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Following our story on Henry Privett-Mendoza, the local skater finished strong at the US Figure Skating Championship finishing 9th in Novice Men.
Says Privett-Mendoza, “top 10 in the nation is always exciting, especially as this was my first year in this division.” His coaches, Rudy Galindo and Robert Taylor were thrilled and both men agreed Henry gave his best performance all year.
Fellow Southern California skater, Goku Endo, who represents the All Year Figure Skating Club, won the Novice Men’s title.
However, Henry wasn’t quite done after competition. He also had the honor of performing in US Figure Skating’s Smucker’s Skating Spectacular Gala. The Smucker’s Spectacular features performances by the newly crowned champions and medalists and the presentation of the 2018 Olympic team.
The team includes Henry’s fellow Pasadena Figure Skating Club member, Mirai Nagasu of Arcadia. Ten years after she won the National Championship, and 8 years after her first trip to the Olympics, Mirai’s magnificent silver medal performance earned her a second trip to the Olympics!
Henry took to the ice with Olympic Gold Medalist Kristi Yamaguchi and a small ensemble, skating to a live performance to singer/songwriter Bailey Coats’ song, “American Girl.”
The Smucker’s Skating Spectacular aired nationally on NBC on Sunday, January 14th. It can also be streamed on Olympics.com. Find a link here to the official NBC Sports video of the number.
