2012-13 U.S. JGP Assignment Predictions/Speculation/Discussion

[pinky166]

It seems it was obvious to everyone but USFS that Jiang, Baga and Cain didn't really have a chance to medal.

I mean I can somehow understand Cain getting a spot given she was Junior silver medallist but the other two... My imagination could maybe stretch to Baga being deserving enough but given Jiang's summer outings... WTF!

Long could have made the final.

I think, well, sending Jiang made sending Keiser less controversial, and while after this summer Jiang didn't deserve an event, last season she and Leah probably both deserved an event but neither got one because they foolishly sent Dinh and Daniels out after having terrible summer competition results, and Kulgeyko who was coming off an injury and is pretty inconsistent to begin with, and gave Ashley cain a second assignment after she placed 6th at her first. So I think Jiang's assignment was more a reward for her skating well last season (at sectionals, nationals, and over the summer - 2011 summer that is), but really her assignment came a season too late. As for Cain, maybe they were hoping her Nationals performance was indicative of how she'd usually skate? I sort of feel like she had the SOHL in the FS at Nationals last season and that coupled with most of the other contenders being slightly off (Miller, Long, Bell, Edmunds) allowed her to come in 2nd, and that under normal circumstances, she wouldn't place or score that high. Year after year they do this, send out girls who haven't been skating well during the summer because they placed well at Nationals or skated well the prior season, then either not get a chance to assign girls who really deserve to go, or send them to one of the last events, only to have them medal but not have time to get a 2nd assignment and a shot to qualify for the JGPF.

That being said, USFS only reassigned girls who medaled at their first event which I think is fair. Cain and Lam deserved their initial assignments but their placements/scores didn't warrant a 2nd assignment but neither got one so I don't have issues with that. All the girls who got 2nd assignments medaled at their first events, so I think that is fine. Kiri and Nina, I agree, this season probably didn't deserve a JGP, and had they not been sent Barbie could have gotten a 2nd event and someone like Edmunds or Bell could have gotten a 1st which I would have liked to see. But more likely even if Kiri and Nina hadn't been given assignments we probably wouldn't see Bell or Edmunds get an event because it seems like USFS didn't want to pick between them, and Barbie might not even have gotten a 2nd due to how late she was assigned to her 1st, meaning the last two spots would have likely been given to Lam and Cain, who I don't think were really any more deserving of 2nd assignments than Baga and Jiang were initial assignments.

[jlai]

I don't agree with many of USFS assignments, but I think their assignments for JGP ladies this season are quire reasonable (with fewest questionable picks), and there were some improvements re: second JGPs. I wish a couple of girls did senior Bs instead to free up slots for Bell and Edmunds, but I don't know if there's a way in the short term for USFS to do anything about that.

Now, Skate America host picks for ladies, I wish they'd wait until end of summer to decide. (And I wish they'd spread the senior Bs around a bit more)

[chipso1]

It seems it was obvious to everyone but USFS that Jiang, Baga and Cain didn't really have a chance to medal.

I mean I can somehow understand Cain getting a spot given she was Junior silver medallist but the other two... My imagination could maybe stretch to Baga being deserving enough but given Jiang's summer outings... WTF!

Long could have made the final.

Kiri was 10th in senior at Nationals in 2012, and had good results this summer. I think she deserved her assignment. She actually skated pretty well in a tough field at Lake Placid.

[mgobluegirl]

Kiri was 10th in senior at Nationals in 2012, and had good results this summer. I think she deserved her assignment. She actually skated pretty well in a tough field at Lake Placid.

And scored pretty well too. She had a respectable showing, she deserved her spot.

[Ziggy]

Kiri was 10th in senior at Nationals in 2012, and had good results this summer. I think she deserved her assignment. She actually skated pretty well in a tough field at Lake Placid.

Better results this summer than Edmunds and Long?

[jlai]

Lam had great showing in the summer but hardly did better than Cain and Baga in JGP. Had USFS skipped a skater for someone else and that person did poorly, USFS would have never heard the end of it.

I often disagree with USFS assignments, but unless tptb designates one summer event where talented girls can compete for remaining spots, I don't see how USFS can politically skip over Kiri, who has had respectable results over the summer. (Having seen her nationals short program last year where she did one foot footwork that covered a great length of ice, I think Kiri has the skating skills for senior assignments. Jumps need work though)

[chipso1]

Better results this summer than Edmunds and Long?

While Edmunds put up some impressive numbers early on, she was only credited with 1 clean triple jump in her FS at the Salt Lake City Challenge Skate, amassing a sub-90 score.

Barbie Long, with a 3Lz+3T in both programs, only outscored Kiri on the JGP by 4.97 points (Barbie = 147.19 in Bled; Kiri = 142.22 in Lake Placid).

[Ziggy]

Baga and Cain I can understand. But Jiang getting an assignment was a disgrace, given she has skated badly all Summer.

[pinky166]

Lam had great showing in the summer but hardly did better than Cain and Baga in JGP. Had USFS skipped a skater for someone else and that person did poorly, USFS would have never heard the end of it.

Kiri actually scored higher than Ashley AND Vanessa in her JGP. Lam may have placed 4th to Kiri's 5th, but in terms of total score Kiri's was around 2 points higher. Provides some perspective. Anyways, Lam was good in Silicone Valley but she had trouble with her SP at Glacier Falls and then I thought her score was far too high in the FS for the mistakes she made. She was only attempting 6 triples to begin with, and given that her jumps are so small and she flutzes, with the 2-3 jump errors she made in that program, her score of around 107 seemed far too high. Internationally, Lam's PCS aren't great (usually high 5s to low 6s) but domestically her PCS are always a lot higher, which partially explains why she doesn't place so well internationally despite so many people expecting her to.

[smarts1]

Looks like Leah suffered from nerves a bit today.

So does this mean that the JGPF qualifiers are (in order of points): 1. Radionova
2. Anna Pogorilaya
3. Angela Wang
4. Satoko Miyahara
5. Hannah Miller
6. Leah Keiser

Alternates:
1. Hae Jin Kim
2. Courtney Hicks
3. Miyabi Oba

[euterpe]

Looks like Leah suffered from nerves a bit today.

So does this mean that the JGPF qualifiers are (in order of points): 1. Radionova
2. Anna Pogorilaya
3. Angela Wang
4. Satoko Miyahara
5. Hannah Miller
6. Leah Keiser

Alternates:
1. Hae Jin Kim
2. Courtney Hicks
3. Miyabi Oba

WANG is the second qualifier, Pogorilaya third: they both have 11+15, but Wang's total points are 313.05 to Pogo's 306.06. Miyahara is also 11+15 with 305.01 total points.