Perhaps more impressive than her silver-medal finish is how consistent her triple jumps have become. Baga landed a triple Lutz-double toe loop combination for the first time in her career in the short program, and followed that up by landing 2 triple Lutzes (and a triple flip) in her free skate -- another milestone for the 15-year old American.
Her performances weren't perfect, though. She had trouble with the double Axel in both programs, falling on it in the free skate and receiving negative Grades of Execution on some of her other jump elements as well. What's important, however, is the fact that she had such a strong showing (including a 6-triple free skate) after such limited training time this season. Baga will skate in again at the final JGP event in Ostrava, Czech Republic, in three weeks. She'll need a podium finish once again to ensure herself of another trip to the Junior Grand Prix Final in December.
Baga appears to be turning into a rare breed of skater: one that shines in the face of adversity and has more grit and determination in her entire body than many of us do in our pinky finger.
Watch out for her this season -- she could very well be a top 8 finisher come Nationals in January.
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