Above: Photo credit Perkins Media
Wren Warne-Jacobsen won her second consecutive women’s senior title at the 2024 U.S. Collegiate Figure Skating Championships & Invitational this past weekend in Richfield, Minnesota.
Joonsoo Kim achieved his first gold and second senior medal at the U.S. Collegiate Championships while Bailey Onixt and Solomon Bristol stood on top of the podium for the first time in the junior women’s and men’s events, respectively. All three won in a commanding fashion, securing their titles by over 15 points.
Below are results from the four championship events.
Senior Women
Representing the University of Minnesota, Warne-Jacobsen successfully defended her senior women’s title, winning gold for the second consecutive year and her third overall medal at the U.S. Collegiate Championships. Warne-Jacobsen took home bronze at the event in 2022.
Skating to “What Was I Made For” from Barbie, Warne-Jacobsen opened her short program with a triple toe loop-double toe loop combination worth 6.34 points. She also earned Level 4 marks for two of her spins to collect a score of 54.00.
In third after the short program, Warne-Jacobsen started the free skate shaky but made a triumphant comeback in the second half of the program to win the free skate. Her skate to “Caucasian Sketches, Suite No. 1, Op. 10 II. In the Village” by Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov, “King of Kings – Salome’s Dance” by Miklós Rózsa and “Salome, Op. 54, TrV 215: Dance of the Seven Veils” by Richard Strauss was highlighted by back-to-back jumping passes: a triple Salchow-double toe loop-double toe loop and a triple toe-double Axel that were awarded 17.7 points combined. Tallying a free skate score of 120.52, Warne-Jacobsen climbed to first place overall to win her second consecutive collegiate senior women’s title with 174.52 points.
University of Southern California’s Alena Budko secured the silver medal with 166.28 points overall. Her short program set to “Ne Me Quitte Pas” by Ledisi earned positive grades of execution on six of seven elements and Level 4 distinctions on two of her spins, resulting in a score of 51.65.
Sitting in fourth place after the short program, Budko came back strong in the free skate to finish second. She scored 10.08 points for her triple Lutz-double toe loop-double loop combination, which was the highest scoring element of the competition. With a second-place finish in the free skate with 114.63 points, Budko also finished second overall to claim her spot on the podium.
Lilah Gibson won the short program portion of the competition with 51.65 points to claim bronze and an overall score of 163.16. Her skate earned positive grades of execution on every element.
Despite finishing fourth in the free skate, the skater from the University of Michigan earned Level 4 marks on two spins and landed a triple Salchow-double toe loop to secure third place and 102.42 points for the segment.
Gibson went on to claim bronze after being awarded 102.42 points for her free skate.
Ting Cui took home her second collegiate pewter while representing Middlebury College with a total score of 161.39.
Senior Men
Kim was victorious in the senior men’s competition, winning gold with an overall score of 226.95 points, 19.2 points higher than any other skater.
Skating to a swing medley by various artists, Kim, who represented Johns Hopkins University, came out strong in the short program to take an early lead by starting with his highest scoring elements – a triple Axel followed by a triple Lutz-triple toe loop – which were awarded a combined 20.35 points toward an even 80.00 points for his short program.
With a solid nearly 11-point lead, Kim kept his momentum going into the free skate, winning the segment with a score of 138.43. He opened his performance to “Van Gogh” by Vesislava and Virginio Aiello and “We Go Down Together” by Dove Cameron and Khalid with a triple Axel-double toe loop and a triple Axel, both of which scored over 10 points. His step sequence also received a Level 4 mark.
The 2021 silver medalist earned positive GOEs for all but one element across both of his programs to win gold with a score of 226.95.
Goku Endo stood on the U.S. collegiate senior men’s podium for the third time, winning his second silver with 207.75 points in total while representing the University of California, Los Angeles.
Endo’s short program to “Lose Control” by Teddy Swims was strongest in the second half, in which Endo earned 8.14 points for a triple flip- double toe loop, followed by two Level 4 spins and a Level 4 step sequence. The skate received a score of 69.32.
The star of his free skate to a Romeo and Juliet medley was a triple flip-double Axel-double Axel sequence which was the highest scoring element of the event at 14.68 points. As a whole, Endo’s free skate collected 138.43 points.
Boston University teammates Philip Baker and Will Annis clinched bronze and pewter, respectively. Baker secured bronze and a 189.51 total score, which was comprised of 63.07 for the short program and 126.44 for the free skate. His highest scoring element of the competition was a triple flip-triple toe loop that was given 9.50 points in the short program.
Annis collected a two-day total score of 179.31.
Junior Women
Onixt dominated the junior women’s free skate with a score of 72.97 to win gold by over 16 points, scoring 112.30 points overall.
Ahead by nearly 1.5 points after the short program, University of Michigan’s Onixt extended her lead in the free skate, winning the segment by 14.66 points. Her performance to “Carry You” by Ruelle opened with a triple Salchow-double toe loop and secured positive grades of execution on all but one element.
Her short program to “Madness” by Ruelle was highlighted by a Level 4 flying camel spin, which was awarded 3.84 points. She also earned 3.63 points each for a double Axel and for her step sequence.
Standing next to Onixt on the podium with silver was Genella Evans who skated for Penn State University. Evans skated to “Sunshine of Your Love” by Ella Fitzgerald in the short program, in which she earned her highest points for a double Lutz-double toe loop and then concluded with a Level 4 sit spin. Her short program received 39.33 points.
In her free skate to music from the Red Notice soundtrack, Evans executed a double Lutz-double loop for 4.39 points. To conclude her program, she landed a double flip-double toe loop followed by a Level 4 sit spin to score 72.97 points in the free skate and a score of 112.30 overall.
Caroline Mura claimed bronze and a total score of 93.69 while representing New York University. Her short program tallied 35.55 points and her free skate was awarded 58.14 points.
Rounding out the podium with pewter was Kelly Janetzko from the University of Colorado-Boulder, who collected a total score of 92.82. Janetzko finished eighth in the short program, but came back to finish fourth in the free skate on the second day of competition to clinch a medal.
Junior Men
Bristol won the junior men’s competition by 15 points, scoring 155.24 points in total. He finished the short program in second place, behind by over three points, but won the free skate by 14.28 points to win gold.
His short program set to “F for You” by Disclosure ft. Mark J. Blige was highlighted by two Level 4 spins. Bristol collected the highest short program component score of 28.25. His total short program score came to 47.27 points.
Boston University’s Bristol opened his free skate to “Vogue” by Madonna with a double Lutz-double Axel-double Axel sequence, his strongest element at 8.92 points. He also earned a positive GOE for all but one element.
Vladimir Volkov finished behind Bristol with the silver.
Skating to “Storm” by Eric Radford, Volkov’s short program collected 4.66 points for a triple toe loop-double toe loop in the beginning of his program. Volkov would go on to conclude the program with 46.44 points.
The skater from the University of Maryland’s free skate to a Romeo and Juliet medley featured a triple toe loop-double Axel-double Axel sequence. This element collected the highest element score of the junior men’s event, contributing 11.64 points to his free skate score of 93.69. In total, Volkov received 140.13 points.
Zachary Fogt of Ohio State University clinched bronze with a day one point total of 46.09 points in the short program. Fogt opened his skate with a triple Salchow-Double toe loop and was the only skater to land the jump cleanly in the junior men’s event. He then went on to score 91.36 points in the free skate and a total score of 137.45.
Bristol’s Boston University teammate Ryan Siracuse won the short program, but dropped to fourth in the free skate to finish with pewter and 133.37 points in total.
For full results from the 2024 U.S. Collegiate Figure Skating Championships & Invitational, visit www.uscollegiatechampionships.com
