2012 US Figure Skating Championships: Final results of senior division

Here are the results from the senior men's, ladies, pairs and ice dancing competition at the 2012 Prudential US Figure Skating Championships in San Jose, California. In pairs, the new team of Caydee Denney and John Coughlin won gold, followed by the other new team of Mary Beth Marley and Rockne Brubaker. Crowd favorite and Olympians Amanda Evora and Mark Ladwig won the bronze. In dance, it was a repeat of the top two finishes from last year with Meryl Davis and Charlie White winning gold and Maia and Alex Shibutani winning silver. Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue won bronze. For the ladies, Ashley Wagner (FINALLY!) won her US title, followed by Alissa Czisny and Agnes Zawadzki. Olympians Rachael Flatt and Mirai Nagasu finished sixth and seventh, respectively. For the men, my favorite Jeremy Abbott won gold, Adam Rippon the silver, and Ross Miner won the bronze. Next up...the World Championships in Nice, France from March 26 - April 1.

Top 10 results for senior pairs:

Rank	Name	SP	FS	Points
1	Caydee Denney, Broadmoor SC/John Coughlin, KS City FSC	3	1	189.70
2	Mary Beth Marley, DuPage FSC/Rockne Brubaker, All Year FSC	1	2	186.07
3	Amanda Evora, Southwest FL FSC/Mark Ladwig, Red River Valley FSC	2	3	178.98
4	Gretchen Donlan, SC Of Boston/Andrew Speroff, SC Of Boston	5	4	171.61
5	Marissa Castelli, SC Of Boston/Simon Shnapir, SC Of Boston	4	7	168.81
6	Ashley Cain, Stars FSC of TX/Joshua Reagan, Stars FSC of TX	7	5	166.65
7	Andrea Poapst, Broadmoor SC/Christopher Knierim, Broadmoor SC	6	6	166.38
8	Felicia Zhang, SC of NY/Nathan Bartholomay, University of DE FSC	9	8	156.57
9	Tiffany Vise, Broadmoor SC/Don Baldwin, Los Angeles FSC	10	9	140.97
10	Alexa Scimeca, DuPage FSC/Ivan Dimitrov, Individual Member	8	11	132.62

Top 10 results for senior dance:

Rank	Name	SD	FD	Points
1	Meryl Davis, Arctic FSC / Charlie White, Detroit SC	1	1	191.54
2	Maia Shibutani, SC of New York / Alex Shibutani, Arctic FSC	2	2	178.84
3	Madison Hubbell, Detroit SC / Zachary Donohue, Detroit SC	3	3	151.60
4	Lynn Kriengkrairut, All Year FSC / Logan Giulietti-Schmitt, Ann Arbor FSC	4	4	148.55
5	Madison Chock, All Year FSC / Evan Bates, Ann Arbor FSC	5	5	145.08
6	Anastasia Cannuscio, University of DE FSC / Colin McManus, SC Of Boston	6	7	137.37
7	Anastasia Olson, Detroit SC / Jordan Cowan, All Year FSC	7	6	137.08
8	Emily Samuelson, Ann Arbor FSC / Todd Gilles, All Year FSC	8	8	135.99
9	Isabella Cannuscio, University of DE FSC / Ian Lorello, University of DE FSC	10	9	130.35
10	Charlotte Lichtman, Arctic FSC / Dean Copely, All Year FSC	9	10	129.22

Top 10 results for senior ladies:

Rank	Name	SP	FS	Points
1	Ashley Wagner, SC of Wilmington	3	1	187.02
2	Alissa Czisny, Detroit SC	2	2	180.00
3	Agnes Zawadzki, Broadmoor SC	1	7	174.10
4	Caroline Zhang, All Year FSC	4	3	173.19
5	Christina Gao, Northern Kentucky SC	6	5	166.36
6	Rachael Flatt, Broadmoor SC	9	4	164.98
7	Mirai Nagasu, Pasadena FSC	5	8	163.99
8	Angela Wang, Salt Lake Figure Skating	16	6	158.66
9	Vanessa Lam, All Year FSC	7	9	157.62
10	Kiri Baga, FSC of Bloomington	14	10	149.38

Top 10 results for senior men:

Rank	Name	SP	FS	Points
1	Jeremy Abbott, Detroit SC	1	1	273.58
2	Adam Rippon, SC of NY	2	2	240.87
3	Ross Miner, SC of Boston	4	3	230.32
4	Armin Mahbanoozadeh, WA FSC	3	6	224.63
5	Douglas Razzano, Coyotes SC of AZ	8	4	223.38
6	Stephen Carriere, SC Of Boston	9	7	213.41
7	Keegan Messing, AK Assoc of Figure Skaters	5	12	212.47
8	Max Aaron, Broadmoor SC	6	13	211.15
9	Jason Brown, Skokie Valley SC	7	14	209.16
10	Scott Dyer, All Year FSC	13	9	207.97

Complete results for the novice and junior divisions can be found here.

Johnny Weir to marry Victor Voronov on New Year's Eve

• Johnny Weir (1) is getting married tomorrow! (2) can't understand why Patrick Chan keeps falling and winning and (3) resumes serious training with his coach, Galina Zmievskaya. [icenetwork]

• Mao Asada wins fifth Japanese National title, just weeks after her mother's death. [Aunt Joyce's Ice Cream Stand]

• Nikolai Morozov's take on male figure skaters in Russia...very interesting. [FSUniverse]

• Stars On Ice begins tour in Lake Placid and Kurt Browning is choreographing the entire show! [LakePlacidNews]

• Rachael Flatt survives college finals. [ESPNW]

• The top 10 ice dance performances every are...[cbc.ca]

• Evgeni Plushenko wins ninth Russian National Championships. Sochi Olympics 2014 here he comes! [icenetwork]

• Evgeni Pluschenko allowed to skate at upcoming European championships. [RT]

• Patrick Chan wins Canadian Press athlete of the year. [TheStar]

• Lucinda "Queen of Spin" Ruh is pregnant with twins! (photo at right, Lucinda with husband Anthony on wedding day, October 16, 2010 at St. Patrick's Cathedral, NYC) [CTNow]

• Wow -- check out International Figure Skating magazine's newly designed website. [IFS]

• Blazing Blades recounts how it all started. This is my daily go-to blog for figure skating news. [Blazing Blades]

Adult skaters needed for reality show

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (December 13, 2011) -- Seeking adult competitive figure skaters in the NYC and LA area for a docu-series for network television

Are you an avid adult skater who loves to compete? Did you start skating as an adult or did you return to skating after some time away? We are interested in casting adult skaters who love to compete, especially in the Interpretive/Showcase events. There is no age limit and we are interested in all levels -- the only criteria is that your love of skating and competition come through!

**We are meeting and filming skaters in the NYC area from December 15 - 19th. We are meeting and filming skaters in the Los Angeles area from December 20 - beginning of January.

If you believe you would be great for the docu-series, please send an email to: TroyRuptash@roadrunner.com. The subject line must read: Adult competitive figure skater. Thank you everyone!

Lucinda Ruh's Frozen Teardrop: Queen of Spin releases autobiography

Our favorite Queen of Spin Lucinda Ruh has come out with her autobiography Frozen Teardrop. Here's my Q&A with Lucinda, days before her book launch party:

Why write a book now? You're only 32!
Lucinda: Well yes I am only 32, yet I feel I have had so many unique, diverse and extremely beautiful and extremely harsh experiences, not only by traveling but by living in so many places all around the world. I wanted to write my book because so much of my story has gone untold and I felt I already had a little of a platform on which I could build on to express my views and experiences on so many different aspects of my life in terms of physical and mental emotions and relationships from parent to child and coach to student. For me, I wanted to emphasize that the most important relationship in life is the one you have with yourself and I have learned that becoming a champion in life means achieving your dreams without ever having to sacrifice yourself, self worth or self respect.

What do you hope to convey to your fans about you that they don't already know?
Lucinda: I know my fans know about my spins but my story of where I came from, where I have lived and what I have lived through to have those spins have never been told and I hope to convey a fascinating journey of trials and tribulations where you must read the book to know it all!

The summary of the book states that you've gone through a lot, emotionally and physically. Can you give us a glimpse of some of the heartaches you went through?
Lucinda: I have been through intense emotional and physical abuse from a very young age -- injuries ranging from broken and fractured bones, torn ligaments and ongoing concussions that have not only hindered my skating career but my life as well. This of course having a domino effect has hindered an
array of problems that were left undiagnosed and a long time of suffering only proved to make me a stronger person who now appreciates every day of life as a second chance to live. More so, living always in a foreign country making me always the fish out of water led me to feel that only my parents where my constant in life making our family dynamics quite interesting.

How's married life? Did you think you'd ever find happiness with Mr. Right in Greenwich, CT?
Lucinda: I love married life! To have that someone with whom you can share so much of life's intimate and precious moments makes him that much more special, and the hard times that much less of a struggle. It is funny because when I was still competing, my mother and I used to come to Greenwich to work on new programs with Lea-Ann Miller. Even then I used to tell my mother I love Greenwich and one day I would love to live here! Lo and behold, now I am! Life is quite amazing so be careful what you wish for! (photo above: Lucinda with husband Anthony on wedding day, October 16, 2010 at St. Patrick's Cathedral, NYC, photo at right: Lucinda, Anthony and Dick Button at book launch party for Frozen Teardrop)

And below is my video interview with Lucinda when she was blonde(!) and was working on her autobiography and preparing for her wedding:

Johnny Weir and Ice Theatre of New York: Together at last

Evan Lysacek pulls out of Skate America citing money issues

• Evan Lysacek is out of Skate America due to money issues with US federation. [Chicago Tribune]

• Yu-Na Kim skips entire season while she ponders the future. [Chosun]

• Douglas Razzano takes Evan Lysacek's place at Skate America. [US Figure Skating]

• Skate America begins on October 21 in Ontario, California. Watch it live on icenetwork. [icenetwork]

• Watch a recap of An Evening with Champions, featuring Yu-Na Kim. [YouTube]

• Skater discovers she has brain tumor after falling on ice. [DailyMail]

• Elvis Stojko finds peace and harmony in Mexico. [Toronto Sun]

• Yuna Kim appointed Goodwill Ambassador for Winter Youth Games. [Chosun Ilbo]

• Daisuke Takahashi and his French twizzles. [International Figure Skating]

• Tickets still left to see Johnny Weir's last scheduled NY performance at Ice Theatre of New York gala. [ITNY]