Bereswill Runs Away with JGP Final Gold

The gold medalist at the SBS ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) of Figure Skating Final for the 2008-09 season was USA's Becky Bereswill, who is also a champion distance runner. The 18-year-old had qualified for the Final by winning silver medals at the JGPs in Spain and France, but was the sixth-ranked skater coming into the event.

"My goal was to qualify for the Final," she said. "When I made it, I was happy I achieved my goal, but in the back of my mind, I wanted to medal. I knew it would be inspirational to be with the seniors and hoped to skate well."

Only fourth after the short program, Bereswill scored almost 15 points above her previous best (83.24) to set a new personal best overall with 98.01 for the free skate and 146.69 total points.

"I knew we were all very tight after the short program, so it was anyone's game," acknowledged Bereswill. "I wanted to score two personal bests for the long and overall so I was happy I did that."

"I was very excited for the free skate," she continued. "I was nervous at first, but then I thought about performing the music and telling the story the way Marina (Zoueva) taught me, the nerves went away. I just went with that feeling and took everything one step at a time and I just really enjoyed my time out there."

Bereswill's long program contains a triple flip-double toe-double loop, double Axel-triple toe loop, and triple loop-double loop combination jumps. Her solo jumps are a double Axel, triple loop, triple Lutz, and triple toe loop. In the short program, her elements include a triple flip-double toe loop, triple Lutz and double Axel.

Phillip Mills with assistance from Marina Zoueva, choreographed her free program to Puccini's Nessum Dorma from the opera Turandot, while Igor Shpilband choreographed her short program to Carousel Waltz by Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein.

"Both of my programs are new," Bereswill said, "but both are very different. John (Millier) told me I should look for music that I really care about. So I looked for music that is powerful and inspiring to me and it has really helped."

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