British Figure Skating Championships 2012 Novice Ladies SP

7 groups of 6 skaters began this Novice Ladies competition, that’s 42 skaters!  Wow!

The very first Novice Lady on to the ice for the SP, and kicking things off very nicely, was Eleanor Hayes representing Peterborough.  Skating with good speed and expression she produced a nice clean program with all the required elements performed including lovely centred spins.

The fouth skater out in this first group, and in the whole Novice Competition, was Caitlin Gilmour representing Lee Valley who placed 5th in this event here last year.  Caitlin came out, threw down the gauntlet and never really looked back.  Opening with a good double axel, she followed that up with a double flip double toe combination and completed her jump elements with a nice double lutz.  Her program also included a beautiful back Y spiral and a lovely spin to finish.  Her score of 29.52 put her into 1st place and kept her there until the end!

There were 2 stand out skaters in the second group of 6 – Danni Tewnion representing Dundee and Emily Jane Stuart representing Nottingham.  Producing a lovely mature performance with a good double lutz to open, Danni then followed this up with a double loop double toe combination.  A lovely Ina Bauer and good centred spins completed the package, although there was only a single axel from Danni.  Scoring 26.60 for her SP left Danni in fourth place overnight.  Like Danni just a single axel from Emily but a nice double flip and double loop double loop combination, combined with lovely spins and interpretation, helped her to finish in 6th place in the SP with a score of 25.65.

Malika Sharshenbaeva representing Nottingham was the penultimatte skater out in the third group.  Skating to Swan Lake she opened with an easy axel followed by a nice double loop double loop combination and with a double flip concluding her jump elements.  A solid performance with a great spin to finish gave Malika a score of 25.30 and 7th place going into the FP.

The last skater in the third group of 6 was Danielle Harrison representing Basingstoke who dominated the Novice Ladies IJS events at Lee Valley, IceSheffield and Deeside this year winning both the short and long programs at all 3, and who finished 3rd in this event here last year.  Skating to Don Quixote and wearing a big smile she flew down the ice into her opening triple toe double toe combination.  Unfortunately Danielle missed her triple salchow, managing only a single, and faltered on her double axel performed very near to the end of the program.  She had great speed across the ice, very fast spins and her split jump was to die for.  Her program finished with amazing Biellmann spin.  Unfortunately her errors cost her and Danielle finished the SP in 2nd place with a score of 28.40.

The last group of 6 skaters produced the final 2 higher scoring programs in this SP.  12 year old Harriet Beatson reprsenting Sheffield was first out in this group skating to music from Ratatouille with good speed and expression, one to watch for next year for sure.  She was followed by Kristen Spours representing Guilldford skating with great maturity and opening with a double axel, she also landed a nice double flip from steps and a double loop double loop combination.  Nicely centred spins completed the package.  Kristen scored 26.01 and finished the SP in 5th position.

4th out in this final group was Anastasia Vaipen-Law representing Olympia.  A strong, fast skater with good, centred spins Anastasia performed a lovely double axel and double loop but faltered slightly on her double flip double toe combination to open.  A score of 27.98 for her SP put Anastasia into 2nd place going in to the Free.

The top 8 in the Novice Ladies SP going in to the FP:

1st: Caitlin Gilmore Lee Valley 29.52

2nd: Danielle Harrison Basingstoke 28.40

3rd: Anastasia Vaipen-Law Olympia 27.98

4th: Danni Tewnion Dundee 26.06

5th: Kristen Spours Guildford 26.01

6th: Emily Jane Stuart Nottingham 25.65

7th: Malika Sharshenbaeva Nottingham 25.30

8th: Harriet Beatson Sheffield 23.30