U.S. Ice Dance 2017/18 season news & updates

Congratulations to Maddie and Zack for a terrific performance at NHK. I really enjoyed their interpretation of the free dance music. This is the right vehicle for them this year. Each week of the Grand Prix ice dance competition gets more and more exciting!
 
These are the dance teams listed in the official practice groups for the 3 Sectionals happening later this week (starting orders have yet to be posted):

SENIOR
E (3): J Biechler/D Dodge, C Klopstock/J Schedl, E Reynolds/S Reynolds
M (2): A Aldridge/D Eaton, K Manta/J Johnson
P: none

JUNIOR [bye to Nationals: Carreira/Ponomorenko]
E (6): C Chen/YS Jin, C Green/G Green (2 JGP), E Gropman/I Somerville (2 JGP), E Gunter/C Wein (2 JGP), D Popova/C Colucci, A Rose/JT Michel
M (6): I Amoia/L Becker (1 JGP), K DelCamp/M Gart, S Elder/C Elder (1 JGP), N Fey/C Niva, A Nguyen/V Kolesnik (2 JGP), C Purnell/L Purnell
P (4): M Cesanek/N Usanov, A Efimova/A Petrov, J Haines/J Koszuta, C Lewis/L Bye (2 JGP) [A Miller/D Tsarik-he’s listed on icepartnersearch.com as of 11/7]

NOVICE
E (5): O Brown/G Brown, J Lin/M Sletten, A Pettersson/TJ Carey, O Sebastiani/D Berry, E Tkachenko/A Kiliakov
M (8): I Blahunka/W Shawver, E Bratti/J Wang, P Brylakova/D Brylakov, I Flores/M Gumba, A Nicklas/M Ryan, S Talbot/R O’Donnell, S Udell/G Udell, K Wolfkostin/H Zhao
P (6): G Buckley/J Chen, ME Cordova/R Walter, C Liu/K Slevira, C Pride/B Lawless, B Taylor/T Vollmer, M Weatherby/D Bogomol

INTERMEDIATE
E (5): H Arruda/C Alexandra, C Cain/A Davydov, N Efimova/J Zhao, A Gissibl/A Colucci, M Soldatova/F Soldatov
M (6): C Brennan/W Thorne, M Brown/M Driscoll, SL Case/B Christensen, A Johnson/M Zharkov, HN Lassiter/L Anderson, E Peal/E Peal
P (8): I Alexis/E Alday, A Fortman/H Sokol, S Foti/C Bennett, K Gerhardt/A Gerhardt, I Hagan/S Hagan, R Koncius/D Ayers, A Ortiz/C Ramsey, K Schaub/A Haddad

JUVENILE
E (11): G Brandt/A Novojilov, A Flanagan/R Polcz, J Gearin/C Cox, M Halim/N Lafornara, J Hauer/B Starr, O Ilin/D Cain, J Lanata/W Annis, E L’Esperance/M Amdour, C Mullen/B Mullen, AS O’Brien/S Wei, M Shackett/K Eckert
M (7): K Bland/G Francis, S Chaseley/A Bell, A Clift/M Krueger, G Forret/J Gillette, B Golomb/S Weirens, R Rodriguez Avellan/R Rodriguez Avellan, A Weishaus/L Sainte-Marie
P (4): V Chunikhin/M Korotcov, J Epps/B Gilman, J Newton/E Mullins, Z Sensenbrenner/M Sperry
 
If you have an Icenetwork subscription I think they show all levels of sectionals live. They definitely have live results for every event.

I do not have a subscription for ICenetwork..I did it for 1 yr & all I got to see was us sectionals..(from Canada) all else was blocked so I never continued on. I will be able to see the results so I will watch for that.
Thanks for the info.
 
Judy Blumberg is on the tech panel judging Logan and Chloe in Pacific Sectionals Junior Ice Dance. Judy is their former coach - first coach i believe. How is it fair to other Junior ice dancers?
 
I would like to believe that Judy Blumberg is a professional and will do her job fairly along with the 2 other people on the technical panel. All 4 Junior dance teams will advance from Pacific Coasts due to Miller/Tsarik's withdrawal (likely split noted above).

The 2017 Intermediate Dance pewter medalist sibling team of Maria Soldatova & Faddey Soldatov are listed as withdrawn in the Easterns Int. PD results today. :(
 
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I would like to believe that Judy Blumberg is a professional and will do her job fairly along with the 2 other people on the technical panel.
I don't doubt she's fair, but she's also human. Humans have biases, even even we would prefer not to have them. At best, it casts doubt on perfectly fair results. At worst, she is either biased or over-corrects for her bias and skews the result.
 
I don't doubt she's fair, but she's also human. Humans have biases, even even we would prefer not to have them. At best, it casts doubt on perfectly fair results. At worst, she is either biased or over-corrects for her bias and skews the result.
Totally agree. It is unfair not only to other Juniors but to Chloe and Logan as well. It casts a doubt on their scores as well.
 
Well, I have a lot of respect for Judy Blumberg and if I was a coach or parent of a young dance team, I would welcome the opportunity to have her being a technical controller and getting her input on programs and skating skills.
 
Well, I have a lot of respect for Judy Blumberg and if I was a coach or parent of a young dance team, I would welcome the opportunity to have her being a technical controller and getting her input on programs and skating skills.

Ditto. She is tough, and I think it is better for the U.S. dance teams to know the score before they head off into international competition.

Really, at Pacific Coast Sectionals there is no one close to Lewis & Bye's level. If they muck up like last season, they will get the deductions no matter what. If they skate well, no one can catch them. I know there are always people who want to compare scores across events, but it's folly. The other three teams here are well worth watching, but L&B control their own destiny.
 
Ditto. She is tough, and I think it is better for the U.S. dance teams to know the score before they head off into international competition.

Really, at Pacific Coast Sectionals there is no one close to Lewis & Bye's level. If they muck up like last season, they will get the deductions no matter what. If they skate well, no one can catch them. I know there are always people who want to compare scores across events, but it's folly. The other three teams here are well worth watching, but L&B control their own destiny.
It's unethical to judge your own team, the team you has been closely involved with - period. It does not matter how well or not well L&B or other teams skate. It's does not matter if they all make it to the nationals. This sport, highly subjective, should stay fair in appearance. This is an obvious example of USFSA not caring about fairness of the result and allowing someone with clear conflict of interest to judge the competition.
 
This is the current USFS Rule:

2100 Qualifying Competitions – Officials
2110 Assignment Restrictions
2111 A relative of a competitor shall not be permitted to referee, judge, serve on the technical panel or act as an accountant in any competitive event in which the competitor is entered. Persons married or closely related to a competitor or paid coach in figure skating shall not be permitted to serve as a referee, judge, technical panel member or an accountant in any event in which the competitor or pupil of the paid coach is entered. Persons shall be considered a pupil for 12 months after the last day of receiving coaching.


IMO, people who feel very strongly on this topic should try and get support from others who can assist in getting the rule changed/modified.
 
This is the current USFS Rule:

2100 Qualifying Competitions – Officials
2110 Assignment Restrictions
2111 A relative of a competitor shall not be permitted to referee, judge, serve on the technical panel or act as an accountant in any competitive event in which the competitor is entered. Persons married or closely related to a competitor or paid coach in figure skating shall not be permitted to serve as a referee, judge, technical panel member or an accountant in any event in which the competitor or pupil of the paid coach is entered. Persons shall be considered a pupil for 12 months after the last day of receiving coaching.


IMO, people who feel very strongly on this topic should try and get support from others who can assist in getting the rule changed/modified.
This is also from the USFSA rules: ''An indirect conflict of interest could arise through any personal, family or financial relationship that could be perceived as a conflict of interest. This includes any situation that has the potential to undermine the impartiality of a person.''

I do not believe that the current rules do not cover the situation.
 
Re-posting trivia on the sibling team in 4th after the Juvenile PD at Mids from the U.S. Sectionals thread in Kiss & Cry...

Rhiannon & Rogue Rodriguez Avellan are the younger kids of the film director Robert Rodriguez and his ex-wife Elizabeth Avellan. Their older brothers, Racer and Rebel, both competed at 2015 Nationals in Intermediate and Juvenile Dance, respectively (I don't believe either is still ice dancing?).
Does anyone know why Soldatov siblings withdrew? Withdraws at Sectionals are heartbreaking.
I know, I'm sad they withdrew. :( I looked up how old they are - Maria is 10 (will turn 11 next May) and Faddey will be 12 in January. Their first Nationals as a Juvenile team was in 2015.
 
They are first after the pattern dances last evening.Free dance is this am.
Weishaus/Sainte-Marie skated their FD to "Cotton-Eyed Joe" and won Mids! The Rodriguez Avellan siblings ended up as the 5th place team (1st alternate to Nationals from Mids).

Mids Juvenile Dance final standings: http://www.usfigureskating.org/leaderboard/results/2018/25074/CAT007SEG015.html

ETA:

Easterns Juvenile Dance final standings: http://www.usfigureskating.org/leaderboard/results/2018/25073/CAT016SEG031.html
The 3rd place team of Olivia Ilin & Dylan Cain skated a really cute program to "Rockin' Robin." :D
 
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I don't doubt she's fair, but she's also human. Humans have biases, even even we would prefer not to have them. At best, it casts doubt on perfectly fair results. At worst, she is either biased or over-corrects for her bias and skews the result.
I totally agree! also going to a competition, you want to believe that the panel is totally impartial.... Well in this case, as good as Judy can be.... She brought up those kids, they were her babies as Laura111 said it !
 
Didn't someone write earlier this thread that those on the tech panel have to be coaches or be individuals of a similar standing? I think that in itself sort of creates the problem, especially for smaller federations when the pool is smaller.
 
In this small world of ice dancing is it possible to even have a panel of high quality callers and judges completely unrelated or have no ties to any participants?
I mean someone like me won't have ties but I have no training in ice dancing to be a good judge. Is it possible to bring in panels without ties, without compromising quality ( i.e. Because the most knowledgeable ones probably have ties to some skaters) and without costing a fortune (to bring in panels from overseas or people who normally won't travel there )
 
I am so impressed by Julia Biechler. In the last couple of years, she has been competing in junior ladies and has skated well enough to qualify for Sectionals. Meanwhile her ice dancing with Damian Dodge has kept up and even improved. It's hard enough to train and compete in one discipline but two! Given the glut of talent in US ice dancing nowadays, she and Dodge have but a slim chance to get to high level international competitions, but they continue to put out enthusiastic, well performed programs. It must be out of love for the sport.
 
I am so impressed by Julia Biechler. In the last couple of years, she has been competing in junior ladies and has skated well enough to qualify for Sectionals.
Just a small nitpick :): Biechler received a bye to Easterns in Junior Ladies because she competed with Dodge at Finlandia Trophy the week before her Regionals. However, she had one of the top club competition scores this season in her region and could very well have qualified had she competed at South Atlantics.

(@Dobre, would you like to cross-post your Easterns dance thoughts in this thread?)
 
Junior Free Dances:

Green & Green FD 80.54 Total 142.69
Looking a lot more confident in this FD than earlier this season & on the JGP. Still a sticky spot after she flips in over his head on the one lift. Always makes me wonder if she is going to be able to get into the next position. Otherwise, skated free, fast, & with more fluidity that earlier this year.

Gropman & Somerville FD 73.50 Total 129.20
She missed the double twizzle right off the bat in the footwork. (No replay to watch again, but that's what it looked like upon one viewing). I like this program for them very much--a lot more than their SD, but not their best skate this season.

Gunter & Wein FD 71.23 Total 126.38
Looked fine. They didn't look thrilled afterward but did the job.

My apologies to team #4. I just remembered at the last minute to log in and somehow missed their skate.


Senior Free Dances:

Biechler & Dodge FD 89.38 Total 149.18
:) Really like the choreographic twizzle section in the middle. Love the beginning. Think the end works for the program. Wish they could scrap the Spell On You lyrics. Really, two sets of lyrics ought to be enough. Think I could really love this program if it wasn't for the sinking feeling I get every time the middle song starts. Very nice beginning. Felt like they got to the end a little early and were waiting for the music to catch up.

Reynolds & Reynolds FD 73.20 Total 119.05
Nice to see this program skated well here.

Klopstock & Schedl FD 61.70 Total 100.43
The free had some iffy moments, but I think they--her, in particular--have some nice movement in the SD.
 

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