US Pairs 2012-13 news & updates

[rfisher]

Todd Sand and Jenni Meno will coach 4 teams at the Los Angeles Open in mid-July: Marley/Brubaker, Jessica Calalang/Zack Sidhu (JGP-eligible), Chelsea Liu/Devin Perini (novice champs, now junior), and Lianna Thomas/David Botero (new novice team).

Jessica Pfund/AJ Reiss (JGP-eligible), coached by Peter Oppegard, are also making their season debut at LA Open, along with Elise Middleton/Robert Hennings, who are staying Novice (they were 5th in Novice at 2012 Nationals).

ETA: Christina "Divette" Zaitsev/Ernie Utah Stevens (4th in Novice at Nationals, JGP-eligible) will skate their Junior programs in exhibition at a competition in Troy, Ohio the same weekend as LA Open.

@KiriBaga tweeted today:

Divaette and Utah! I so hope these two kids stay together. Such potential.

[Sylvia]

I've started an Indy Challenge competition thread in the 2012-13 Kiss and Cry forum: http://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/showthread.php?t=84192

It looks like Dalilah Sappenfield's and Meno/Sand's teams are electing not to compete at Indy this year.

For those who want to watch the exhibition programs of Yankowskas/Reagan (starting around the 21:30 min. mark) and Marley/Brubaker (26:00 min. mark) at last month's "Skate for Hope," video of the entire show is now up at IceNetwork: http://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/show...73#post3613473

[carriemarie]

I've started an Indy Challenge competition thread in the 2012-13 Kiss and Cry foruym: http://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/showthread.php?t=84192

It looks like Dalilah Sappenfield's and Meno/Sand's teams are electing not to compete at Indy this year.

For those who want to watch the exhibition programs of Yankowskas/Reagan (starting around the 21:30 min. mark) and Marley/Brubaker (26:00 min. mark) at last month's "Skate for Hope," video of the entire show is now up at IceNetwork: http://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/show...73#post3613473

Thanks Sylvia...Not a great "start" for Caitlin and Josh: 2 throw sal, fall on 2 toe, shaky "standing still" simple Swan lift, I can see why they aren't competing at Indy now...I predict a withdrawal from Skate Detroit with Camp Delilah showing up in force.

[icemusings]

I just posted my interview with Junior Pair team De la Mora and Wilson who will make their season debut at Liberty: http://icemusings.blogspot.com/2012/...rnational.html

[Wyliefan]

ETA: Christina "Divette" Zaitsev/Ernie Utah Stevens (4th in Novice at Nationals, JGP-eligible) will skate their Junior programs in exhibition at a competition in Troy, Ohio the same weekend as LA Open.

Her nickname is "Divette"? Really?? I've got to hear how that came about!

[Sylvia]

Her nickname is "Divette"? Really?? I've got to hear how that came about!

Just checked the 2012 U.S. Nationals Novice Pairs play-by-play thread in the FSU Archives, and it looks like rfisher first nicknamed Zaitsev/Stevens "Utah and Divaette" (Utah is Stevens' middle name) and oleada used "Divette." So which should we go with - "Divaette" or "Divette"?

ETA: Thanks for the Brianna de la Mora/Taylor Wilson interview, icemusings!

[Clarice]

I think "Divette" flows better.

[Wyliefan]

Agreed!

But what I want to know is, why? In a sport full of divas to begin with, you must have to do something really spectacular to get that moniker tacked onto you.

[rfisher]

because she is a diva in training. Exquisite lines and carriage. And who could not want to call Ernie Stevens Utah? I will be crushed if they split apart.

[shan]

because she is a diva in training. Exquisite lines and carriage. And who could not want to call Ernie Stevens Utah? I will be crushed if they split apart.

Same here.

I'm glad the Divette nickname didn't fall by the wayside.

[Rochelle]

I'll have to let Christina know that her nickname of Divette is sticking. She's a relatively chill kid off the ice.

Ernie Utah will be starting college at Butler this fall (about a 15 minute drive from their training rink), and Christina's parents coach them... so barring the unforseeable injury / growth spurt / quitting / meltdown / partner struggling w/ learning triples / etc. circumstances, I imagine their partnership still has life remaining in it.

[shan]

I'll have to let Christina know that her nickname of Divette is sticking. She's a relatively chill kid off the ice.

Ernie Utah will be starting college at Butler this fall (about a 15 minute drive from their training rink), and Christina's parents coach them... so barring the unforseeable injury / growth spurt / quitting / meltdown / partner struggling w/ learning triples / etc. circumstances, I imagine their partnership still has life remaining in it.

[Sylvia]

Speaking of Ernie Utah Stevens , here's a nice blurb that was published about him in his high school newspaper last month when he graduated from Trinity High School in Louisville, KY: http://my.hsj.org/Schools/Newspaper/...blic_Bank.aspx

And here's another article from the same source in March 2011 about his training/commuting schedule, his transition from singles to pairs, and his Juvenile and Intermediate level success with "Divette" in spite of his broken toe before Intermediate Nationals in November 2010: http://my.hsj.org/Schools/Newspaper/...g_back_up.aspx

[Rochelle]

I'm pretty sure the most recent article listed is going off of somewhat old information (it is a high school publication, but hey, the first article was better than many of the articles we come across ):

"In 2011, the pair placed fourth nationally at the intermediate level and are competing at the novice level for 2012."
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That's kinda true... they did compete at the Novice level for the 2012 Nationals where they placed 4th. But those were in January. The rest of 2012 the expectation is that they'll compete in the Junior level. (Entered in Junior at Troy, and Indy Challenge - -as well as added to the ISP (International Selection Pool)). They will take their junior test in August.

[Sylvia]

Thanks, Rochelle! Stevens mentioned the "2012 Junior Olympics in Austria" as a goal in the March 2011 article -- I assume he meant the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck, but it turned out they weren't eligible to be selected because they competed at the Novice level in the 2011-12 season (not sure they were age-eligible in any case?).

Zhang/Bartholomay [SP video from Summer Chiller competition]: http://www.news-press.com/videonetwo...te-Bartholomay

I've learned their SP music is from the film soundtrack of Cocoon.

[icelover]

Has anyone seen the pairs events at the LA Open?

[mgobluegirl]

Has anyone seen the pairs events at the LA Open?

There have been some tweets posted here: https://twitter.com/DougMattis

[icelover]

There have been some tweets posted here: https://twitter.com/DougMattis

Thanks very much!

[Skittl1321]

Tim LeDuc posted on fb today he is signed up for Indy. Does anyone know who he is skating with?

[Sylvia]

Tim LeDuc posted on fb today he is signed up for Indy. Does anyone know who he is skating with?

Looks like DeeDee Leng! She won the 2009 U.S. junior ladies title at the age of 15. Leng, now 18, last competed in the fall of 2009 (JGP in Lake Placid) and then withdrew from the rest of that season due to a back injury.