Above: Sophie Joline von Felten earns bronze, her second career Junior Grand Prix medal. Photo credit Getty Images
By Abby Farrell
The U.S. Junior National Team secured bronze medals in the women’s and men’s events at Grand Prix Turkey this past weekend in Ankara, Turkey.
Sophie Joline von Felten secured her second career podium finish in the Series after clinching gold last year in Slovenia, while Lucius Kazanecki took home his first Junior Grand Prix medal.
Von Felten, the reigning U.S. junior women's champion, delivered a nearly flawless performance in the short program, earning positive grades of execution on every element and Level 4 marks on her step sequence and all three spins. Skating to "I Will Never Abandon You" by Efisio Cross and "Cassiopeia" by Jonathon Deering, Power-Haus and Ros Stephen in honor of the athletes, coaches and parents lost on Flight 5342, her opening element – a triple Axel-triple toe loop combination – was the highest-scoring element of the event, contributing 13.00 points to a personal best short program score of 68.17.
In the free skate, von Felten entered with an extremely difficult planned program content. She attempted two triple Axels as well as a quadruple Salchow but struggled with execution. Her highest-scoring element in her performance to Frida was a triple Lutz-double Axel-double Axel sequence in the second half of the performance at 12.57 points.
Although von Felten dropped to fourth in the free skate with a score of 118.75, she secured the third step of the podium and her second Junior Grand Prix medal with a total score of 186.92 points.
Sofia Bezkorovainaya finished eighth overall with a personal best total score of 173.50.
Her short program to “Over the Rainbow” by Loren Allred was dedicated to those lost on Flight 5342, including her beloved coach Inna Volyanskaya and best friend Everly Livingston. She claimed positive GOEs for all but one element with and her triple Lutz-triple toe loop was her highest-scoring element at 9.43 points, leading to a new personal best short program score of 59.26.
In the free skate, Bezkorovainaya continued her momentum, finishing with 114.24 points, just 0.16 below her personal best. Performing to "Moonlight Sonata" by Depeche Mode and Wall of Noise, the routine was highlighted by a triple Lutz-double Axel-double toe loop sequence that was awarded 12.06 points.
In his first Junior Grand Prix appearance since 2022, Kazanecki secured the bronze medal, demolishing his personal best scores in each segment by over 15 points each.
In his short program set to "Interstellar" by Hans Zimmer and Dorian Marko, Kazanecki opened with a triple loop followed by a triple Axel worth a combined 11.59 points. His triple Lutz-triple toe loop was the second-highest scoring element of the competition at 12.29 points. His segment score of 70.71 topped his previous best by 15.26 points.
The 2024 U.S. junior men’s champion maintained his third-place position after the free skate with a personal best segment score of 131.96, improving on his previous high score by 18.18 points.
His program set to "Adios Nonino" by Forever Tango featured a triple Lutz-triple toe loop and triple flip-double Axel-double Axel sequence in the second half of the program, both of which clinched over 12 points each. He was also the only competitor to attempt a quadruple jump, which he did twice. His final score of 202.67 demolished his previous best by 33.69 points.
In his Junior Grand Prix debut, Henry Gao finished 13th overall with 48.66 points in the short program, 96.21 points in the free skate and a total score of 144.87.
In the pairs event, Reagan Moss and Jakub Galbavy finished just off the podium in fourth place – their highest finish at a Junior Grand Prix.
The reigning U.S. junior champions kicked off their short program to "Fly Me to the Moon/Lucky (Mash-Up) [feat. Breea Guttery]" by Rick Hale with a triple twist lift that tallied 6.17 points, but the star of their program was a Level 4 reverse lasso lift that was awarded 8.50 points. They ended the short program in third place with an international personal best score of 53.61.
Skating to the iconic "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen in the free skate, though they fell on both throws, they earned Level 4s on their two lifts, including a reverse lasso lift worth 8.20 points to tally a new international personal best segment score of 90.79, beating their previous best by 8.08 points.
The team finished in fourth with a total score of 144.40, crushing their previous international personal best score by 17.06 points
Also competing for the United States in pairs, Sofia Jarmoc and Luke Witkowski placed eighth.
Their short program set to a Bruno Mars medley featured a Level 4 change of foot combination spin and an Axel lasso lift that collected 6.98 points for an international personal best score of 48.25 in the segment.
In their free skate to “Another Love” by Tom Odell, the 2025 U.S. junior pewter medalists earned 77.08 points for a two-day total score of 125.33.
In ice dance, the United States was represented by training mates out of Leesburg, Virginia, Annelise Stapert and Maxim Korotcov and Annaelle Kouevi and Yann Homawoo.
Stapert and Korotcov led the way for the stars and stripes with a fifth-place finish. Their total score of 137.57 was an international personal best.
With their rhythm dance to “Step by Step” and “Games” by New Kids on the Block and “Groove is in the Heart” by Deee-Lite, Stapert and Korotcov achieved a score of 54.06 thanks to their set of sequential twizzles that collected 7.73 points and a midline step sequence that racked up 8.72 points.
In the free dance, the duo started off their program set to music from Les Miserables with a Level 4 stationary lift and their diagonal step sequence toward the end of their skate garnered nearly nine points. They earned personal best free dance and total scores of 83.91 and 137.57 points, respectively.
Kouevi and Homawoo placed eighth in their international debut.
In their rhythm dance to "Jump" by Kriss Kross and "Motownphilly" by Boyz II Men, the cousins earned a program-high 7.91 points for their midline step sequence. However, they did not receive credit for their final element, and they concluded day one with a segment score of 46.52.
In ninth place after the rhythm dance, Kouevi and Homawoo moved up one spot to eighth in the free dance with a personal best score of 77.98. Skating to "The Four Seasons" by Antonio Vivaldi, the team achieved Level 4s for their dance spin and straight-line lift, going on to earn another personal best total score of 124.50 points.
For full results from Junior Grand Prix Turkey, visit the 2025 Junior Grand Prix Series Competition Central.
