Haven Denney and Brandon Frazier make strong return at Skate America
HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill.— The last time Haven Denney and Brandon Frazier took to the ice in competition was at the world championships in 2015. Injury and coaching changes prevented them from getting back on the ice until Friday night at Skate America in suburban Chicago. They showed no signs of rust, taking second place heading into Saturday’s free program.
Skating to music from Don Juan and wearing bright red costumes reminiscent of matadors, Denney and Frazier hit every element in their short program. Russia’s Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov finished first with a score of 75.24, and Canada’s Julianne Sequin and Charlie Bilodeau finished the short program in third.
“What we were really positive about is you saw what we do in our everyday training when we were out there on our first grand prix back,” Frazier said.
The two had been focused in practice in not just hitting the throws and jumps that thrill skating crowds, but making their performance memorable.
“It was definitely in the right direction of skating more outwards and having that performance and making it our own out there,” Denney said.
In April of 2015, Denney tore her ACL, LCL and meniscus while practicing a throw. She transitioned from wearing a titanium brace to a soft one she wore under her skating tights on the ice Friday night. While her ligaments are all now healed, she had to find a way to trust her knee again.
“At first it was hard because I was like, ‘I don’t know.’ But I had to put that out of my head because I’m going to fall. It’s part of this. It’s just about not thinking about it too much. Just trusting it,” she said after the skate that earned a score of 67.29.
But this process was not easy.
“Haven and I can agree there were some tough days, especially when she was first cleared to get back on the ice. It took us a long time for some of the things that used to come easy to us” Frazier said. “The whole thing, moving training locations, getting a new coach, it was more than just the injury to us. I’m glad I have the opportunity to say I’m very proud of my partner. She is a warrior.”
Skate America is the start of skating’s grand prix season, and Denney and Frazier were happy to be skating at the Sears Centre. It’s the same arena where they won silver in the 2014 Skate America, and it’s a short drive from their training home in Batavia, Ill.
“This was a very comfortable grand prix for us,” Frazier said.
Next, they will try to overtake the Russian team during Saturday’s long program. With Tarasova and Morozov planning to throw the high-scoring quad twist, it won’t be easy to come away from Skate America with a gold. After Skate America, the pair will compete at Skate Canada and hope to score well enough to compete in the grand prix final as they push towards nationals at the end of January.