After a disappointing short program in which all three of her attempted triples received "<" under rotation calls, Shoji was brilliant in the free skate, nailing a triple Salchow-triple toe loop-double toe loop combination, a double Axel-triple toe loop and five other strong jumping passes. Her program, set to the score from "Legends of the Fall," is not a stylistic departure for her, but it does suit her perfectly. She moved up from a 4th place short program showing to score a 100+ point free skate and win the silver medal.
The night belonged to Hicks, though. She did suffer two falls -- one on the second half of a triple flip-triple loop combination and then again seconds later on a solo triple loop attempt -- but five other triple jumps, a plethora of transitions and her very cool "Hicks" spin allowed her to amass a free skate score of 101.72 and an overall score of 151.91, the second best ladies international score recorded so far this season.
The other American in the ladies field, Vanessa Lam, nabbed the bronze medal after a solid free skate. She appeared to be sailing along until her final jump, a planned triple Lutz that went scarily wrong. After rushing the take-off, she came down a half turn short, her body slamming into the ice sideways and drawing a gasp from the audience. While she did still win a medal with a very respectable 145.48, her jump technique and lack of height is something that needs to be addressed soon if she hopes to contend for senior National medals and a junior World medal sometime in the next few years.
The Junior Grand Prix series continues next week in Gdansk, Poland, with American Samantha Cesario one of the gold medal favorites in the ladies event.
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