Cranberry Cup 2025 - Saturday Notables
The seniors got things started off before the juniors wrapped up their competition.
Day 2 (for me) at the Cranberry Cup was one to remember. There were so many enjoyable programs, beautiful costumes (and, as you’ll see, some substitute costumes), and strong music choices. Plus, we got medals handed out for the junior women and junior men and some history made too! But let’s start at the beginning and go in chronological order for the day.
Senior Women’s Short Program
Much to the delight of the Boston crowd, three of the top five performers in the short program were Americans, led by 2024 world silver medalist Isabeau Levito (who won bronze in this event a year ago).
The Top Three
1. Isabeau Levito - 70.69
It was strange seeing Levito skate a competition program in this outfit, which did not fit the vibe of the music at all. I’m expecting she’ll have an incredible competition dress at some point this season (it is still early August, so these things take time). But the rest of the program was such a joy to watch.
2. Sofia Samodelkina - 65.80
Another fill-in costume, but not a fill-in performance (apologies for not having the whole program on video). This was a personal best score in the short program for Samodelkina in an ISU competition, and she earned it.
3. Jia Shin - 62.12
Shin, who won silver at junior worlds each of the past four seasons, was making her highly anticipated senior debut, and did not disappoint. It wouldn’t be surprising to see this program getting scores above 70 later in the season as she gets more experience skating it.
My Favorite Outside the Top Three
Sonja Hilmer - 59.34 (Fourth)
First, this is a real thing that happened when Hilmer was introduced, in case you were curious how much the crowd absolutely loves her.
Second, you really need to watch this program (like even more than the other videos in this post):
Okay, as I’ve mentioned, I’m not a scoring expert or a judge, but this score was criminally low (one of the judges had her sixth, which is absurd). Who else in skating would have the creativity to record the sound of her skates, put it in the program, then nail the choreography perfectly in sync with the music? Still, this was a career best score for her in the short program in an international event, and it’s not unthinkable that she’d end up on the podium tomorrow.
Senior Men’s Short Program
This set might have — no it definitely — delighted the crowd even more than the women, thanks to trio of competitors from Skating Club of Boston, one of whom is in the lead after Saturday.
1. Jimmy Ma - 78.74
Ma, the hometown hero, was the second-to-last skater to perform among the men, and quickly captivated the crowd with the quad toe loop. He’s won bronze here each of the past two seasons and is clearly looking to best that this season.
2. Jacob Sanchez - 78.60
It’s wild how close the scores are for these two Americans. Sanchez didn’t have a quad, but his triple axel was cleaner than Ma’s, setting up a Sunday Showdown. Sanchez has won silver here two of the past three seasons, and I’d bet, like Ma, he’s looking for that gold (I mean, every skater is, but when you’re this close to the top of the podium entering the free skate, it has to be on your mind).
3. Aleksandr Selevko - 76.62
Selevko, skating out of Estonia, was in the first group, and sat in first for quite some time. Honestly, if he hadn’t been in the top three, his program to Prince’s “Kiss” would’ve made the next section as my favorite outside the top performers.
My Favorite Outside the Top Three
Donovan Carrillo - 70.65 (Sixth)
I’ve enjoyed watching Carrillo skate since seeing him in person at Worlds in March, and he didn’t disappoint on Friday, with a crowd-pleasing program set to Hiphip Chinchin. It’d take some serious menning for him to get on the podium, but this is a solid start to his season.
Junior Women’s Free Skate
Let’s skip the intro and get right to the history-making moment.
1 - Sophie Joline von Felten - 131.0 FS, 193.21 overall
I mentioned in Friday’s recap post that I felt confident that SJVF would finish atop the podium I did not expect her to become the 16th woman ever to land a clean quad in competition. She also nailed her triple axel in combo again. Am I already looking into hotels to see her skate in Nice, France in 2030? Maybe…
2 - Annika Chao - 109.92 FS, 168.91 overall
I don’t think I ever shared my opinion of the new live action Snow White movie. I did not like it. But I did like this song, and I loved how Annika skated to it. An overall strong weekend for her and she walks away with silver.
3 - Kaya Tiernan - 105.93 FS, 156.24 overall
At the beginning of the day, I scanned the starting order to see how deep I had to go in skaters filming full programs to make sure I had the top three covered. Kaya was the last one who made the cut. She was in eighth after the short program and seemed like a long shot to make the podium. But then she skated this outstanding program and took a massive lead that no one overcame until the last two skaters of the night. What a surprising and amazing performance.
My Favorite Outside the Top Three
Ting-Yun Cheng (16th Place)
One of my skating dreams is to see Disney on Ice in Asia. This is probably as close as I’ll get for a while. “Part of Your World” is my second-favorite Disney song (shoutout to anyone who can guess No. 1), and this rendition was gorgeous.
(Also, shoutout me for forgetting to take a picture of the standings on the scoreboard, so you get this screenshot instead).
Junior Men Free Skate
The final standings for the top four finishers were exactly the same as they were after the short program, but that doesn’t mean they were without drama. In fact, let’s countdown from 4 to 1.
(If you’re wondering why we’re back to the vertical videos for these, the shooting pain in my shoulders was too hard to ignore by this point in the night, and it’s easier on them if I’m holding the phone vertically in one hand than trying to shoot horizontally with two hands).
4. David Bondar - 200.25 overall
Bondar was more than a point behind third place entering the day, but posted the second-best free skate of the night. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough to get him on the podium, by the slimmest of margins.
3. Anthony Paradis - 200.91 overall
Not only did Paradis maintain his lead over Bondar, he also almost overtook second place, as you’ll see… right now!
2. Grayson Long - 200.97 overall
That’s six one hundredths of a point separating silver from bronze. An almost unfathomable margin. Paradis’ free skate score was 8.3 points higher than Long’s, but Long’s lead coming into the day proved to be (just barely) insurmountable.
1. Yanhao Li - 224.32 overall
Speaking of insurmountable leads, Yanhao Li ran away with the gold and prevented a Canadian sweep atop the podium with an impressive 144.86 in the free skate. He skated his Les Mis program so well. This is the second consecutive year he’s won this event at the junior level, and it probably won’t be the last gold for him this season.
Only one day left, and it’s just the senior women and men. Can Sonja Hilmer get onto the podium? Can the American men’s duo remain 1-2? Follow me on Instagram and Bluesky for live updates on Sunday.