Photo credit: KRPhotogs Photography
Kendall Erne and Taira Shinohara captured their first senior women’s and men’s titles, respectively, at the 2025 U.S. Collegiate Figure Skating Championships in Flossmoor, Illinois, this past weekend.
In the junior events, Solomon Bristol successfully defended his men’s title while Emmalee Carlson secured her first win in the women’s event.
Senior Women
After finishing sixth in 2024, Kendall Erne (Purdue University Global) took home her first U.S. collegiate title in the senior women’s event with a total score of 170.35.
Erne started off strong in her short program to “Melancholy” by Alexey Kosenko, tallying 8.58 points for her triple Lutz-double toe loop, the highest-scoring element in the segment. She then ended her performance with a Level 4 change of foot combination spin – one of two spins that earned Level 4s – for a short program score of 61.20. She collected positive grades of execution on every element.
Taking a lead of more than four points into the free skate, Erne maintained the top spot in the standings to claim the gold. Her performance to “Lady Caliph: Nocturne” by Ennio Morricone and Yo-Yo Ma and “La Califfa” by Ennio Morricone and Hayley Westenra was highlighted by a triple Lutz-double toe loop followed by a triple flip, which contributed 7.59 and 6.36 points, respectively, to her score. With positive grades of execution on every element once again, the skate tallied 109.15 points, cementing her win by nearly 13 points overall.
2022 U.S. junior champion Clare Seo (Stony Brook University) collected the silver medal with a total score of 157.46.
Seo opened her short program set to “Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, Op. 28” by Min Kym with a triple Lutz-double toe loop that was awarded 8.18 points and earned positive GOEs on every element to secure 56.92 points.
In her free skate to music from Lord of the Rings, Seo scored 9.10 points for her triple Lutz-double toe loop in the second half of the program, which was the highest scoring element of the event by 1.51 points. In total, Seo scored 100.54 points for her free skate.
Maryn Pierce (University of Denver) finished just 1.97 points behind Seo to claim bronze with 155.49 points in total.
Her short program earned positive GOEs on every element and she collected Level 4 marks for all three spins. Her highest scoring element was her triple toe loop-double toe loop combination that contributed 6.33 points toward a score of 51.93, landing her in fourth place in the segment.
In the free skate, Pierce earned over six points for both her jump combinations in the second half of the program – a triple toe loop-double toe loop combination and a double flip-double Axel sequence. She climbed to third in the overall standings with 103.56 points, which earned a second place finish on day two.
Wren Warne-Jacobsen (University of Minnesota Twin Cities) claimed her third straight podium finish at this event, taking home the pewter medal. She earned 53.88 points in the short program, 99.43 points in the free skate and 153.31 points overall
Senior Men
Taira Shinohara (University of California, Irvine) captured the senior men’s title with a total score of 224.96, scoring positive GOEs on all but one element across his two programs.
His short program to “Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence” by Ryuichi Sakamoto collected 78.26 points and featured a triple Lutz-triple toe loop combination worth 10.89 points and two Level 4 spins.
In the free skate, the 2024 U.S. junior silver medalist’s performance to Symphonic Suite “Princess Mononoke” by Joe Hisaishi and the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra garnered 146.70 points with his triple Lutz-triple toe loop combination and triple Lutz-Euler-triple Salchow combination both earning over 11 points. He also achieved Level 4 distinctions on all three spins.
Junior Women
In her first year competing at the U.S. Collegiate Figure Skating Championships, Emmalee Carlson (Normandale Community College) took home gold in the junior women’s competition with a two-day total score of 124.42.
Skating to “I Got Rhythm” by Nikki Yanofsky in the short program, Carlson collected Level 4 distinctions on all three of her spins. Her step sequence was the highest-scoring element of her program, which added 3.96 points to her score of 43.14.
Going into the free skate in third, Carlson rallied to win day two by earning Level 4s on all three spins for a second time. She opened her free skate set to “The Lion King Orchestra Suite” by Hans Zimmer with a double Axel that was awarded 4.07 points toward a segment score of 81.28. She was the only skater to earn over four points on four elements.
Madeline Benson (University of Wisconsin- Madison) finished just 1.40 points behind Carlson with a total score of 123.02 to capture the silver medal. Her short program to “Ashes” by Celine Dion featured a double Lutz-double toe loop combination that received 3.82 points followed by a Level 4 sit spin and her step sequence that was awarded 4.07 points for 43.72 points in the segment.
Benson’s free skate to music from the James Bond franchise featured three Level 4 spins and a double flip-double toe loop-single Axel sequence that contributed to a segment score of 79.30.
Clinching a spot on the podium for the second straight year, Caroline Mura (New York University) added a second bronze medal to her collection. Mura won the short program with 43.96 points thanks to collecting over three points on five elements, including two Level 4 spins. Additionally, she earned positive GOEs on every element.
Mura fell to third in the free skate but skated a solid program, achieving positive GOEs on every element. Her choreographic step sequence shined, earning 4.00 points toward a segment score of 75.09 and 119.05-point total score.
Lillianna Fish (Middle Tennessee State University) scored 42.44 points in the short program and 70.34 points in the free skate to tally an overall score of 112.78 and clinch the pewter medal.
Junior Men
Solomon Bristol (Boston University) dominated the junior men’s field, winning by an impressive 33.36-point margin to win his second consecutive junior men’s title with a total score of 170.10.
Bristol started off strong in the short program, taking the lead by over 10 points with a score of 59.83. His skate set to “F For You” by Disclosure ft. Mary J. Blige earned 5.74 points for his triple Salchow-double toe loop combination and he was the only competitor to earn Level 4 marks on two spins.
In his free skate to “107 Steps” and “In the Musicals” by Bjork, Bristol opened with his three highest-scoring elements – a double Lutz-double Axel-double Axel sequence followed by a triple Salchow-double toe loop and then a triple toe loop-double toe loop. He also secured Level 4 marks on all three spins for a segment score of 110.27, nearly 20 points higher than second place.
Anton Yakunin (Kirkwood Community College) skated to the silver medal with 136.74 points in total. In his short program to “Island of Misfortune” by Andrei Mironov, a triple Salchow-double toe loop combination earned 5.89 points, which was the highest-scoring element of the event. He earned a short program score of 46.10.
Going into the free skate in third place, Yakunin came back to claim second on day two with a score of 90.64. Skating to “Flash” and “Donna Donna Mia” by Toto Cutugno, Yakunin earned a program-high 6.68 points for his triple toe loop-single Axel-single Axel sequence and Level 4 marks on two of his spins, which contributed to a segment score of 90.64.
Zachary Fogt (Ohio State University) claimed bronze with a total score of 135.54. Fogt tallied 48.97 points to finish second in the short program with highest points being awarded for his triple Salchow-double toe loop at 5.03 points.
In the free skate, he opened with a clean triple loop and collected a Level 4 for his change of foot combination spin for a score of 86.57 points to finish third in the final standings.
For a full schedule and results from the 2025 U.S. Collegiate Figure Skating Championships & Invitational, visit www.uscollegiatechampionships.com.
