U.S. Pairs 2018 - News & Updates, Part VIII

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As of today, I see 3 splits in Junior and 1 in Novice of the teams that competed at 2018 Nationals, with 1 of the partners currently listed on IPS.

Jonah Barrett is turning 21 at the end of this month and is aging out of ISU Junior. He and Elli Kopmar, 14, were each other's first partners and had 4 very productive seasons together -- Intermediate & Novice titles, Junior silver medalists last year and J5 this season, plus 1 JGP this past fall (7th in BLR). Elli competed very successfully in Juvenile singles this season as well.

Eliana Secunda, 18, is also listed on IPS; Boulder, Colorado is her location. She and Blake Eisenach competed from the Intermediate (silver in 2016) to the Junior level nationally (10th this year). They qualified for USFS' International Selection Pool this past summer.

Ian Meyh, who will be 18 in May, paired up with Sarah Rose in Ellenton, FL, in 2017 and they placed 7th in Junior (Rose is not listed on IPS; she previously skated with Joseph Goodpaster who retired last year to attend college -- a highlight for them was competing at the 2016 Youth Olympic Games in Norway).

Hilary Asher will turn 17 in May and she placed 5th in Novice with Nathaniel Dennler (he is enrolled in college in Boston, IIRC). She wants to stay with the Cains in Dallas, Texas, according to her IPS profile.
 
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jkl said:
Junior Pairs skater, Jonah Barrett, is on icepartnersearch.
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Ugh, I really liked Elli and Jonah but along with the age thing, I think she's also getting too tall for him. They really did have a pretty great career together and I wish them both all the best. I wish they had won a medal in San Jose since its now their last Nationals as a team. :( #TeamFlorida
 
Kristopher Ogren is another male Junior Pair skater on icepartnersearch
 
Even though I wish the US had more than one pair going to complete at the winter Olympics in Korea this year, it's exciting to see numbers two through four with the chance to perform and maybe earn medals at the Four Continents! My wife and I went to this event when it was in Colorado Springs and it was such a thrill to see Caydee Denney and her partner skate with grace, elegance, and flair. Too bad they lost to the young Chinese with their cute "ho-down" program.

Denney and Coughlin really inspired a wave of great pairs teams in the US, even if they aren't winning big international events I think there is a lot of up and coming talent and I hope to see it shine later this week!
 
Just love how these parody accounts pop up during the Olympic season! :D

Looks like USFS is planning to send 2 junior pairs to the Bavarian Open in Oberstdorf, Germany -- Lockley/Prochnow and Nadine Wang/Spencer Howe have appeared on a preliminary entries list online (though not yet confirmed by USFS). The latter team is the 2nd alternate for Junior Worlds and they need the required ISU minimum scores in their international debut together.
 
jkl said:
Kristopher Ogren is another male Junior Pair skater on icepartnersearch
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That’s a shame. I think he and Grace were nice together, although she was probably a bit tall for him.

He’s strong though and he can jump, so let’s hope he can find a girl the right size and age for him.
 
nimi said:
According to Jackie Wong, Cain/LeDuc's 66.76 is the best American pair SP score of the season so far in international competition.

And after all the posts lamenting US pairs' sbs woes, all 3 of them land their triples with no URs and no -GOE! :cheer:

C/LD 3Lo 5.90
"Kanye/Oshea" (lol 4cc graphics) 3S 4.50
S/B 3T 4.70

http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1718/fc2018/fc2018_Pairs_SP_Scores.pdf
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I watched the pairs when I got hime last night... I couldn't believe it,... I was like holy Crap are they gonna be in first after the SP!!!!!!!!

I have noticed improvements in their twist big time... jumps were finally there.. I am in love with their lines.....

C&L had all +GOE

As I look at protocols there were no falls in the entire SP!!!

My other favorite.... The Aussies... the more I watch them tho the more it seems like they are skating because they have to. I dont see any joy from her ever... With him I do... But I hope I dont lose interest in them because I feel like Im not being drawn into their skating anymore... :(
 
AngieNikodinovLove said:
I watched the pairs when I got hime last night... I couldn't believe it,... I was like holy Crap are they gonna be in first after the SP!!!!!!!!

I have noticed improvements in their twist big time... jumps were finally there.. I am in love with their lines.....

My other favorite.... The Aussies... the more I watch them tho the more it seems like they are skating because they have to. I dont see any joy from her ever... With him I do... But I hope I dont lose interest in them because I feel like Im not being drawn into their skating anymore... :(
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I have to agree about Ashley and Tim. That was a pleasant surprise. I actually wasn't surprised the three US teams landed their sbs as they are probably our 3 best jumping teams, but good for them anyway.
I thought the PRK team was very good. The aussies are a little dull to me, but skated very well.
 
This was Jacob Simon's last year of ISU Junior age eligibility (he turns 21 in March).
 
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AKA said:
Agreed...they both looked unhappy. Is it his age?
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Probably just a mismatched partnership? I doubt it's him or her. They clearly just didn't gel that well together. And they probably knew that going into Nationals... I think they will probably both find new partners.
 
Sad there are so many breakups...lots this year and with strong skaters. At least 4 from junior this year? A few from senior/novice?
 
AKA said:
Sad there are so many breakups...lots this year and with strong skaters. At least 4 from junior this year? A few from senior/novice?
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It's pretty standard. Juniors break up a lot. A few were due to age/growth. It's hard to predict how someone will grow when they are young. Lots of junior pair skaters that were successful find new partners and are great in senior (Nate, Ashley, Rockne, John Coughlin, Jeremy Barrett etc. etc. etc. had good junior careers with different partners)
 
Jayar said:
Which juniors called it quits?
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Post #123 lists most of them. I think the most notable was Kopmar/Barrett (4th in 2018, 2nd in 2017 in junior, novice and intermediate champions).

He ages out of junior and she's 14 and seems to be growing a bit too tall for him
 
Cleo1782 said:
Probably just a mismatched partnership? I doubt it's him or her. They clearly just didn't gel that well together. And they probably knew that going into Nationals... I think they will probably both find new partners.
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Both him and Yao are nice skaters, but they had negative chemistry with each other.

Cleo1782 said:
It's pretty standard. Juniors break up a lot. A few were due to age/growth. It's hard to predict how someone will grow when they are young. Lots of junior pair skaters that were successful find new partners and are great in senior (Nate, Ashley, Rockne, John Coughlin, Jeremy Barrett etc. etc. etc. had good junior careers with different partners)
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Yes they did. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FauZ4ix55ak This is still one of my favorite pair programs of all time. I can't believe nobody's reused the music.

I'm still in such a good mood from the pair performances yesterday.
 
wickedwitch said:
Both him and Yao are nice skaters, but they had negative chemistry with each other.


Yes they did. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FauZ4ix55ak This is still one of my favorite pair programs of all time. I can't believe nobody's reused the music.

I'm still in such a good mood from the pair performances yesterday.
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John Coughlin had a lot of good partners. I think Namiotka grew too tall. I don't believe she ever skated pairs again. She was all legs!
Another really great partnership that ended due to height was Chau/Tanovich. They won junior in 2009, but he was not very tall and she grew. Unfortunately, neither skated pairs again.

The pairs were great yesterday!
 
I watched John's performance, is it just me or is there no twist in that program? :confused:
I tried looking for it and couldn't find it.

Agree that Yao/Simon's breakup was predictable. Hopefully the both find good partners.

Great job by US pairs for nailing some side by side jumps today in their short program, keep it up!

Read Santillan's blog post, sounds like he had some nerves in the LP, do elite skaters work with sports psychologists?
 
pairskatingfan said:
I watched John's performance, is it just me or is there no twist in that program? :confused:
I tried looking for it and couldn't find it.

Agree that Yao/Simon's breakup was predictable. Hopefully the both find good partners.

Great job by US pairs for nailing some side by side jumps today in their short program, keep it up!

Read Santillan's blog post, sounds like he had some nerves in the LP, do elite skaters work with sports psychologists?
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They did a 3tw toward the end of the program.
A lot of elite skaters use sport psychologists. I wouldn't know if Josh does or not though.
 
insideedgeua said:
Sadly this one is no surprise. They looked miserable at Nationals, despite some nice qualities.
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Alexandra Yao and Jacob Simon were not well-matched, although I can see the impulse to try if Yao was available, but not if she split up with her former partner Hale in order to try out with Simon. I thought Yao was better with Hale (albeit still lacking in expression and needing seasoning). And Simon had a deep connection with Lindsay Weinstein. I don't know the issues which caused the former break-ups. Alas. Good luck to them all for finding what they are seeking.

Cleo1782 said:
I actually wasn't surprised the three US teams landed their sbs as they are probably our 3 best jumping teams, but good for them anyway.
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Yes, that's the same thing I was going to say. :) When these three teams are healthy and at their best, they can land their jumps (Danny is one of the best male pairs partners and a winning former singles skaters). K/O were always consistent technically, until their recent setbacks. It's nice to see K/O recovering so well and putting out good performances. Deanna is amazing and known to have good technical abilities as a singles skater, and Nathan was good with Felicia Zhang, and now he's obviously overjoyed to be paired with a strong technical and artistic skater in Deanna. Cain/LeDuc are also strong technically with backgrounds as singles skaters, plus they have excellent chemistry as the recent articles on them have highlighted:
shared by @allezfred in Cain/LeDuc fan thread: https://europeonice.com/2018/01/03/cain-and-leduc-finding-that-perfect-moment/
shared by @clairecloutier back in November: https://www.dallasvoice.com/breaking-the-ice-10245465.html

C/L especially looked inspired in their sp, and much sharper and precise technically. Their comeback showing at Nationals in their fp seems to have boosted their confidence and renewed their drive to improve. The throw jump was high and landed well by Ashley. They are both good performers too which enhances their skating. I thought that Deanna/Nate suffered in the marks a bit due to having to skate early. They deserved a bit higher I think: closer to at least 63+ I think (but the judges do tend to want to save scores for later teams, and S/B are not as well known internationally). While Deanna landed forward on the throw, they skated well, if a bit cautiously. It was obvious Deanna was unhappy with her forward landing knowing it would take away precious points. She's a fighter. I mean these pairs girls are all amazing fighters! Alexa, Ashley, Haven, Tarah, and Deanna, et al. Good luck to all three teams in the fp!

wickedwitch said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FauZ4ix55ak This is still one of my favorite pair programs of all time. I can't believe nobody's reused the music.
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Thanks for sharing. I never saw Bridget and John skate together. John with hair, and he looks so young. :)

pairskatingfan said:
I watched John's performance, is it just me or is there no twist in that program? :confused:
I tried looking for it and couldn't find it.
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It went by fairly fast, but it was there. Scroll to about 2:15 for entry into what looked like a throw 3-twist. It did not get amazing height, but the rotations were quick, and John seemed to just launch Bridqet quickly and easily, although the catch was not completely clean. It was so quick, it looked like a triple but I'm not certain. Decent for a junior team.

Here are Bridget and John at U.S. Nationals (2007):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsufPZZ6Ftc

Apparently, Bridget was one of Hamash Gaman's numerous partners:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhbfXtSYEvI

Hamash had several North American partners: Caitlin, Bridget, and even briefly Vanessa James.
 
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