2025 Prevagen U.S. Figure Skating Championships: Women

Amber Glenn bounced back from mistakes in the short program to successfully defended her national title in Wichita, Kan., on Friday night. The senior women’s event at the 2025 Prevagen U.S. Figure Skating Championships was extraordinarily thrilling despite the absence of Isabeau Levito and Ava Marie Ziegler. Alysa Liu, who was first going into the free skate, settled for silver, while Sarah Everhardt rose from fourth to claim the bronze. Bradie Tennell, who was second after the short program, finished fourth overall for the pewter medal.

Amber Glenn

Coming into this competition, the defending champion was battling a back injury and “was not feeling [her] absolute best.” In the short program, Glenn underrotated and two-footed the triple Axel, but executed a clean triple flip-double toe and a triple loop. All her spins and step sequences were level fours, and she placed third with 70.91 points.

“As you can tell by my reaction, I was quite disappointed I did not feel the attack or adrenaline going out there today,” said the 25-year-old. “I came into this event trained and ready, but definitely more fatigued and not quite as exhilarated as I’d like to be, especially compared to the Grand Prix and the Final. I do feel like I will be able to give that attack tomorrow in the free skate and not hold back as much as I did today. I definitely played it safe, and tomorrow I want to try to go full out.”

While her short program was unable to meet her expectations, she was excited about completing the triple Axel in the free skate, along with several other impressive triple jumps.

“The scheduling was much different than what I was used to previously,” said Glenn. “In the past, I’d done the first Grand Prix, the third or fourth, and then didn’t have the Final. So, this time doing the third, the sixth, then the Final. Then the holidays, the shows, then getting sick, and then being here. Ever since the Grand Prix France, it was just one thing after another, after another, after another. I tried my best to go about training in a way that I could do my best here, but I felt today that there wasn’t the same preparation mentally that I had for the Grand Prix and for the Final.”

Glenn attacked her free skate to “I Will Find You” and “The Return,” landing a solid triple Axel, followed by six more clean triple jumps. While she fell on the last jump, a triple loop, she earned a level four on two spins and the footwork to place first with 145.88 points. With a total score of 216.79, she rose from third to first place overall.

When reflecting on the competition, she stated: “I’m very proud of my mental fortitude and the progress I’ve made, and I hope to continue the consistency throughout the rest of the season.”

Glenn noted that she has recently been battling back pain and was not fully satisfied with either of her performances. Regardless, she was “very proud” or her mental fortitude and the progress she’s made.

“I hope to continue the consistency throughout the rest of the season,” she said. “I definitely want to work towards having that in Boston. I did not think what I did today would be enough. I saw how amazing and consistent Alysa has been, as well as Sarah. They have both been so solid, but I try my best to be like them, and to take from my younger peers. I try to take some of their skills and learn from them, as well as applying myself with the technical content difficulty that the experience that I have.”

Glenn also credited her competitors, Everhardt and Liu, with having the “skates of the night.”

“I was also just so proud of this group of women, seeing the camaraderie backstage, seeing the supportiveness!” she said. “I’m just really grateful to be on the podium with these two lovely ladies, and I can’t wait to go to new events with them.”

Alysa Liu

Liu’s presence at nationals was highly anticipated by many. The 2022 World bronze medalist made her return to competition this season after retiring for two years. Aside from a few under rotations and a mistake on the layback spin, Liu delivered two nearly flawless skates.

Her short program to “Promise” by Laufay adequately demonstrated her growth and maturity in her performance. Her routine featured a triple flip-triple toe, double Axel and triple Lutz. All spins and footwork were rewarded with a level four, and she placed first with 76.36 points. She was visibly emotional following her skate, which was accompanied by a round of standing ovation from the audience.

“I loved doing this program so much,” the 19-year-old relayed. “It’s a really emotional program, and I just really love performing it. I can’t imagine when I won’t have this program, that’s going to be so sad. I’m probably going to still run this in practice, to be honest. It’s been my favorite song since it came out.”

When asked about her comeback growth since 2019, Liu said she really didn’t remember the “feeling” of the past.

“Honestly, it feels like a different lifetime,” said the two-time U.S. national champion. “And when I see, like, old videos of me, I’m just like, it wasn’t me, you know? Obviously, it was just so long ago, I don’t remember.”

Liu’s speed and charisma perfectly matched the upbeat music of her free skate to “MacArthur Park,” but she had several underrotations. While she landed four solid triples, she had an error on the layback spin which was graded a level two and subsequently cost her approximately two points. The footwork and other two spins were graded a level four, and she finished second in the free skate (138.97) and overall (215.33).

Liu expressed overall enthusiasm regarding her return to U.S. nationals.

“I didn’t really have any expectations for myself, placement wise, mostly just program wise,” she said. “So, I felt really good throughout this entire experience. I honestly didn’t know if I would medal or not. I didn’t watch Bradie or Amber’s performance. I was like, warming up and putting my skates on. I also don’t exactly remember how scores worked, so I don’t know what a score really means. I missed my Biellmann spin, and I thought it might have taken me off the podium, so I was really shocked. That was like my season’s best score, so I was really happy with it, but I did not think I would win a medal.”

Liu shared the process of rediscovering her passion for figure skating. After taking several ski trips, she found joy in participating in such a similarly stimulating sport, and thus, decided to give skating another chance. The return to training was somewhat different from what she had anticipated. Jumps, she noted, were easier to regain. Everything else was significantly more difficult.

“I only started feeling really confident with my free skate about a week and a half ago, and that was definitely a big struggle,” she shared. “I want to improve more on being able to do everything that I can in practice in a program. I can always improve that. But to get to where I am now with it, that took a lot of hard training.”

Sarah Everhardt

Everhardt skated an energetic short program “Reel Around the Sun” from Riverdance. Her solid performance included a triple toe-triple toe, double Axel, and a triple Lutz. All spins and footwork received a level four, and she earned a total of 70.72 points for fourth place.

“I’m extremely happy and I’m proud of myself,” said the 18-year-old. “It takes a lot of strength to go out there and skate well. I’ve been feeling a lot of pressure on me and a lot of nerves because I just really want to skate well here. I’m glad that I was able to do that today.”

The skater said she mostly focuses on “keeping things consistent” and “building confidence” throughout the season.

“So, coming into this competition, I knew that I could skate well, and I’m glad I delivered and did a good short program,” she summed up.

The 2024 Cranberry Cup International champion put out a good free skate to The Firebird which featured five solid triple jumps. The only errors came when she received an edge call on a triple flip and stepped out of a triple loop. Two spins and the footwork were graded a level four, and she posted 136.64 points for third place. Her total score of 207.36 was enough to bump her up onto the podium for the bronze.

“I’m a little upset about the step out on the loop, but it’s just something to work on in the future,” said the 2024 Lombardia Trophy silver medalist. “After I skated and after I got my scores, I sort of had this wave of emotions. The level I’ve been wanting to skate at and compete at, I’ve finally made it to that level. I’m competitive with everyone else, and that’s great!”

Everhardt credits confidence in regard to her impressive jumping passes and consistency.

“I know I can do it, so I go and do it,” she said. “A lot of people say I have no nerves, but that’s really not true. I get so nervous, like really nervous, but I’ve sort of found a way to control them during my skate.”

Bradie Tennell

Tennell performed a fantastic short program to music from Lord of the Dance. which included a double Axel, triple loop, and level-four spins and footwork. The only minor error came when she landed the back end of a triple Lutz-triple toe on the quarter. She placed second with 71.23 points.

“The journey coming back this season was long,” said the two-time U.S. national champion. “Today is January 23 and I had my second ankle surgery on January 26 of last year. So, it hasn’t even been a full year yet since my second surgery, and I’m back at nationals and did a clean short.”

The skater admitted to working through mental, physical and emotion issues this past year.

“I think they’ve all helped me grow and evolve into the kind of athlete I am today and the person I am today,” said Tennell. “It’s long, it’s been a long process and a hard process, but I don’t think I would change it, because I’m very proud of the person I am today and the athlete I am today. I think all those struggles are something that makes me unique in this field. I just think this sport is really about the journey. The destination is like the reward for all of the hard work. So, no matter the outcome, you know, because I’ve been on the top and I’ve been on the bottom and everywhere in between, and every time, no matter the end result, I look back on the day to day and the process. And no matter what happens at the end of the destination, I’m always proud of the journey.”

Tennell placed fourth (128.71) with her passionate performance to Nessun Dorma. She landed three jumps on the quarter and took a fall on a triple Lutz but showed excellent level-four spins and footwork. With a total score of 199.94, the 26-year-old slipped to fourth overall.

“I’m really happy with the first half,” said the 2020 Four Continents bronze medalist. “The second half I am a little disappointed in. That’s not really how I’ve been training. So, I would have liked it to go a little bit better, but I faced a lot of ups and downs this year and even just this week. I’m really proud of myself for getting out there and fighting through all the way to the end.”

“I just want to say that I’m so extremely grateful to be back here and to be doing this,” Tennell summed up. “I’m so grateful to all of the people in my corner that have been cheering me on and supporting me. And to the people in my day-to-day life who have made this journey a lot more fun and endurable than it would have been without them, and to my support team and staff and all the medical personnel who have helped me—just the biggest ‘thank you.’ Because if it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be here being able to do what I love again.”

2023 U.S. junior pewter medalist Sherry Zhang placed fifth (188.48) in her senior debut at this event, followed by Starr Andrews (185.97) and Josephine Lee (182.69).

Everhardt, Glenn and Liu were all named to the upcoming Four Continents Championships team. Bradie is the first alternate, followed by Andrews and Sonja Hilmer.

Glenn and Liu were selected for the World team as was Levito. Everhardt is the first alternate, followed by Tennell and Andrews.

Related Info:

• Official Results
• Competition Threads

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