Welcome to the second part of my senior ladies’ preview for 2019 US Nationals! If you missed part one, you should read that first, not only to learn about the athletes from the first half of the alphabet, but to see more detail on how I structure my previews. There are 18 ladies competing at Nationals this year, and only a few are Why I Drink.
The American ladies’ field is exceptionally deep, and a number of familiar athletes will not be competing at Nationals this year, for a variety of reasons. Ashley Wagner, Mirai Nagasu, and Caroline Zhang – the three of whom are emblazoned in my memory as tiny preteens on the 2007 Junior Worlds podium – are all taking the year off from competition, and considering their ages and health, might be done for good. Former junior up-and-comer Tessa Hong is taking a (possibly permanent) break from the sport. 2017 junior champion Kaitlyn Nguyen might have made a similar decision; she’s been quiet since last year’s Nationals. Emily Chan, the 2016 junior champion, skated well at Southwestern Regionals but didn’t make it to Sectionals, so I suspect there’s an injury involved. Many talented athletes didn’t qualify past Sectionals, including fan favorite Katie McBeath, former junior-level standout Vivian Le, and skating royalty Elizaveta Kulik.
Four late-breaking withdrawals have further narrowed the field, and among them have almost eradicated my Why I Drink category. 2018 Olympian Karen Chen announced on social media in early January that she will not compete at 2019 Nationals because she needs more time to recover from injuries. Gracie Gold, the two-time National Champion and 2014 Olympian, withdrew because she does not feel ready to compete. Two more notable ladies, 2017 National junior bronze medalist Ashley Lin and perennial top-ten finisher Angela Wang, took their names off the list due to injury.
But let’s focus on who will be on the ice in Detroit: those who are setting themselves up as the stars of the next Olympic cycle and beyond, as well as those who are excited just to have made the list.
ALysa Liu
The Basics: Liu is 13 years old and represents the St. Moritz Ice Skating Club in her hometown of Oakland, California. She is the 2018 junior National Champion.
Season So Far: Liu began her season with easy wins at the Southern California Interclub Championships, Broadmoor Open, Glacier Falls Summer Classic, and Skate St. Moritz. Competing as an Advanced Novice – the highest level at which she’s age-eligible to compete internationally – Liu breezed to victory at the Asian Open as well. She was even more dominant at Pacific Coast Sectionals, earning an overall score that would have easily qualified her to compete in the senior men’s event.
Outlook for Nationals: If you hadn’t heard of Liu before this season, she ought to be on your radar by now. She routinely lands triple Axels in competition, and she’ll likely have a quadruple lutz (yeah, I said quad) in time for her Junior Grand Prix debut in the fall. That gives her a huge base value advantage over everyone else in the field, especially since her technical elements are stone-cold consistent, save for a wobble here and there on that triple Axel. Her choreography is impressively intricate for such a young skater, as well, and her programs are wisely chosen to accentuate her ebullient personality. It’s too early in Liu’s career to tell if she’s the next great star of ladies’ figure skating, but she’s certainly a Front Runner at this year’s Nationals.
Emmy Ma
The Basics: Ma is 17 years old and represents the Mitchell Johansson Method. She’s originally from Long Island, New York, but now lives and trains in Boston. She placed 16th at Nationals in 2018.
Season So Far: Ma looked shaky in the summer at the Glacier Falls Summer Classic, placing only 11th. At the Boston Open, in a less challenging field, she placed 2nd in the short program and 3rd in the free skate. After a rough free skate at Eastern Sectionals, which included two falls, it looked like her season would end, but thanks to a couple of retroactive byes, Ma qualified for Nationals despite a 6th-place finish.
Outlook for Nationals: Ma won a surprise bronze medal at 2017 Junior Grand Prix Riga and swiftly drew a cult following for her expressive skating. She’s never been a tremendously accomplished jumper, though – she only received full credit for one triple jump at this year’s Sectionals – and her rotation problems worsen when she’s under pressure. Ironically, her poor performances earlier this season might benefit her, as she’s coming to Nationals with no expectations. No senior lady is more Just Happy to Be Here than Ma, and those are the conditions under which she tends to perform best.
Brynne McIsaac
The Basics: McIsaac is 19 years old and represents the Los Angeles Figure Skating Club. She’s originally from the Washington, DC, area. McIsaac placed 15th at Nationals in 2018.
Season So Far: McIsaac switched coaches over the summer, and challenging changes to her technique and training approach were evident in her 7th-place finish at the Broadmoor Open and so-so bronze-medal performance at the Philadelphia Summer Championships. She looked better, but still a bit overwhelmed, at the US International Classic, achieving only 9th place in her first career Challenger Series event. At Pacific Coast Sectionals, McIsaac rebounded from a disappointing short program with a poised free skate that brought her a bronze medal.
Outlook for Nationals: McIsaac is a perennial Nationals bridesmaid: she’s competed six times total, at levels from juvenile to senior, and never reached the podium. She’s always seemed to be on the verge of greatness, but with too many factors holding her back: a lack of speed and personality on the ice, and a lack of height in her jumps that results in deductions for underrotation. Those rotation errors remained rampant at Sectionals, but new coach Tammy Gambill has helped McIsaac make great strides in her components mark. McIsaac’s newfound artistic flair and polished edges probably won’t be enough to get her close to a medal, so she’ll be Just Happy to Be Here.
Hannah Miller
The Basics: Miller is 22 years old and represents the Lansing Skating Club in Michigan. She’s the 2011 novice National Champion and has competed at Nationals as a senior six times, with a career high placement of 7th in 2016.
Season So Far: Miller began her season with an easy gold medal at the Middle Atlantic Championships. She won Eastern Great Lakes Regionals by a margin of almost 30 points. Miller struggled so heavily in her short program at Midwestern Sectionals that she looked like she might not qualify through to Nationals for the first time in over a decade, but she rebounded with a solid, if flawed, free skate to finish in 4th place.
Outlook for Nationals: Miller was a rising star a few years ago, but her technical ability hasn’t kept pace with that of the top athletes in the sport today. She doesn’t compete a triple-triple combination in her free skate, and she’s struggled this year to land the relatively simple triple toe loop-triple toe loop in her short program. On the other hand, Miller’s artistic ability has developed beautifully from year to year, and she’s grown into a versatile and energetic performer. As a result, she’ll get a components bump that could push her up the ranks if she’s able to execute her jumps in Detroit. Unfortunately, I don’t think it will be enough of a bump to make her more than Just Happy to Be Here this time around.
Heidi Munger
The Basics: Munger is 22 years old and represents the Mitchell Johansson Method in Boston; she’s originally from Worcester, Massachusetts. In her only other appearance at Nationals, in 2016, Munger placed 15th.
Season So Far: Munger had a busy summer at club competitions. She placed 4th in both segments at the Lake Placid Figure Skating Championships, 7th at the Glacier Falls Summer Classic, and 2nd at the US Collegiate Championships. At the Cranberry Open, she moved up from 2nd in the short program to win the free skate. Then, she won both segments at the Boston Open. She got through Regionals with a bronze-medal performance, only to struggle with popped jumps at Eastern Sectionals and place only 5th. However, USFSA granted byes to some of the higher-achieving athletes at Easterns, giving Munger a ticket to Nationals.
Outlook for Nationals: Munger was lucky to get a Nationals nod this year, and there’s no question that she’ll be in Detroit for the experience, rather than expecting a high placement. She’s not capable of the powerful jumps that would make her a medal contender, and her graceful but uncomplicated programs earn relatively low components scores. She seemed to freeze under the pressure at Easterns, but ironically, Nationals will be a less stressful experience, with nothing to prove and an arena full of fans to win over to her side. She’ll be performing with that Just Happy to Be Here glow all the way through.
Akari Nakahara
The Basics: Nakahara is 16 years old and represents the All Year Figure Skating Club, near her hometown of Santa Clarita, California. She placed 8th at Nationals at the junior level in 2018, and will be making her senior National debut this year.
Season So Far: Nakahara worked hard to establish herself as a senior-level competitor throughout the summer and fall. She placed 2nd in the short program and first in the free skate at the All Year Open and 2nd overall at the Southern California Interclub Championships. At the Glacier Falls Summer Classic, she finished a solid 5th, keeping up with several bigger names. She took silver at the Philadelphia Summer Championships but moved down to 4th at the SoCal Invitational Series Final. Nakahara competed at her first major senior international event, the US International Classic, and placed a solid 8th. But she held steadiest at the most important event of her season, Pacific Coast Sectionals, to earn a silver medal.
Outlook for Nationals: On paper, Nakahara will face a massive challenge at Nationals, since she’s a relatively inexperienced senior-level skater who does not compete a triple-triple combination and often suffers from underrotation deductions. However, she also tends to stay on her feet when her rivals don’t, and to earn the judges’ respect for the quality of her non-jump elements. We’re unlikely to see her on the podium, but she’s the kind of skater who can slide into the top half of the rankings and a well-deserved moment of NBC fame. That puts her On the Bubble.
Bradie TEnnell
The Basics: Tennell is 20 years old and represents the Skokie Valley Figure Skating Club in the Chicago area. She is the reigning National Champion and, as part of Team USA, a 2018 Olympic bronze medalist.
Season So Far: Tennell field tested her programs at the DuPage Open in the summer, achieving an easy victory. Facing some of the best in the world at the Skate Canada Autumn Classic, she won gold, her first at a Challenger Series event. Her success continued with solid performances at both of her Grand Prix assignments: 4th place at Skate America and a bronze medal at the Internationaux de France. Tennell was great again at a late autumn Challenger Series competition, Golden Spin, taking home her second international gold medal of the season.
Outlook for Nationals: Tennell’s challenge for this season was to prove that she deserves the hype that has surrounded her since her breakout performances in 2017-18. To a large extent, she’s met that challenge, beating some big names in international competitions and holding her own in the standings even when not skating her best. Her jumps are her greatest asset: she’ll probably be the only lady at Nationals to attempt a triple lutz-triple loop combination, and that’s not the only triple-triple in her arsenal. But Tennell also pulls in grade of execution points for her exceptionally fast and centered spins, and she’s raised the difficulty of her choreography enough that she now fully deserves her high components marks. She still has trouble expressing personality and emotional range on the ice, and I’m not the only fan who wishes she’d make some left-field music choices and take some improv classes. Tennell’s wobbles throughout the season have also belied the media narrative that her consistency is a particular virtue. But these flaws won’t come close to taking down one of the most talented women in American figure skating. Tennell will have to skate past some fierce competitors to defend her National title, but she’s undoubtedly a Front Runner to do so.
Sierra Venetta
The Basics: Venetta is 18 years old and represents the Skating Club of San Francisco. She was the novice National bronze medalist in 2016, but this is her first time qualifying to Nationals since then.
Season So Far: Venetta was the big surprise of the Broadmoor Open, finishing 4th overall against many more established names. She won Skate San Francisco and was second only to Alysa Liu at Skate St. Moritz. She again breezed past everyone but Liu at Central Pacific Regionals, for a silver medal. At Pacific Coast Sectionals, Venetta performed a flawless short program and a strong free skate on the way to a 4th-place finish.
Outlook for Nationals: Venetta has had an impressive comeback season, and she’s shaping up to become another example of an American lady who disappeared as a junior only to emerge as a real contender in adulthood. That maturity shows in her connected performances, and in her ability to pace herself through a program. She doesn’t really have the difficulty to keep up at Nationals – she doesn’t compete a triple-triple combination, and she lacks the speed and elegance of the skaters at the top – but her consistency and confidence might make her this year’s “wuzrobbed” queen. Venetta is the kind of Just Happy to Be Here with potential to achieve beyond expectations.
Megan Wessenberg
The Basics: Wessenberg is 20 years old and represents the Mitchell Johansson Method in her hometown of Boston. She was an uncharacteristic 17th at 2018 Nationals and has never cracked the senior-level top 10 despite greater success as a junior and internationally.
Season So Far: Wessenberg got off to a promising start with a gold medal at the Colonial Open, and continued her success at club competitions with a win at the Lake Placid Figure Skating Championships and a bronze medal at the Glacier Falls Summer Classic. She gave a strong 7th-place performance at the Ondrej Nepela Trophy, but her real star-making moment came at Skate America, where she finished a surprise 6th with a pair of solid skates. Wessenberg easily won New England Regionals, and looked poised for gold at Eastern Sectionals after a stellar short program, but dropped to 2nd after doubling several jumps in her free skate. She was unsteady at Golden Spin, finishing only 12th.
Outlook for Nationals: After Skate America, I understand why USFSA has given Wessenberg so many plum international opportunities this season. She’s a powerful jumper with a pleasing on-ice energy that connects with audiences and judges alike. However, all of her achievements this season have come despite significant technical errors, and she’s facing a field in which a mistake or two will likely be too many for a podium finish. Few athletes at Nationals have more to prove than Wessenberg this year, and she’ll need some of the best performances of her career to show that her Dark Horse upside can translate to success under pressure.
Next on The Finer Sports: it’s time to preview ice dance!