Britney Simpson and Nathan Miller, the only American pair to qualify for the Junior Grand Prix Final, are seventh following the short program in Tokyo, Japan. They earned 44.48 points for their skate to Asian music.
China’s Wenjing Sui and Cong Han are in the lead with 56.80. Narumi Takahashi and Mervin Tran of Japan are second with 54.44 while Russians Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov are third with 48.90.
Simpson had three elements that were valued at Level 4: their lift, the back outside death spiral and their final pair spin. They also performed a double twist and throw triple Salchow in their program.
But Simpson faltered on both a double Axel and the side-by-side combination spin with change of foot. “I have to let this go and do better tomorrow,” said Simpson, who won a pewter medal with Miller in junior pairs at the 2009 U.S. Championships.
To qualify for the Junior Grand Prix Final, Simpson and Miller finished fourth at the first international event of their career, Junior Grand Prix United States in Lake Placid, N.Y. They took home a bronze from Germany.
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