and his program components, and Dolensky dropped to take the silver. Still, his podium finish this season is a vast improvement from last year, when he did not qualify for Nationals.
After taking sixth at last year’s Nationals in the junior division, Philip Warren hit six clean triples in his free skating to move up from fifth to win the bronze with a 182.17. He finished second in the free skate but was unable to make up the deficit he faced in the short program.
Harrison Choate, who counted three falls in the short program and finished a disappointing tenth, had the fourth highest-scoring free skate and vaulted to fourth place.
In junior ice dance, there is a close battle between Alexandra Aldridge and Daniel Eaton, and Lauri Bonacorsi and Travis Mager for the top spot. After the short dance, the two teams are currently separated by one point going into the free dance. Fresh off a fourth place finish at the Youth Olympic Games, Rachel Parsons and Michael Parsons are in third, under four points behind the leaders.
JUNIOR MEN (final standings)
1. Nathan Chen – 193.90
2. Timothy Dolensky – 187.84
3. Philip Warren – 182.17
4. Harrison Choate – 163.43
5. Lukas Kaugars – 154.95
6. Timothy Koleto – 149.01
7. Jay Yostanto – 148.54
8. Troy Tomasello – 147.36
9. Ryan Hartley – 141.85
10. Andrew Nagode – 134.99
11. David Wang – 132.72
12. Emmanuel Savary – 129.45
JUNIOR DANCE (after the short dance)
1. Alexandra Aldridge/Daniel Eaton – 54.42
2. Lauri Bonacorsi/Travis Mager – 53.39
3. Rachel Parsons/Michael Parsons – 50.80
4. Lorraine McNamara/Quinn Carpenter – 49.11
5. Madeline Heritage/Nathaniel Fast – 48.82
6. Kaitlin Hawayek/Michael Bramante – 46.85
7. Elliana Pogrebinsky/Ross Gudis – 46.67
8. Jessica Mancini/Tyler Brooks – 45.81
9. Amanda Bertsch/Sam Kaplun – 44.88
10. Roxette Howe/Mark Jahnke – 43.33
11. Cassandra Jeandell/Damian Dodge – 37.54
12. Danielle Gamelin/Alexander Gamelin – 36.32
13. Jenna Dzierzanowski/Vinny Dispenze – 28.07
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