By Kat Cornetta, Team FSO contributing writer
Photos by Robin Ritoss
Men
For Jacob Sanchez, Cranberry Cup was the beginning of a busy and important week. After competing Saturday and Sunday, he would take part in the senior portion of U.S. Figure Skating’s Champs Camp for the first time.
“I competed last year in this event in junior and then did the (junior portion of camp) that week,” said Sanchez after his short program. “So I know what to expect going into it next week, but I am excited to be part of the senior portion with all of the top athletes in the States. I’m so excited to be in that mix of skaters.”
Sanchez’s weekend was a mixed bag, with his short program to the Umbrellas of Cherbourg going as well as it could. He landed a triple flip, triple Axel and triple Lutz-triple toe loop combination, scoring a 78.60 in the segment and finishing within .14 of a point of front-runner Jimmy Ma.
His free skate to Dune, did not go as hoped, with a doubled Salchow to open the program and problems on his triple Axel-triple toe loop combination, dropping him to seventh in the free skate and fifth overall. However, Sanchez finished the best of all of the U.S. men entered.
Still, it’s early for Sanchez, who admits he is adjusting to the senior schedule. In past years, he would get his programs right after Nationals and by August he would be ready for the Junior Grand Prix.
“I came to watch Senior Worlds (in March) and I got my programs done while we were here for it,” said Sanchez of his programs, which were choreographed by Adam Blake and Rohene Ward. “I’ve been just practicing it ever since. I just started doing full (programs) a month ago. So I started all the preparation kind of later than usual. But that’s because my season has started later than before, which has been really nice.”
Sanchez is excited for the opportunities that turning senior internationally during an Olympic season provides.
“I think making my Senior Grand Prix debut in China is the thing I’m looking most forward to,” said Sanchez. “I’m very excited to be in the mix of an Olympic season and just being able to compete in my first senior season during this Olympic season with all these great skaters.”
Roman Sadovsky was the talk of the competition. His clean Debussy’s “Clair de Lune” and “Photograph” by Cody Fry free skate won him his first senior international gold medal. His performance quality and jumps looked solid, and with Skate Canada high performance director in the house both days, it was a statement finished for the sometimes-inconsistent Sadovsky.
Canadian Stephen Gogolev was quiet and subdued around the rink before his skates, but he went out and attacked both the short and free to win the bronze medal. Despite some mistakes on footwork and spins in the short program, he never gave up on the program and skated faster and more complete than at any point last season. Then in the free skate, he scored the highest technical score of the day, thanks to landing two quad Salchows (one in combination) and a quad toe. It was a breakthrough performance for Gogolev, who has struggled over the past few seasons.
Skating on what he called his “new” home rink, Estonia’s Aleksandr Selevko had the crowd in the palms of his hands during his upbeat short program to Prince’s Kiss. There was not a second of the program that he didn’t sell, looking at the audience the entire time. In his Sandra Bezic and David Wilson-choreographed free skate to music by Nico Cartosio, he landed a quad Lutz and quad toe loop, and finished third in the segment to give him the silver.
Ma won the short program with a Firebird remix that included a quad toe and a triple Axel before he had to put an extra turn between jumps in his triple Lutz-triple toe combination. He squeaked by Sanchez for the lead.
Ma’s Turandot free skate was not his best performance, with issues on several jumps and a fall, dropping him to seventh but the program composition showed promise. Ma spent time this summer training in Japan with the Kinoshita Skating Academy and coach Mie Hamada, and there are subtle changes in his skating that are already noticeable.
Women
Isabeau Levito showed off two new programs at Cranberry Cup to take the senior women’s title. While both are still being fine-tuned, her short program to “Almost in Your Arms” and “zou bisou bisou” carries the retro theme from last season’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s program, which works well for Levito.
Levito’s free skate to “Cinema Paradiso” still needs some work, but showed promise. Her triple flip-double Axel sequence caused her issues, and she also had an issue on a late program triple Lutz.
Kazakhstan’s Sofia Samodelkina skated well in both segments of the competition, with her upbeat routine to Czardas setting an early standard in the short program, holding up as the leader only until Levito skated. Her Sunset Boulevard free skate leaned on some familiar dramatic music and shows promise, but underrotations were apparent on several of her jumps, something she will need to clean up as the season gets underway.
Attendees drove from all across the East Coast to see four-time World junior silver medalist Jia Shin’s senior international debut. The South Korean was visibly nervous at the beginning of her short program, but calmed as the program went on. Her free skate was similarly nervy, with several falls. Her transitions and spins were top-notch, and she finished third in both segments of the competition.
While many in the women’s competition were without their costumes or just finding their way with their new programs, Colorado-based skater Sonja Hilmer turned in two performances full of unique skills and choreography to win the hearts of viewers in person and online. Her 1940s short program included a footwork segment with skate sounds in the music for a take on tap dancing (she said on Instagram that it is inspired by the “Five Minutes for Icing” program from Stars on Ice in 1995, for those of us who remember such things.) In her free skate to “Isha’s Song” from Arcane, (League of Legends series), her trademark spinning and jumping in both directions was on full display. She had members of the audience on their feet for both performances, and was visibly excited by her performances and 4th place finish.
Junior Women
Sophie Joline von Felten took the junior women title over fellow U.S. skater Annika Chao by a 24.30 point margin. von Felten’s emotional short program, which was dedicated to those who passed away in the crash of American Airlines flight 5342 in January, included a triple Axel. She opened her Frida free skate with a triple Axel-double toe loop combination and a quadruple Salchow. She also attempted a solo triple Axel but fell.
von Felten has mentioned that she is working on her presentation, and her new free skate showcases her commitment. She was much more present to the audience and carried out movements compared to years past.
Chao fell on her opening triple Lutz in her “Waiting on a Wish” free skate, but brushed the miscue off quickly. The rest of her program was clean, with six landed triples, and her joy for skating was clear both before the program and during. She stayed loose prior to her program by bopping along to Reese Rose’s Adele medley free skate, making coach Grant Hochstein smile. In addition to Chao, Hochstein may have been the busiest coach of the entire competition, with three skaters in the junior women’s event.
Kaya Tiernan emerged the winner of the bronze after a successful free skate to Gladiator. With one of the most elegant costumes of the night, she landed a triple toe loop-triple toe loop and four other clean triples in her outing to jump from eighth in the short to third in the free and overall. The 16-year-old Tiernan skated novice nationally last fall, winning Eastern Sectionals and competing in Junior at 2025 U.S. Nationals, where she finished 13th. Cranberry was her first junior international and only her second international overall, as she finished second in Advanced Novice at the Maria Olszewska Memorial in the spring.
Junior Men
New Zealand’s Yanhao Li led Cranberry’s junior men’s event from start-to-finish, winning the gold medal for the second-consecutive year. Li had two mistakes at the top of his free skate (an underrotated quadruple toe and a single Axel) but his transitions and composition were second to only bronze medalist Anthony Paradis.
Five Canadian men earned spots 2-6, with Grayson Long improving upon his bronze medal from the event in 2024, and Paradis showing off his breathtaking “New World Symphony” free skate to finish third and earn his first-ever international medal.
Around the Rink
There were quite a few sightings around The Skating Club of Boston during Cranberry Cup. 1992 Olympic gold medalist Victor Petrenko was around, coaching Israel’s Tamir Kuperman, who finished a surprising fourth in the men’s competition.
1993 and 1994 U.S. men’s champion Scott Davis joined Hochstein in the busy coaches club, with several skaters in Advanced Novice and Junior, and not just from Canada. When not with his skaters, he took in the men’s short program.
On Sunday, several U.S. skaters stopped by the last day of Cranberry as they arrived in Boston for Champs Camp. Two-time World Champion Ilia Malinin took in the men’s free skate.
