SKATERS REPRESENTING THE RINKS AND GREAT PARK ICE WIN FOUR MEDALS AT U.S. FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIP
The four medals were the most by a single skating program in the country
Nathan Chen wins fifth straight U.S. Figure Skating Championship, Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier win Pairs
IRVINE, Calif. – The Irvine Ice Foundation today announced that skaters representing The Rinks and Great Park Ice won two gold medals and four combined medals at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships this week in Las Vegas at Orleans Arena. The four medals represented the most by a single skating program in the country. Fifteen skaters (equaling the most in the country) represented The Rinks and Great Park Ice at the national championship.
Nathan Chen won his fifth straight U.S. Figure Skating Championship today (2017-present), becoming the first American to win five consecutive national championships since Dick Button earned seven straight titles from 1946-52. Skating under Great Park Ice’s Head Coach of High Performance, Rafael Arutyunyan and choreographer Shae-Lynn Bourne, Chen (322.28) won the championship by a 30.9 point margin, placing first in both the Short Program and Free Skate.
Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier won their first-ever U.S. Figure Skating Championship as a pair on Thursday, with Knierim collecting her fourth overall and second straight Pairs title. Jessica Calalang and Brian Johnson finished second in the Pairs Short Program for the second straight year, with Great Park Ice’s pairs teams coached by Todd Sand, Jenni Meno Sand and Christine Binder, placing in the top two positions in both 2020 and 2021.
Five skaters from The Rinks and Great Park Ice will represent Team USA at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships to be held in Stockholm from Mar. 22-28, including Chen, and pairs Knierim and Frazier, and Calalang and Johnson. Chen is a two-time World Champion.
Yaroslav Paniot (266.97), coached by Todd Eldredge, won the pewter medal in the men’s championship, with Eric Sjoberg finishing ninth (213.39).
Also representing The Rinks at this week’s U.S. Figure Skating Championship were Mariah Bell (fifth overall, Senior Ladies), Starr Andrews (12th, Senior Ladies), JoonSoon Kim (13th, Senior Men), and Katie McBeath and Nathan Bartholomay (seventh, Pairs).
Matthew Nielson (Junior Men), Michael Xie (Junior Men) and Kanon Smith (Junior Ladies) will participate in their respective events on Wednesday, Jan. 20 and Thursday, Jan. 21.
Launched in February 2009, THE RINKS Development Program now consists of eight local skating facilities operated by the Anaheim Ducks: six ice rinks (Great Park Ice, THE RINKS – Anaheim ICE, THE RINKS - Lakewood ICE, THE RINKS - Poway ICE, THE RINKS – Westminster ICE and THE RINKS –Yorba Linda ICE), as well as two inline facilities (THE RINKS – Irvine Inline and THE RINKS – Corona Inline). For information on THE RINKS program, visit www.TheRinks.com.
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