Talent and potential is all OWIA athlete Brendan Kerry has ever heard about his ability in the tough world of Men’s Figure Skating.
 
After three hard years in the senior ranks trying to make it into the International Skating Union’s prestigious Grand Prix series, Brendan squeaked in to the opening GP of the season at Skate America in Milwaukee this weekend, ranked 12th out of 12.
 
He saw his chance and he took it.
 
It took a stellar free program to smash his PB and overcome a weaker short program to score over 200 points, ending up in 8th place overall beating out the likes of an out-of-form Olympic and World Bronze Medallist Denis Ten and last year’s Skate Canada winner, Takahito Mura.
 
Skating first in the short program, Brendan landed a fast, high quad toe-loop and backed it up with a triple axel. The lutz combo failed and he had a problem on one of the three required spins. Costly mistakes, but a there’s a new, certain calm in his skating and even though the score was 14 points lower than he would have liked, he placed 11th with 65.41 points.
 
His new free program, to Beethoven’s Five Secrets by One Republic, is the perfect vehicle for this emerging talent and showcases his smooth skating skills and technically superb jumps.
 
Starting out the free program with a soaring quad toe-loop, Brendan also landed two triple axels plus a further four triple jumps. Despite singling out an axel toward the end of the four and half minutes, what stood out was his new-found composure, attention to detail and improved artistic delivery.
 
It was the performance he’s been searching for and delivered in spades with a score of 138.07, bringing his overall total to a new personal best of 203.48 points.
 
“It’s definitely a breakthrough and I’m very happy,” Brendan said of his result in Milwaukee. “It was a good turn around after the mistakes in the short program.”
 
“It was hard starting the season with a stress fracture, which meant I had to pull out of a warm-up comp at Salt Lake City last month. However, it was a PB at Skate America and I'm consistently putting out the big elements and catching up to the top skaters in the world.”
 
Coach Tammy Gambill believes the free skate performance was a turning point.
 
“I’m so proud of Brendan, and proud of both programs he skated at Skate America.”
 
Brendan, who lives full-time in Los Angeles, had recently sustained a bony stress injury to the second metatarsal in his left foot.
 
“The injury meant I had to stay off the ice for a while and when I got back on the ice, I needed new boots and we had to be careful of the quads.”
 
But it’s all good now.
 
“My boots are good, my foot is good, my brain is good and so is my body. I’m good to go.”

The event was won by Max Aaron of the USA scoring 258.95 points, with Japanese skater Shoma Uno in second with a score of 257.43 and the final place on the podium going to Jason Brown, also of America, with a score of 238.47. 
 
Captions:  Brendan Kerry with coach Tammy Gambill in the stands after the free program

Figure skater and OWIA athlete Kailani Craine won her first NSW Senior state title in style last night at Penrith, scoring 153.76, with her best performance this season so far.

The 17-year-old also won the Junior title, but will now concentrate on her senior programs for the next few months ahead of the National Championships, again back at Penrith in early December.

It’s been a fast and furious six weeks for the current national champion who has juggled three Junior Grand Prix and Senior Challenger B events in USA and Europe, notching up PBs and showing steady technical improvement  but it’s not over yet.

Kailani will meet up with her US-based coach Tiffany Chin in Graz, Austria next weekend for another Senior B Challenger.

“I’ve been to Graz before and really like it there. The senior free program last night was the best one I’ve done so far this season with more jumps cleaning up. Especially the flip and loops,” Kailani said.

Kailani delivered four strong programs over the weekend with the senior free being the stand-out performance.

“I wasn’t that happy with the Junior free and knew I could do better, so it feels good knowing I’ve got a good senior program going into Graz.”

The total score at the NSW Championships eclipses her previous personal best with the added bonus of breaking 100 points for the free program, scoring 101.55 after landing a strong opening triple flip, two triple lutzes and two triple loops.

All three spins reached Level 4 and were rewarded further with high Grade of Execution (GOE) scores by the judging panel.

Australian Olympic coaches Galina Pachin and Kylie Fennell were encouraged by Kailani’s efforts over the weekend.

“She has that fire that can’t be taught,” said Galina Pachin. “There is work to do on the lutz, which we all know but we are sure that will come with time.”

Kylie Fennell agreed, commenting that, “Kailani is delightful, very focussed and always listens. This is an exciting time for her.”

Australian Figure Skating Champion and OWIA athlete, Kailani Craine has improved her international rankings following an 8th place and PB at the Spanish Junior Grand Prix in Logrono on the weekend.
 
The bubbly Year 11 student, who is establishing herself as a fan-favourite for her crowd pleasing performances, broke into the top ten at a Junior Grand Prix for the first time with a total score of 147.25, landing a triple lutz combination in the short and free programs, plus introducing the triple flip to her technical repertoire this season. 
 
Kailani’s steady improvement early in the season started out in Colorado Springs last month with a 12th place at her first Junior Grand Prix before a two week training stint in Los Angeles with coach Tiffany Chin before heading to Europe for Nebelhorn Trophy and the Spanish Junior Grand Prix.  
 
The committed competitor admitted she is after top ten places this season.
 
“I will keep working harder to be the best I can be,” she said. “Training in LA really helps and we worked on attacking the risky jumps a little faster, cleaning up the spins and upgrading the edge warm ups to increase my stroking power.”
 
Legendary Olympic coach Crista Fassi is also working with Kailani, focussing on the jumps including the edge quality into the lutz.
 
“Crista is happy with the way the jumps are cleaning up and rotating to backwards more often now. That was a target area for me and we will keep at it.”
 
“Tiffany wants me to make things look smoother and improve my extension – so there’s plenty to do.” 
 
The short training spell in LA helped to set the start of the season before Kailani and her coach headed to Nebelhorn Trophy, Germany for her first Senior Challenger B event, where she placed 8th and posted a PB in the short program of 50.42, which she bettered again in Spain by scoring 50.80.
 
20-year-old Olympian Brooklee Han  finished in 7th place at Nebelhorn, placing both Australians in the top ten and earning valuable rankings points.
 
Kailani will return home for the NSW Championships before competing in her second Challenger B competition in Austria later this month.