Team USA finished the 2021 ISU Challenger Series strong with four medals at Golden Spin of Zagreb in Croatia this weekend. The competition was the last of 2021 series, featured the ice dance tandem of Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker and the pairs duo of Audrey Lu and Misha Mitrofanov atop the podium.
Lu and Mitrofanov won gold in the pairs competition with 195.32 total points, besting second-place finishers Anastasiia Metelkina and Daniil Parkman of Georgia by nearly six points. The gold medal is Lu and Mitrofanov's first international gold medal. Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier finished fifth with 186.69 total points and and Jessica Calalang and Brian Johnson finished sixth with 180.49 total points for sixth.
Iuliia Artemeva and Mikhail Nazarychev of Russia took bronze with 189.29 total points.
In ice dance, Hawayek and Baker earned their first podium finish of the season, taking the top spot with 191.32 total points, clearing the field by more than 10 points. Emily Bratti and Ian Somerville finished fifth with 172.24 total points, while Molly Cesanek and Yehor Yehorov in sixth with 166.61 total points.
Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius of Lithuania took silver with 180.15 total points, followed by Elizaveta Shanaeva and Devid Naryzhnyy of Russia with bronze from 177.83 total points.
In the women's field, Amber Glenn led the way for the U.S, earning silver with 183.36 total points. Glenn, who brought home a bronze in the U.S. International Classic earlier this season, skated consistently and earned second in both the short program and free skate.
Americans Gabriella Izzo finished fourth with 167.96 total points, while Hanna Harrell finished seventh with 158.89 total points. Anastasiia Gubanova of Georgia won the event, earning 184.29 total points and Niina Petrokina of Estonia took bronze with 182.57 total points.
In the men's field, Jimmy Ma impressed for the United States with 250.97 total points and a bronze medal. The 2021 U.S. International Classic silver medalist earned fifth in the short program and improved with a second-place free skate.
Eric Sjoberg finished 12th with 212.77 total points. Keegan Messing of Canada won gold with 255.07 total points, and Andrei Mozalev of Russia earned silver with 252.15 total points.
The ISU Challenger Series is a group of 10 senior-level international figure skating competitions held each year to help skaters prepare and qualify for ISU Championship events. Golden Spin was the final event of the 2021 Challenger Series.
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