US Pairs 2012-13 news & updates

[johndockley92]

ETA:
The Junior Pairs event at Nationals is looking pretty wide open at this point, and so it will come down, as usual, to which pairs are able to skate the cleanest. The 3 teams for Junior Worlds are likely going to be selected from Aaron/Settlage (their JGP bronze was the only medal won by a U.S. pair this fall), Calalang/Sidhu, Pfund/Reiss, Simpson/Blackmer, and Denney/Frazier (making their Senior debut at Nationals), with de la Mora/Wilson and Oltmanns/Santillan as darkhorses if they can skate their very best.

The new team of Kaitlin Budd & Russian-born Nikita Cheban had the highest score of all the Novice pairs at Sectionals (if the one listing I found of his birthdate being July 3, 1992 is correct, then he is ISU Junior age-eligible for one more season in 2012-13), followed by the JGP pair of Christina "Divette" Zaitsev/Ernie Utah Stevens and Elise Middleton/Robert Hennings, who were 4th and 5th in Novice at 2012 Nationals, respectively. Hopefully the fill-up rule applied to the Mids 5th place team (wish the 6th place team could be included as well).

From the USFS Rulebook (the underlined section was revised for this season):

De la mora/ Wilson have not met the minimum TES for the SP this year and cannot compete at junior worlds.

Glad to see we have some teams coming in for next year though

[Sylvia]

It was great to be able to see Marissa Castelli & Simon Shnapir win their first GP medal (bronze) at NHK Trophy as well as Alexa Scimeca & Chris Knierim's impressive GP debut in 4th! Also, Lindsay Davis & Mark Ladwig finished 6th at NHK with their best international total score to date.

ETA:
ISU Season Best Total Scores after NHK Trophy - U.S. Senior GP teams:
8 Denney/Coughlin 179.21 at Rostelecom Cup
9 Castelli/Shnapir 174.51 at NHK
14 Scimeca/Knierim 163.10 at NHK
21 Davis/Ladwig 143.70 at NHK
25 Vise/Baldwin 143.15 at Rostelecom Cup
32 Donlan/Speroff 131.26 at Skate America

All fall international scores: http://unseenskaters.wordpress.com/s...-pairs-scores/

[olympic]

It was great to be able to see Marissa Castelli & Simon Shnapir win their first GP medal (bronze) at NHK Trophy as well as Alexa Scimeca & Chris Knierim's impressive GP debut in 4th! Also, Lindsay Davis & Mark Ladwig finished 6th at NHK with their best international total score to date.

ETA:
ISU Season Best Total Scores after NHK Trophy - U.S. Senior GP teams:
8 Denney/Coughlin 179.21 at Rostelecom Cup
9 Castelli/Shnapir 174.51 at NHK
14 Scimeca/Knierim 163.10 at NHK
21 Davis/Ladwig 143.70 at NHK
25 Vise/Baldwin 143.15 at Rostelecom Cup
32 Donlan/Speroff 131.26 at Skate America

All fall international scores: http://unseenskaters.wordpress.com/s...-pairs-scores/

Just to add -

Here's S/K's SP from NHK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iuTCIrDMwM

I'm truly amazed at the height on the 3TW and throw 3F, and how much control and unison they exhibit for the fact that they've only been together since April. The British commentators were funny - 'This is good ... REALLY good'.

Does anyone think they could make the World's team, if you consider how good they are after only 6 - 7 months?

[haribobo]

Does anyone think they could make the World's team, if you consider how good they are after only 6 - 7 months?

Well they're one of only 3 teams to make the Worlds min score, so at worst they'll be first alternate. Right now, C/S are far ahead on PCS and basically equal on TES. I don't envision S/K closing that gap in two months, but if either of the top 2 teams have major meltdowns or become injured, S/K are right there waiting to take advantage...it is scary to though to think that if 2 of these 3 teams get injured, we'll be forced to only send 1 pair to Worlds! Thank goodness for S/K or else we'd be totally devoid of alternates! Although perhaps whichever other teams finish in the top 5 at Nationals will be sent out to an international post-Nationals for one last attempt at the min score...

[olympic]

Well they're one of only 3 teams to make the Worlds min score, so at worst they'll be first alternate. Right now, C/S are far ahead on PCS and basically equal on TES. I don't envision S/K closing that gap in two months, but if either of the top 2 teams have major meltdowns or become injured, S/K are right there waiting to take advantage...it is scary to though to think that if 2 of these 3 teams get injured, we'll be forced to only send 1 pair to Worlds! Thank goodness for S/K or else we'd be totally devoid of alternates! Although perhaps whichever other teams finish in the top 5 at Nationals will be sent out to an international post-Nationals for one last attempt at the min score...

What is the deadline to achieve a minimum score for Worlds (you mention post-Nationals)? What is that score? I assume none of V/B, D/S and D/L have met it?
Sorry for all the questions ...

[DORISPULASKI]

There's always 4CC's, not to mention a Senior B opportunity, before Worlds.

[carriecmu0503]

There's always 4CC's, not to mention a Senior B opportunity, before Worlds.

I'm not sure any of our other pairs have met the minimum required score for 4CC. It is rather scary how shallow the pairs field is in the US!

[haribobo]

TES min for worlds- PAIR SKATING SP 28,00 FS 45,00

[DORISPULASKI]

Fortunately, the 4CC's requirement is not that high:
4cc's Requirements
PAIR SKATING SP 20,00 FS 36,00
Worlds Requirements
PAIR SKATING SP 28,00 FS 45,00

http://www.isuresults.com/results/gprus2012/SEG005.HTM
Vise Baldwin got 22.96 TES in the SP, 50.22 in the LP at CoR
Consequently they are OK for 4CC's and need to hit the TES for Worlds in the SP; however they are OK already for the LP

Donlan & Speroff made the LP requirement for 4CC's & Wolrds at Graz, and I believe they still need the SP for Worlds:
SP 20.03, LP 47.07

Davis & Ladwig,
Skate Canada SP 23.68 for 4CC's
NHK LP 50.62

So all 3 teams are in the same place: needing 28 points TES in the SP to go to Worlds, but all qualified for 4CC's already

[Sylvia]

Felicia Zhang/Nate Bartholomay are also qualified for 4CC based on their Salt Lake Senior B scores.

6 JGP teams have met the 4CC minimums:
Aaron/Settlage
Calalang/Sidhu
H. Denney/Frazier (Senior at Nationals)
Oltmanns/Santillan
Pfund/Reiss
Simpson/Blackmer

[kwanfan1818]

D/S have made the FS score three times this year: at Nebelhorn (51.93), at Skate America (45.54), and at Ice Challenge (47.07), but they really need to up their SP TES (19.39 at Nebelhorn, 19.37 at Skate America, 20.3 at Ice Challenge).

V/B also made the FS minimum each time out this season -- at US International (51.68), at Skate Canada (48.16), and at Rostelecom Cup (50.22), but they are a lot closer in the SP minimum, with 24.41 at Skate Canada (and 22.96 at Skate America, after a very weak SP at USIC, where they scored 18.73).

Zhang/Bartholomay made the FS minimum in their first try at USIC (48.14), and got closer than these two couples to the SP minimum at USIC, which was very early in the season (23.66).

These teams and D/L are very close in range in the FS, with D/S a bit behind in the SP minimum.

At this time, there are no Senior B's listed on the USFS International Assignments page after Ice Challenge, but after US Nationals, it may be necessary.

If USFS wants to announce the team immediately after US Nationals, and one of these teams places second, they have the choice of 1. Going to the first team that has made the minimum by January 2. Making provisional allotments based on 4C's and/or Bavarian Open (running concurrently) or 3. Using the results of 4C's to determine the team at a later date.

There are four Senior B's with Senior Pairs competitions between now and US Nationals, although I haven't checked the entry deadlines for the early December ones, and then only 4C's and the Bavarian Open before Worlds.

[haribobo]

Thanks for the rundown, kwanfan! Not to jinx anyone, but based on how things have been going, I would find it very shocking if a team besides C/S or S/K managed silver at Nationals, unless they were to collide in a warmup and both withdraw or something. Let's hope it doesn't come to that!

[aftershocks]

^^ If Castelli/Shnapir can skate cleanly at Nats with no mistakes, I think they have great programs and can get the silver. Scimeca/Knierim are extremely good together after a short time, but they still need more time to develop better speed and polish. I really like S/K and if they continue to improve I feel they can win Nats gold post Sochi. If only Donlan/Speroff could find a way to nail their jumps, they could fly above C/S and S/K because of their superb line and presentation skills, but unfortunately D/S did not have a great start to this season.

[reese]

^^ If Castelli/Shnapir can skate cleanly at Nats with no mistakes, I think they have great programs and can get the silver. Scimeca/Knierim are extremely good together after a short time, but they still need more time to develop better speed and polish. I really like S/K and if they continue to improve I feel they can win Nats gold post Sochi. If only Donlan/Speroff could find a way to nail their jumps, they could fly above C/S and S/K because of their superb line and presentation skills, but unfortunately D/S did not have a great start to this season.

I think even with mediocre skates (like their LP at NHK), Castelli/Shnapir will be good for silver given their strong fall competitions. I can even see a situation where they contend with Denney/Coughlin for gold, like Marley/Brubaker last year. Even though Marley/Brubaker had rough fall competitions (if I'm remembering correctly, their SkAm LP comes to mind as particularly cringe-wroth), the judges still gave them the GOEs on the elements and the PCS to move them well ahead after the SP. Also, I think Castelli/Shnapir's 61+ SP at NHK was higher than anything D/C have done this yr in an SP?

Scimeca/Knierim are promising, and I think with clean skates they could grab bronze and the final 4CC spot, but I refuse to get my hopes up about this team, mostly because they are dating (very openly), and that doesn't always bode well for long-term, on-ice stability if they ever break up, especially w/ American teams.

I think Donlan/Speroff might end up 4th at Nationals again this year, although I am hoping they can pull off 3rd with clean-ish skates. They are so, so lovely and I hope they see this year, with all the rough skates, as a growing experience and are encouraged to stay together by looking at the kind of results Castelli/Shnapir have finally achieved after many seasons together, including some pretty rough ones. 2 solid fall competitions (SkAm and Graz) and all of a sudden at NHK C/S are getting all 7s and up on the component scores (they jumped from PCS of 52+ in the LP at SkAm to 55+ at NHK with a much weaker skate). Things can turn around quickly.

[stjeaskategym]

2 solid fall competitions (SkAm and Graz) and all of a sudden at NHK C/S are getting all 7s and up on the component scores (they jumped from PCS of 52+ in the LP at SkAm to 55+ at NHK with a much weaker skate). Things can turn around quickly.

C/S are definitely doing well, but I think the NHK scoring was a bit misleading. The field there was especially weak, yet the judges seemed set on giving the medalists typical scores you would see from medalists in a GP, even if the performances were weaker. The bronze came down to C/S and a brand new team that has potential but clearly still needs more time, so I think this helped C/S a bit score-wise at this event.

On another note, it's little strange that it's so easy to get the Worlds minimum TES for the LP, yet quite difficult to get the minimum SP score. You don't necessarily have to skate a good free skate at all to get 45 TES in a LP, but you have to be pretty solid to get a 28 in the SP. I'm curious as to why they made it so lopsided like that.

[DORISPULASKI]

^^ If Castelli/Shnapir can skate cleanly at Nats with no mistakes, I think they have great programs and can get the silver. Scimeca/Knierim are extremely good together after a short time, but they still need more time to develop better speed and polish. I really like S/K and if they continue to improve I feel they can win Nats gold post Sochi. If only Donlan/Speroff could find a way to nail their jumps, they could fly above C/S and S/K because of their superb line and presentation skills, but unfortunately D/S did not have a great start to this season.

I saw D&S at SkAm, and they are noticeably weaker and slower than I expected, and sadly I found them much less enchanting than I do when they are on TV. So it isn't just the jumps they need-they need some basic skating skills stuff.

[hippychick]

Having seen D/S live at both Skate America and last years nationals, they looked very nervous at Skate America which may have attributed to them skating soo much slower and looking very weak in general. They certainly did not look anything at all like they looked in the official practices. They looked much stronger at last year's Nationals and skated with speed and power.

I really hope they are using this time to work on their DS. They have only received credit for it once - and that was at Skate America. Their sp would be a masterpiece if it was skated cleanly and with power and conviction. It is one of the best choreographed programs I have seen from an American team this year.

IIRC Donlan and Speroff started off roughly last year and were not even offered an international at all, not even a Senior B. Hopefully they can use their team mates C/S as an example of what a long term team can achieve if they stick it out together. As far as the Broadmoor teams - they always start out extremely strong and show tons of potential, however they seem to disintegrate as soon as things get a lttle bit tough. I hope this trend has changed, but it is hard for me to get too excited about those teams who head straight for the top, at some point every team will face adversity, and it seems more difficult for US teams to weather the storm when times get tough. Just my opinion.

[kwanfan1818]

That's good to know, hippychick, because I saw D/S the first time at SA after liking them a lot on video, and I thought the same as Doris.

[hippychick]

Yes, they definitely skated with more speed and power at Nationals then they did at Skate America. That being said, they do have their work cut out for them this season. They have seemed a little "off kilter" all season long. Hopefully they will get back on track by Nationals!

[Skittl1321]

If anyone is interested Leng/LeDuc are skating in a show in Eastern Iowa this weekend.
More information is available at the club page: http://eifscorg.ipower.com/eifsc/

(Not affiliated, and sadly can't go)