Sarah Everhardt’s expected role at last year’s Prevagen U.S. Figure Skating Championships seemed to be like that of an extra on a movie set, there to fill out a scene … or, in this case, the field for a competition.
After all, it was Everhardt’s national debut at the senior level, and she had finished 13th and 11th at the junior level the previous seasons, and her results leading up to the 2024 event were unremarkable.
So who could have foreseen Everhardt turning into a bit of a scene stealer as she finished fourth overall and third in the free skate? She did it with two clean programs (no negative grades of execution) for the first time in her career, according to skatingscores.com.
“I know I have it in me,” Everhardt said via Zoom. “When I go to a competition, I know that I’m capable of skating clean, doing my best. So I always just try to use that confidence going in.”
After a solid international season this fall, with a first and second in two Challenger Series events, Everhardt goes into this week’s nationals in Wichita, Kansas as one of a half-dozen medal contenders in a competition that became even more wide open when reigning world silver medalist Isabeau Levito withdrew last week with a foot injury.
Defending champion Amber Glenn is a heavy favorite, especially given her unbeaten record since a 10th at the 2024 Worlds. Glenn won a Challenger Series event, two Grand Prix events and the Grand Prix Final, posting personal best scores six times, showing consistency that had long eluded her.
The others with podium hopes include Everhardt; a pair of two-time champions, Alysa Liu (2019 and 2020) and Bradie Tennell (2018 and 2021); last year’s bronze medalist, Josephine Lee, who won the free skate; and the September sensation, Elyce-Lin Gracey.
Liu, a 2022 Olympian, returned to the sport this season following a two-year retirement. Tennell, a 2018 Olympian, is back at nationals after missing two of the last three with foot injuries.
Also at stake are the three U.S. women’s spots at the late March World Championships in Boston, for which nationals results are just one of the factors under consideration.
Glenn seems a lock for one spot. Levito has indicated she will petition for a place on the team, and she seems likely to get it if healthy. Lee is below the minimum age for senior international events.
Everhardt, 18, a high school senior from Haymarket, Virginia, put herself into contention by changing her training pattern before last year’s nationals under coaches Tatyana Malinina and Roman Skorniakov. They also coach their son, Ilia Malinin, the reigning world champion and barrier-breaking jumper.
“I started focusing on the program not as a whole but as getting things done one-by-one,” she said. “I think that has allowed me to be a more consistent skater.”
Everhardt got this season off to a fast start by winning the Cranberry Cup, which she hoped would get her a senior Grand Prix spot. Instead, she got two, in France and China, where she finished fifth and fourth, as six of her jumps were docked for being a quarter underrotated.
“I think it was just a little bit of fatigue setting and me just kind of like letting myself go a little bit,” Everhardt said of the mistakes. “(Since then) we just keep doing more programs so that when I am tired, I don’t under rotate things that way.”
ANGERS, FRANCE - NOVEMBER 2: Sarah Everhardt of the United States performs during the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating at Angers ICEPARC, on November 2, 2024 in Angers, France. (Photo by Jurij Kodrun - International Skating Union/International Skating Union via Getty Images)
International Skating Union via Getty Images
Going from a relative unknown to being in the spotlight during a debut senior international season can be mentally taxing. When she followed the Cranberry Cup win by breaking the 200-point (total score) barrier at the Lombardia Trophy, there was suddenly attention on her.
“I felt some pressure, but I still kind of felt like the new kid in senior,” Everhardt said. “I get to sort of compete with all these skaters I watched growing up. It’s really fun knowing I’ve gotten to the level I’ve always dreamed of.”
The next level would be making the world team this year and the Olympic team next year. Everhardt has applied to colleges but may defer matriculation based on how the rest of her season goes.
Everhardt’s music this season was also the soundtrack for landmark winning free skate performances at nationals — “Riverdance” for Jason Brown in 2014, and “The Firebird” for Gracie Gold in 2016. Both Brown and Gold gave her some tips earlier this season on skating to the music, which is imposing in its power and demanding for its high energy.
Riverdance is Everhardt’s short, Firebird the free. One highlights Irish cultural totems, the other a celebrated Slavic folk tale. Both have personal meaning to Everhardt. Her father, Jonathan, is of Irish descent. Her mother, Ekaterina, is from Belarus. Her coaches were both born in Russia.
Everhardt began training with Malinina and Skorniakov in the summer of 2019. That means she has been a witness to Malinin’s transformation from just a very good skater to the “Quad god,” first to land a quadruple Axel and first to land all six types of quad.
Malinin’s flights of fancy have become normal to Everhardt.
“I’ve gotten used to him just throwing out quad Axel or quad-quad combos,” she said.
So your jaw never drops when he does it?
“It has a couple times, when he first throws out them out,” she said. “But after a couple times, I get pretty used to it.”
That understated reaction seems to fit Everhardt’s general demeanor. As did her answer to a question to reveal something interesting about her that few people would know.
“I don’t know anything (about me) that’s super interesting,” she said. “I’m kind of like a normal person, but I do skating a lot.”
Philip Hersh is a special contributor to NBCSports.com. He has covered figure skating at the last 12 Winter Olympics.
