Status of US Pairs This Season

[olympic]

In light of the Yankowskas / Coughlin break-up, possible pairing of Denney / Coughlin, Evora / Ladwig's plans, etc., I thought we could start a thread that merges any information or news regarding them AND other US pairs who have a chance to move up now with the tumultuous state of things.

Other items of business such as how Marley / Brubaker will fare. Will they want to stay with John Nicks? Hasn't Nicks wanted to retire since '06?

Castelli / Shnapir are lost in the news due to the above drama. How are they?

Do Davis / Leftheris have any potential. Leftheris is one of the US's better male pairs skaters.

Any new up and coming US pairs we should keep an eye on?

[Sylvia]

I don't usually post about new pairs unless I have permission to do so and/or until they have officially registered for a competition. The new Junior team of Christine Mozer and Danny O'Shea have registered to compete at Liberty in July - she is new to pairs (competed in Novice Ladies at 2009 Nationals) and they train in Ellenton, Florida with Jim Peterson et al. They are ISU Junior age-eligible for the 2011-12 season (his last, as he turned 20 earlier this year).

[Pairsis]

[QUOTE=Any new up and coming US pairs we should keep an eye on?[/QUOTE]

Very interested to see if Donlan/Speroff have continued to improve at the same rate as they did last year. Their programs were among my favorites at US Nationals. If they can master their sbs jumps they would be really something. Their lifts, twist and throws were excellent. Plus they have that classical Russian look which I thing would go over very well with international judges.

Has anyone heard anything abouat Vise/Baldwin, last I heard they were working on 3 twist. They were another very nice surprise at Nationals, great improvement over the prior year.

[shan]

I love Donlan/Speroff! I hope they get more difficult content, but I've resolved not to get my hopes up. I'll just enjoy them for what they are.

[olympic]

^ Thanks to all. I forgot about Donlan / Speroff and Vise / Baldwin. Good improvement for V/B. Do they do mirror skating?

[Sayana_mnk]

I don't usually post about new pairs unless I have permission to do so and/or until they have officially registered for a competition. The new Junior team of Christine Mozer and Danny O'Shea have registered to compete at Liberty in July - she is new to pairs (competed in Novice Ladies at 2009 Nationals) and they train in Ellenton, Florida with Jim Peterson et al. They are ISU Junior age-eligible for the 2011-12 season (his last, as he turned 20 earlier this year).

This is good news. O'Shea has had quite a few different partners since becoming a pairs skater. I hope this new partnership will succeed--and it easy to imagine that it could since Peterson will be coaching them. Despite all of the splits that have taken place in the junior ranks (in addition to the many pairs who have "aged out"), it may well be that with the formation of some new teams such as this one the U.S. pairs on the JGP might after all end up being just as the competitive as they were this last season. I realize that that may not be saying much, but it would show that U.S. pairs are not in such dire straits as some have suggested.

[BlueRidge]

I love Donlan/Speroff! I hope they get more difficult content, but I've resolved not to get my hopes up. I'll just enjoy them for what they are.

See that's the thing to do! I've really enjoyed seeing Donlan and Speroff already, whatever the future may be, but I do look forward to seeing how they progress next season. They are very promising.

[olympic]

Some random thoughts -

I think in regards to a Denney / Coughlin pairing, one would have to assess first and foremost the qualities of John Coughlin v. Jeremy Barrett as male pairs skaters.

Frankly, I see some similarities between the 2 men: Both are fairly consistent, yet need better posture and extension to make them better. Elements like the SBS spins and SBS jumps are fairly equal among them. However, I do see that John's size will be an improvement to Denney / Barrett in that the triple twist, throw jumps and lifts will be 'bigger' and thus potentially more dynamic.

There's a chance that a Denney / Coughlin pair might outperform a Denney / Barrett pair.

If American skating officials have been involved in this pairing [has been alluded to in another thread], they may have an eye on the fact that the pairs that are winning all skate 'big' such as the Germans, Russians, Chinese and hope that John's size and Caydee's catlike landings would get close to that.

However, Caydee does lack Caitlin's natural grace and needs some ballet classes stat

[aftershocks]

You mention "Evora and Ladwig's plans" olympic. Are they planning to retire? If not, do you think they could win the U.S. title if they continue, as you humorously alluded to in another recent thread?

[Jenna]

Mozer took up pairs! Cool. She was always a great singles skater too..could do a 3Lz and 3F at one point. Sylvia, do you know if she plans to continue with singles too?

[judgejudy27]

Some random thoughts -

I think in regards to a Denney / Coughlin pairing, one would have to assess first and foremost the qualities of John Coughlin v. Jeremy Barrett as male pairs skaters.

Frankly, I see some similarities between the 2 men: Both are fairly consistent, yet need better posture and extension to make them better. Elements like the SBS spins and SBS jumps are fairly equal among them. However, I do see that John's size will be an improvement to Denney / Barrett in that the triple twist, throw jumps and lifts will be 'bigger' and thus potentially more dynamic.

There's a chance that a Denney / Coughlin pair might outperform a Denney / Barrett pair.

If American skating officials have been involved in this pairing [has been alluded to in another thread], they may have an eye on the fact that the pairs that are winning all skate 'big' such as the Germans, Russians, Chinese and hope that John's size and Caydee's catlike landings would get close to that.

However, Caydee does lack Caitlin's natural grace and needs some ballet classes stat

As usual excellent assessment. The problem though is the Germans, Russians, and #1 Chinese pair (Pang & Tong) dont just have huge tricks but have choreopraphy, style and grace, lines, unision, and excellent basic skating. The Zhangs recent fortunes with the judges, inspite of their actually improving, is a reflection that the judges arent going to put you at the top just with big tricks anymore.

Caydee has some huge improvements to make if she is going to be a top 5 pair at the World level with any partner. I cant imagine her looking as good with John as Caitlin did.

[pinky166]

Amanda Dobbs should pair up with Coughlin! I could see that working out well and he's tall enough to partner her.

[apollo13]

It is very sad that there are only seven pairs left from last Nationals, who have not retired or broken up - so far.
1. Evora/Ladwig
2. Marley/Brubaker
3. Castelli/Shnapir
4. Vise/Baldwin
5. Donlan/Speroff
6. Davis/Lefteris
7. Katz/Lynch

It is likely that there will be more teams retiring or breaking up in the next few weeks.

Of course, there will be a couple of Junior Pairs who will turn Senior this year -Cain/Reagan and Poapst/Knierim. Then there's Denney/Coughlin and maybe a Yankowkas/Somebody.

But it is highly likely that there will be ten or less Senior Pairs competing at San Jose. Back in 2004 there were about 22 pairs at the Atlanta Nationals.

[shan]

But it is highly likely that there will be ten or less Senior Pairs competing at San Jose. Back in 2004 there were about 22 pairs at the Atlanta Nationals.

[olympic]

As usual excellent assessment. The problem though is the Germans, Russians, and #1 Chinese pair (Pang & Tong) dont just have huge tricks but have choreopraphy, style and grace, lines, unision, and excellent basic skating. The Zhangs recent fortunes with the judges, inspite of their actually improving, is a reflection that the judges arent going to put you at the top just with big tricks anymore.

Caydee has some huge improvements to make if she is going to be a top 5 pair at the World level with any partner. I cant imagine her looking as good with John as Caitlin did.

Yeah. I don't think they'd be competitive with the Germans, Russians, Chinese due to their current lack of style and grace, lines, etc., but upon my analysis, I realized they could probably outperform Denney / Barrett who were 7th at '10 Worlds, which I will take at this point. Such is the desperate state of US pairs!

Who knows - due to the fact that Denney and Coughlin both have the same major technical problem - mediocre extension, it may be that their coach will be forced to really work on it. Hence, they could really develop. Unlike the situation of Y/C, where Caitlin's nice extensions could continually be used to distract from John's lack thereof

Caydee's positions in the lifts make me wanna scream. Problem #1 IMO

LOL. You gave me an idea - D/C could become the NA version of the Zhangs

You mention "Evora and Ladwig's plans" olympic. Are they planning to retire? If not, do you think they could win the U.S. title if they continue, as you humorously alluded to in another recent thread?

It was mentioned in the Mark & Amanda thread that they were going to make a final decision on continuing in a couple of weeks. I believe their coach mentioned they would probably continue. Right now, if they stayed on their feet, they'd probably win the '12 title.

But I want to see how much further Marley / Brubaker progress [which I hope they do] before saying it's a sure thing - Mary Beth and Rockne have the potential to go far in TES w/ good lifts, level 4 spins, 2 sets of triple jumps, and it looks like they are also working on a throw 3z.

As mentioned, we will see if the D/C thing is happening, and I assume Caitlin will get a partner very soon. It's confirmed she's looking. But, it will take time for them all to gel.

[stjeaskategym]

It is very sad that there are only seven pairs left from last Nationals, who have not retired or broken up - so far...

But it is highly likely that there will be ten or less Senior Pairs competing at San Jose. Back in 2004 there were about 22 pairs at the Atlanta Nationals.

This is very similar to last year-- Only 7 pairs from 2010 Nationals ended up competing at this year's Nationals. It's somewhat sad, but at least things don't seem to be getting much worse in terms of numbers. But yeah, there were 20 pairs at '04 Nationals and there have been at least 15 pairs in all the years afterward (including 19 pairs at '09 Nationals)... until this season. I doubt there will be 15 next January either. You never know though.

[sk8mom1970]

This is good news. O'Shea has had quite a few different partners since becoming a pairs skater. I hope this new partnership will succeed--and it easy to imagine that it could since Peterson will be coaching them. Despite all of the splits that have taken place in the junior ranks (in addition to the many pairs who have "aged out"), it may well be that with the formation of some new teams such as this one the U.S. pairs on the JGP might after all end up being just as the competitive as they were this last season. I realize that that may not be saying much, but it would show that U.S. pairs are not in such dire straits as some have suggested.

I agree that this is very good for US pairs. My only hope is that his father will stay out of the kid's training. Having spoken to coaches and parents of partners there is a common thread as to why he has had so many partners in the last few years.

[sk8mom1970]

[QUOTE=apollo13;3181016]It is very sad that there are only seven pairs left from last Nationals, who have not retired or broken up - so far.
1. Evora/Ladwig
2. Marley/Brubaker
3. Castelli/Shnapir
4. Vise/Baldwin
5. Donlan/Speroff
6. Davis/Lefteris
7. Katz/Lynch

I think Tim LeDuc and Cassie Andrews will go senior, as they aged out.

There doesn't seem to be a lot of decent junior teams though.

[Madre]

Don't forget Alexa Scimeica/Ivan Dimitrov, and Joci Scierra/Wes Campbell - also all those other folks looking for partners - Taylor Toth, Erika Choi Smith, Felicia Zhang, etc.

[Sylvia]

Sylvia, do you know if she plans to continue with singles too?

I believe Mozer has also registered to compete in the Senior Ladies SP event at Liberty.

There doesn't seem to be a lot of decent junior teams though.

But didn't you say on another thread recently that "I don't think there has been this many decent Junior teams at one time in several years."


ETA:

It was mentioned in the Mark & Amanda thread that they were going to make a final decision on continuing in a couple of weeks.

I'm reposting the link to the May 9th E/L Florida article: http://www.bradenton.com/2011/05/09/...ive-pairs.html

Gretchen Donlan/Andrew Speroff are guest starring in the Haydenettes' club show in Lexington, Mass. this weekend -- more info at: http://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/show...2&postcount=46