Pairs
Anastasiia Smirnova and Danil Siianytsia (Yarmouth Ice Club/All Year FSC) took home the gold in the junior pairs event on Thursday afternoon with a personal-best 169.85 total points. The total score led the field by over 21 points. In their program set to “The Prayer” by Andrea Bocelli and Celine Dion, the duo earned four Level 4 elements to score 110.78 points.
“We’re pretty excited about it,” Siianytsia said. “I guess it’s a beginning, hopefully it won’t be our last one. [We’re] moving forward and grateful for what we got.”
Isabelle Martins and Ryan Bedard (Chicago FSC/Northern Ice SC) took the silver medal with 148.02 total points. The Illinois-based team earned two Level 4s to score 95.88 points in their Beauty and the Beast free skate.
Valentina Plazas and Maximiliano Fernandez (Panthers FSC/Arctic FSC) scored 137.26 total points to earn bronze. Their Aladdin free skate featured two Level 4 elements and earned them 90.22 points.
Catherine Rivers and Timmy Chapman (Knoxville FSC/Central Florida FSC) scored 88.04 points in their free skate and 134.01 overall to take fourth place.
Ladies
Isabeau Levito (SC of Southern New Jersey) took home the 2021 U.S. junior ladies title with 187.48 total points. She opened with a strong triple Lutz and earned Level 4 on all three spins to score 121.81 in her free skate set to “Malaguena” by Ernesto Ieguono.
“It’s a good title to have, although I don’t focus as much on my titles,” Levito said. “I know I’ve done so much better many times. It’s good to have won, but for myself I didn’t feel like I won. I think I still could’ve done a lot better.”
Kanon Smith (All Year FSC) took the silver medal with 185.88 overall points. The 2019 U.S. juvenile champion’s free skate featured two Level 4 spins and a solid double Axel-Euler-triple Salchow combination. The Greatest Showman program scored 123.36 points, the top free skate of the event.
In her U.S. Championships debut, Clare Seo (Broadmoor SC) scored 113.24 in her free skate and 173.51 overall. Her program, set to “Jean de Florette” from Manon of the Spring, featured three Level 4 spins and a Level 4 step sequence.
Ava Ziegler (SC of New York) earned the pewter medal with 107.04 points in her free skate and 160.77 overall.
Ice Dance
Katarina Wolfkostin and Jeffrey Chen (Peninsula SC) won the junior ice dance title by over four points with 167.22. Their 98.41-point free dance set to “Exogenesis: Symphony Part III: Redemption” by Muse, the team earned Level 4 on five elements and earned the highest program components marks of the competition. They earned the silver medal at last year’s event.
“Obviously – wow, so many emotions – okay, sorry,” Chen said. “It’s shocking to me because three or four days ago I was laying on my couch just icing me knee and hoping for the best and then all of a sudden I’m here, and just doing my best trying to put out everything we worked so hard for.”
Sibling team Oona Brown and Gage Brown (SC of New York) earned 162.91 total points to take the silver medal. In their free dance program to “Nothing Else Matters,” the duo earned five Level 4s and all positive grades of execution to earn 96.71 points. They placed third in the event last year.
Katarina DelCamp and Ian Somerville (Dallas FSC/Washington FSC) took home the bronze medal following Thursday’s event with 147.30 total points. The team, who recently moved to the brand-new Ion International Training Center in Virginia, scored 87.04 points in their free dance.
Isabella Flores and Dimitry Tsarevski (Broadmoor SC/All Year FSC) finished fourth with 86.42 points and 146.40 overall.
Men
Eric Prober (Panthers FSC) was the final U.S. junior champion to be crowned at The Orleans Arena. Earning 127.79 points in his free skate, he opened with an explosive triple Axel-double toe loop combination followed by another strong triple Axel. He earned 192.83 points overall, a personal best for the Florida man.
“When I woke up today, I was a little nervous,” Prober said, “and I tried to stay focused from the short I had yesterday, and I wanted to really show you guys what I was working on, and I did, so I’m super excited and proud.”
Joseph Klein (Skokie Valley SC) earned the silver medal with 187.30 total points. Skating to “Big Smoke” and “The Gallows” by Audiomachine for his free skate, the 16-year-old earned Level 4s on all three spins to score 123.70 points.
Hailing from Oregon, Samuel Mindra (Portland ISC) took bronze with 181.49 total points. In his free skate program set to “Pale Green Ghosts” by John Grant, he opened with a triple Lutz-double toe loop combination and scored 121.12 points.
Jacob Sanchez (Hudson Valley FSC) finished fourth with 177.55 total points and 110.64 for his free skate.
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