The U.S. Novice and Junior Challenge Skate concluded on Sunday afternoon with the novice and junior free dances and junior ladies and men's free skates at the Salt Lake City Sports Complex. The four-day competition ran in conjunction with the 2019 U.S. International Figure Skating Classic.

Novice Free Dance
Elliana Peal and Ethan Peal earned the top spot in novice dance after the free dance performance Sunday. The Skokie Valley Skating Club skaters scored 57.57 points in their free dance, with a total score of 98.86 to win gold. They earned all positive Grades of Execution (GOE), and dazzled the crowd in Salt Lake City with a diagonal step sequence, which topped their executed elements.

The silver medal for novice dance went to Gabriela Hernandez (Peninsula SC) and Noah Lafornara (Lansing Skating Club) with a total score of 96.22. The pair scored 53.62 points in the free dance, completed two Level 4 lifts and a Level 2 diagonal step sequence.

The Skating Club of Boston's Emma L'Esperance and Mike Amdour finished in third place to earn the bronze medal for novice dance, with a total score of 80.25. For their free dance, the duo scored 47.88, starting their program off strong with a Level 3 spin and a Level 4 curve lift.

Junior Free Dance
For junior ice dance Samantha Ritter (All Year Figure Skating Club) and Jim Wang (St. Paul Figure Skating Club) claimed the topped the podium, earning 117.88 total points to finish first. In only their third competition as partners, the team received all positive GOE, featuring a Level 1 circular step sequence. They earned 74.46 points for their free skate en route to their gold medal.

Anna Nicklas (Ann Arbor Figure Skating Club) and Max Ryan (All Year Figure Skating Club) clinched the silver in the junior ice dance competition, with a total of 117.83. In the free dance the duo was awarded all positive GOE, performing Level 4 synchronized twizzles and a Level 1 midline step sequence, for a score of 68.72.

Earning the bronze medal in junior dance was Hilary Asher (Skokie Valley Skating Club) and Kyle Pearson (All Year Skating Club) with a total score of 95.08. In their free dance they received a score of 59.79, highlighted by a Level 4 rotational lift.

Junior Ladies Free Skate
Calista Choi of Skokie Valley Skating Club won the free skate and junior ladies competition with 153.94 total points. The 2019 U.S. novice champion landed four triple jumps, including a triple Lutz-double toe loop-double loop combination. She received Level 4 marks for all of her non-jumping elements, which included a flying sit spin, change foot combination spin, step sequence and layback spin. Choi scored 98.78 in her free skate to secure the gold medal by over 10 points.

From St. Moritz Ice Skating Club, Mia Kalin claimed the silver medal with a total score of 143.09. She landed six triple jumps in her performance, opening with a triple flip followed by a triple Lutz-triple toe loop combination. She closed her free skate with a Level 4 layback spin to notch 93.11 points.

Local skater Noelle Rosa rallied from ninth place in the short program to finish second in the free skate and earn the bronze medal. Hailing from Salt Lake Figure Skating, Rosa opened her 97.57-point routine with a triple Lutz-single toe loop combination, followed by a triple flip-double toe loop sequence. She tallied 139.95 total points to lock in third place.

Junior Men's Free Skate
After finishing second in the short program, Matthew Nielsen rallied to win the free skate and junior men's competition with a total score for 184.87. In his free skate to "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" by Aerosmith, the 2019 U.S. novice silver medalist landed six triple jumps, opening with a triple Lutz-triple toe loop combination, followed by a clean triple Lutz, triple loop and triple flip. The Strongsville Skating Club athlete also received Level 4s for two spins to score 118.32 points and win gold.

Lucas Altieri of Pines Figure Skating Club scored 183.02 points to move up from third to second place and secure the silver medal. In his 116.53-point free skate, Altieri opened with a triple Lutz-double toe loop combination followed by a double Axel-triple toe loop combination.

From the Skating Club of Boston, Maxim Naumov earned the bronze medal with 180.80 points. His free skate included a triple Axel and two Level 4 spins, receiving 112.81 points for his performance.

Earlier in the competition, champions were crowned in the novice men's, ladies and pairs competitions. All medalists from the U.S. Novice and Junior Challenge Skate are listed below. Click here for full results.

Junior Lades
1. Calista Choi (Skokie Valley SC)
2. Mia Kalin (St. Moritz ICS)
3. Noelle Rosa (Salt Lake Figure Skating)

Junior Men
1. Matthew Nielsen (Strongsville SC)
2. Lucas Altieri (Pines FSC)
3. Maxim Naumov (SC of Boston)

Junior Ice Dance
1. Samantha Ritter (All Year FSC) and Jim Wang (St. Paul FSC)
2. Anna Nicklas (Ann Arbor FSC) and Max Ryan (All Year FSC)
3. Hilary Asher (Skokie Valley SC) and Kyle Pearson (All Year FSC)

Novice Ladies
1. Isabeau Levito (SC of Southern New Jersey)
2. Elsa Cheng (Skokie Valley SC)
3. Adele Zheng (DuPage FSC)

Novice Men
1. Lucas Broussard (Highland SC)
2. Robert Yampolsky (North Jersey FSC)
3. Zachary Yaninek (Peaks FSC)

Novice Pairs
1. Natasha Mishkutionok and Daniel Tioumentsev (Dallas FSC)
2. Aleksandra Prudsky and Enoch Chen (SC of Houston)
3. Estelle Schwab and Jaden Schwab (St. Paul FSC)

Novice Ice Dance
1. Elliana Peal and Ethan Peal (Skokie Valley SC)
2. Gabriela Hernandez (Peninsula SC) and Noah Lafornara (Lansing SC)
3. Emma L'Esperance and Mika Amdour (SC of Boston)