icenetwork.com

Liberty junior ladies final winner Angela Wang with pal Lauren Dinh, who placed fifth. (Lynn Rutherford)

By Lynn Rutherford, special to icenetwork.com

(07/18/2010) - Angela Wang, seventh in juniors at the 2010 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, took a leap forward in her Liberty free skate, landing a triple Lutz-triple toe combination in her charming Celtic-inspired program to music from How to Slay a Dragon.

She was the only lady in the event to land a clean triple-triple.

"I was really happy I did my triple-triple combination," Wang said. "A few of my other jumps had really shaky landings, but I fought for them."

Wang, who turns 14 on July 30th, gained 10.80 points for the maneuver, including a positive .7 GOE from the judges.

The teen also landed a double Axel, triple toe combination and four other triples, although the flip was under rotated. She earned 94.45 points, well ahead of runner-up McKinzie Daniels, who notched 81.41.

Wang, who usually trains in Salt Lake City under Scott Smith, is spending the summer in Colorado Springs working with Christy Krall, well-known for her skill using Dartfish technical analysis and simulation software to help perfect her pupils (including Patrick Chan's) jumps.

"The Dartfish really shows you which moment in a jump is off, so you can go and fix it," Wang said. "It's really helped me."

Atlanta's Timothy Dolensky is forming an annual tradition: each birthday brings a new Liberty title.

Last season, the U.S. novice bronze medalist, who turned 18 on Sunday, treated himself to a win in Liberty's novice event.

This year, the Atlanta skater -- who is coached by Debbie Prachar and Brittney Bottoms -- won juniors with an elegant free to "Warsaw Concerto."

Dolensky recovered from a shaky start, doubling his second jump, an intended triple Lutz, but came back strong in the second half with four other triples, two in combination.

"I thought it was pretty good," Dolensky said. "Of course, I made mistakes in the beginning, but I tried to put them behind me and skate rest of program."

Dolensky's program component score, 52.16, was by far the highest of the junior men. "I've grown a lot in maturity; I'm trying hard to get into the music more and finish all the moves I am doing, instead of just throwing an arm up," he said.

U.S. novice silver medalist Emmanuel Savary was second with 95.98 points.