Six Americans made the trek to Riga, Latvia, this week to compete in the third stop of the 2019 International Skating Union (ISU) Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating.
Andrew Torgashev’s fourth-place finish was the highest finish among the U.S. contingent.
The Florida-native, who is embarking on his fifth JGP season, headed into Saturday’s free skate in sixth place, having recorded a short program score of 65.07. After posting a 131.16 free skate score, Torgashev, who skated to a piece by Giacomo Puccini, improved two spots and came away with a fourth-place finish with a total score of 196.23.
Liam Kapeikis, making his international debut in Latvia, finished in 12th place with a cumulative score of 162.33. The Washington-native registered 64.76 points for his short program and 97.57 for the free skate.
Two Russians finished on the podium, with Andrei Mozalev taking home the gold (223.72) and Daniil Samsonov securing the bronze medal (211.62), while South Korea’s Sihyeong Lee managed to pick up silver (218.31).
In the ladies competition, Americans Gabriella Izzo and Isabella Inthisone finished ninth and tenth, respectively.
Izzo, the reigning U.S. junior champion, recorded the fifth-best short program with a score of 59.39 before falling to ninth overall after receiving a 101.55 free skate score.
In her JGP debut, Inthisone recorded a short program score of 54.63 and a free skate score of 101.40, combining for a total score of 156.03.
South Korea’s Haein Lee picked up the gold medal (197.63), while Russia’s Daria Usacheva (194.40) finished in second and Rino Matsuike of Japan secured the final spot on the podium with a total score of 193.03.
Virginia natives Molly Cesanek and Yehor Yehorov concluded the competition by placing sixth in the ice dance competition. In their JGP debut, the duo posted a score of 53.79 in the rhythm dance before scoring 86.48 points in the free dance for a total score of 140.27.
Elizaveta Khudaiberdieva and Andrey Filatov of Russia took home gold (165.59), Georgia’s Maria Kazakova and Georgy Reviya secured the silver medal (165.26), and Sofya Tyutyunina and Alexander Shustitskiy earned bronze (152.79).
The JGP Series will continue next week in Chelyabinsk, Russia. The competition will begin on Sept. 11.
For full coverage, visit the U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone.
