2008 USFS Championships - Senior Pairs, Dance, Ladies

I caught the NBC broadcasts of the 2008 U.S. Figure Skating Championships today. Here are some of my quick-hit thoughts:

• It was a bold gesture for John Baldwin to propose to Rena Inoue at the conclusion of their pairs free skate, in front of the audience in the arena and the television viewers. What if she had wanted to say "no"? :)
• Tanith Belbin & Ben Agosto's free dance was gorgeous and skated with such attack. I hope they can repeat this performance at the World Championships and take home the gold. Meryl Davis & Charlie White's second place performances at Nationals could also challenge for the podium at Worlds. I typically have liked Navarro & Bommentre, but their free dance here lacked energy.
  
• I'm heartbroken for Kimmie Meissner. It must have been so hard for her to keep skating after three big falls in her free skate. Her programs this year were a step up from last season's, and it's too bad she couldn't deliver the technical content. Hopefully next season she can return to form and challenge for the top spots at Nationals and Worlds again.
• It'll be interesting to see whether USFS names Meissner to the World team. Based on standings here, she's only the fourth-ranked age-eligible competitor, behind Ashley Wagner, Bebe Liang, and Katrina Hacker, all of whom would be first-timers at Worlds. I wonder if USFS would send Kimmie due to her experience at the world level.
  
• Caroline Zhang skated beautifully in the free skate, but she was soooo slow throughout much of the program. I think this hurt her in the short program as well. Her jumping technique on the lutz and flip is also troublesome, but I'm hoping she'll be able to fix that as she gets older and stronger.
• It was great to see Michelle Kwan during the fluff piece on Zhang. Interestingly, I think Caroline skates more like Sasha Cohen than Michelle, at least in terms of her style of movement. :)
• Caroline Zhang, Ashley Wagner, Rachel Flatt, and Mirai Nagasu all skated wonderfully in the long. I was especially impressed with Nagasu's speed and flow over the ice. I think I like Katrina Hacker's overall quality of skating better than all of the above, though. I particularly loved her air position in her jumps. I also really like Alissa Czisny's skating, but she had too many jump problems in the free to move up from her SP placement.
  
• It was cool to see a couple of Filipino-American skaters do well enough to make the tv broadcasts: Amanda Evora (finished 5th in pairs with Mark Ladwig) and Melissa Bulanhagui (8th in senior ladies).
  

Here's hoping tomorrow's mens' free skate offers as much drama as today's competitions did. :)