2022-2023 US National Qualifying Season

[sk9tingfan]

U.S. Figure Skating Announces 2022-23 Qualifying Season | U.S. Figure Skating

www.usfigureskating.org

Well, it seems that between Norwood and Lake Placid, my little car will be taking me to both sites frequently this year!

 

[Sylvia]

Bumping up this thread to reply to @haribobo's question in another thread (so I don't have to post this link in many different threads in GSD ):

Has USFS indicated how qualifying is working this year for Nationals on the senior level? I have completely lost the plot and trying to find info is very challenging.

2023 SINGLES, PAIRS AND ICE DANCE QUALIFYING SEASON ATHLETE BYE & ADVANCEMENT CRITERIA (5 pages): https://www.usfigureskating.org/sit...iles/2023QualifyingByeAdvancementCriteria.pdf

ETA:

Last season's 8 Championship Series qualifying competitions spanned from early October to mid-November and replaced the 9 Regionals & 3 Sectionals that used to be in effect for Nationals qualification (Senior & Junior levels).

This year the National Qualifying Series (NQS) of competitions, from July through September 2022, takes the place of the 9 Regionals and is being used to qualify singles skaters to the 3 Sectionals. The 3 Sectionals for singles skaters, along with the Pairs & Ice Dance Finals, will be the final qualifier for 2023 Nationals (Senior & Junior) and the National Development Camp (Novice, Intermediate, Juvenile) - this table is copied from the link posted in the first post of this thread:

2023 U.S. Figure Skating Qualifying Season
Event	Host City	Date	Host Club
2023 Eastern Sectional Singles & U.S. Ice Dance Final	Norwood, Massachusetts	Nov. 8-12, 2022	The Skating Club of Boston
2023 Midwestern Sectional Singles & U.S. Pairs Final	Lansing, Michigan	Nov. 8-11, 2022	Lansing SC
2023 Pacific Coast Sectional Singles Final	San Francisco	Nov. 8-13, 2022	The Skating Club of San Francisco
2023 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships & National Development Camp	San Jose, California	Jan. 23-29, 2023	SAP Center & Sharks Ice at San Jose

 

[Frau Muller]

Thanks to gkelly for segment-name corrections and answers.

Did USFS ever provide a reason for not going back to the traditional path of Regionals to Sectionals to Nationals after COVID? Is it to expand outreach/cast a wider net by holding more stage-1 events in more locations, over a wider period of time? Is there a financial incentive to holding the NQSs rather than just three Regionals per Section (3x3=total 9)? Lastly, Is there any plan to go back to the old pattern of Regionals to Sectionals to Nationals ?

The old system was so clear and easy to understand…but maybe was unfair in there being an imbalance of talent and coaching between geographic sections/regions.

 

[gkelly]

Did USFS ever provide a reason for not going back to the traditional path of Sectionals to Regionals to Nationals after COVID? Is it to expand outreach/cast a wider net by holding more stage-1 events in more locations, over a wider period of time? Is there a financial incentive to holding the NQSs rather than just three Sectionals per Region (3x3=total 9)? Lastly-Is there any plan to go back to the old pattern of Sectionals to Regionals to Nationals?

The old system was so clear and easy to understand…but maybe was unfair in there being an imbalance of talent and coaching between geographic sections/regions.

The old system was 9 Regionals, 3 regions per section, leading the 3 Sectionals. (Sections are larger than regions.)


My understanding (mostly re singles, juvenile through senior, since dance and pairs have other challenges):

Skaters liked the option to qualify through the NQS in 2019-20 as an alternate route to qualify for Sectionals.

They liked the opportunity to compete more than once and count the highest score toward qualifying for Sectionals.

They were less happy about 2021-22 system of just having one level of 8 qualifying competitions -- they preferred to have an in-person sectional championship rather than just a list of scores.

They did like the opportunity to choose where to compete rather than being restricted to a location in their region (which might not be closest to where they actually live and train, depending on the size of the region and what part they live in).

So the new plan was to take the best of both approaches and offer skaters multiple chances to qualify for an in-person Sectionals, from locations of their choice.


Also, from the administrative point of view, it was hard to get clubs to host Regionals in October, for several reasons (unpredictability of size, conflicts with hockey to reserve ice time, an additional drain on host club resources if they also host a summer competition, etc.).

E.g., in 2019-20 both New Englands and North Atlantics were held at the same time at the same rink in Massachusetts, and before the pandemic they were both scheduled to be held at Lake Placid in 2020-21 if there had been a normal qualifying season that year.

With NQS, the first level of qualifying (to Sectionals) can be assigned to summer competitions that already exist, with some tweaks to things like ice time needed and which officials can be used. So it's easier to find clubs willing to use their existing club nonqual competitions as qualifiers, probably rotating among different clubs/locations in different years.

 

[Sylvia]

Bumping up this thread to reply to @haribobo's question in another thread (so I don't have to post this link in many different threads in GSD ):

2023 SINGLES, PAIRS AND ICE DANCE QUALIFYING SEASON ATHLETE BYE & ADVANCEMENT CRITERIA (5 pages): https://www.usfigureskating.org/sit...iles/2023QualifyingByeAdvancementCriteria.pdf

From the bottom of page 1 to the top of page 2 - one of the criteria for a bye to 2022 Nationals:

"Athletes who are assigned to and compete at three (3) international assignments classified as an ISU Grand Prix, ISU Junior Grand Prix and or ISU Challenger Series event"

 

[sk8nlizard]

Japan Open is just the FS and doesn't get her a bye. Weird - the USFS Int'l Assignments page doesn't list Warsaw Trophy as an event for our skaters. Ice Challenge Austria is the same week as MKJW, so Bradie won't be assigned to that. Of course, she could be assigned to Golden Spin if she doesn't qualify for the GPF and earn a bye that way, lol.

@Karen-W I moved this over here, but I don’t think Golden Spin was one of the competitions listed in that byes document the USFS released. Of course, they could switch things up, but that’s what I read, which I thought was odd because I thought previously Golden Spin had counted? Who knows ?‍?

 

[Karen-W]

@Karen-W I moved this over here, but I don’t think Golden Spin was one of the competitions listed in that byes document the USFS released. Of course, they could switch things up, but that’s what I read, which I thought was odd because I thought previously Golden Spin had counted? Who knows ?‍?

I just looked and you're right. Neither is IceChallenge. So, it looks like the USFS is only allowing the September & October Challengers to count for international assignment byes.

 

[sk8nlizard]

I just looked and you're right. Neither is IceChallenge. So, it looks like the USFS is only allowing the September & October Challengers to count for international assignment byes.

I thought Ice Challenge was listed at the end of the document? Either way, Sectionals is going to be brutal and a lot of really good skaters are going to be left home!

 

[Stephanie]

Here's the document for reference: https://www.usfigureskating.org/sit...iles/2023QualifyingByeAdvancementCriteria.pdf

FWIW three of the events listed as eligible to be counted towards byes (Autumn Classic, Asian Open, and Denis Ten Memorial) are not listed on the USFS international assignments page.

 

[Karen-W]

Updating the Bye status for Nationals -

ADVANCEMENT TO THE U.S. FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS© SENIOR SINGLES
Maximum of 18 available spots at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships©

• Athletes who placed in the top five in the same event at the 2022 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships per rule 2501 (B) (2)
• Athletes selected to the 2022 U.S. Figure Skating World Team (not including alternates) in the same event per rule 2501 (B) (2);
• Athletes who have won a medal in the singles event at the most recent Olympic Winter Games per rule 2501 (B) (2)
• Athletes who qualify for the same event at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final or the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final per rule 2501 (B) (2)
• Athletes who are assigned to and compete at three (3) international assignments classified as an ISU Grand Prix, ISU Junior Grand Prix and or ISU Challenger Series event • Refer to the approved list of international competitions within this document
• The top two total combined scores from each section in the Sectional Singles Final • Plus, next-best scores nationwide until maximum is met

Women - 6 spots available through Sectionals (maximum 12 byes total)
1) Mariah Bell, Karen Chen, Isabeau Levito, Gabriella Izzo & Lindsay Thorngren = 5, but really probably 3
2) Alysa Liu = 1, but retired, so 0
3) n/a
4) Audrey Shin (US Classic, GPdF, NHK), Amber Glenn (Lombardia, SkAm, NHK), Starr Andrews (Nebelhorn, SCI, NHK) = 3

Gracie Gold and Bradie Tennell do not (yet) qualify for a bye to Nationals. Now, they very well might wind up qualifying if they are assigned to a 3rd event, and Clare Seo might also qualify for a bye if she is assigned to one of the later CS events since she's been assigned to 2 JGPs.

Potentially, there are 12 byes that can be assigned this season, and the top 2 from each Sectional, which would get us to the max 18 women.

Men - 6 spots available through Sectionals (maximum 12 byes total):
1) Nathan Chen, Ilia Malinin, Vincent Zhou, Jason Brown, Camden Pulkinen = 5, but probably only 2
2) n/a
3) n/a
4) Jimmy Ma (US Classic, SCI, MKJW), Tomoki Hiwatashi (Lombardia, MKJW, NHK) = 2

Potential byes (skaters with 2 Int'l Assignments) - Dinh Tran (Lombardia, Finlandia), Liam Kapeikis (Nebelhorn, SkAm), Eric Sjoberg (US Classic, SkAm) = 3

Should be plenty of spots up for grabs at Sectionals for the guys who don't qualify for byes.

Pairs - 4 spots available at the Pairs Final (maximum 8 byes total)
1) Cain/LeDuc, Calalang/Johnson, Lu/Mitrofanov, Chan/Howe, McBeath/Bartholomay = 5, but only 2 teams still competing
2) Knierim/Frazier = 1
3) n/a
4) Smirnova/Siianytsia (Finlandia, SkAm, Espoo), Plazas/Fernandez (US Classic, Finlandia, SkAm) = 2

Potential byes - Baram/Tioumentsev if they qualify for the JGPF; Mokhova/Mokhov if they receive 2 additional international assignments, which I think is pretty likely given how well they've scored at both John Nicks & US Classic.

It will be a fight for the final 5 spots in Pairs at Nationals, with three teams left at home in January.

Dance - 5 spots available at the Dance Final (maximum 10 byes total)
1) Chock/Bates, Hubbell/Donohue, Hawayek/Baker, Green/Parsons, Bratti/Somerville = 5, but 1 team retired, so 4
2) n/a
3) n/a
4) McNamara/Spiridonov (US Classic, Nebelhorn, SkAm), Pate/Bye (US Classic, Nepela, GPdF), Wolfkostin/Chen (US Classic, GPdF, NHK), Brown/Brown (Nepela, MKJW, Espoo) = 4

Potential byes (teams with 2 Int'l Assignments) - Cesanek/Yehorov (Nebelhorn, SCI), Carreira/Ponomarenko (MKJW, Espoo)

Seems all but certain that CesYeh and CarPon will both get a 3rd assignment and a bye to Nationals.

I thought Ice Challenge was listed at the end of the document? Either way, Sectionals is going to be brutal and a lot of really good skaters are going to be left home!

Here's the document for reference: https://www.usfigureskating.org/sit...iles/2023QualifyingByeAdvancementCriteria.pdf

FWIW three of the events listed as covered under byes (Autumn Classic, Asian Open, and Denis Ten Memorial) are not listed on the USFS international assignments page.

Worse - 1) Autumn Classic wasn't held this season, 2) Asian Open was moved to December and isn't even a Challenger, 3) the USFS isn't sending skaters to Warsaw Cup, which is a Challenger and in Europe, 4) Golden Spin is also a Challenger and isn't included. Were they even paying attention to the ISU Calendar of Events in any way when they made this list and published it?

 

[Stephanie]

Shouldn't Bradie get a bye due the conflict between Midwestern Sectionals (Nov 8-11) and NKJWT (Nov 11-13)? The possibility of conflicts isn't mentioned in the document but I don't see it as feasible for a skater to do Ice Challenge or NKJWT and sectionals since the dates overlap.

 

[sk8nlizard]

Worse - 1) Autumn Classic wasn't held this season, 2) Asian Open was moved to December and isn't even a Challenger, 3) the USFS isn't sending skaters to Warsaw Cup, which is a Challenger and in Europe, 4) Golden Spin is also a Challenger and isn't included. Were they even paying attention to the ISU Calendar of Events in any way when they made this list and published it?

I’m pretty sure they just randomly added some competitions to the document ?. I mean, are they really not going to give Bradie a bye to Nationals?! Also, I know there are no medical byes but what if one of the skaters with 3 assignments gets injured or has Covid? Maybe they will update the rules before releasing information for Sectionals in early November.

 

[sk8nlizard]

Shouldn't Bradie get a bye due the conflict between Midwestern Sectionals (Nov 8-11) and NKJWT (Nov 11-13)? The possibility of conflicts isn't mentioned in the document but I don't see it as feasible for a skater to do Ice Challenge or NKJWT and sectionals since the dates overlap.

As @Debbie S Reminded me yesterday, there has always been a “within a week rule” for Internationals and Sectionals. However, that’s not listed anywhere in the bye document and plenty of rules that don’t apply to any skaters this season are listed. Hopefully it’s just an oversight on USFS part.

 

[Karen-W]

Oh, and I just realized - Ice Challenge doesn't have a pairs competition - the only Challengers with Pairs comps this season are US Classic, Nebelhorn, Finlandia, Warsaw & Golden Spin. So, unless they update the eligible events on the document to include Golden Spin and/or Warsaw Cup (and decide to send skaters/teams to Warsaw Cup), Mokhova/Mokhov are going to have to qualify through the Pairs Final.

 

[Debbie S]

As @Debbie S Reminded me yesterday, there has always been a “within a week rule” for Internationals and Sectionals. However, that’s not listed anywhere in the bye document and plenty of rules that don’t apply to any skaters this season are listed. Hopefully it’s just an oversight on USFS part.

Yeah, the doc seems haphazard. Given that it's USFS, not shocking. I assume Bradie will be given a bye to Nats w/o having to compete at Sectionals, possibly via an assignment to Budapest Trophy. Those should be out by next Tuesday, so we'll know soon.

And USFS has also been flexible with byes in the past, when they felt it made sense even if not precisely within the rules, although that was before they limited the Nats field to 18.

 

[sk8nlizard]

Yeah, the doc seems haphazard. Given that it's USFS, not shocking. I assume Bradie will be given a bye to Nats w/o having to compete at Sectionals, possibly via an assignment to Budapest Trophy. Those should be out by next Tuesday, so we'll know soon.

And USFS has also been flexible with byes in the past, when they felt it made sense even if not precisely within the rules, although that was before they limited the Nats field to 18.

Very true, I am bummed about the 18 skater max. It just really makes it almost impossible to make Nationals unless you are an International level skater. I think many mid level skaters stay in the sport to possibly make Nationals while knowing they will never get an International. Now there is little incentive for that either. In a sport that struggles With losing popularity it would seem that allowing a few more skaters to make Nationals would be great. Also, are they allowing alternates this year? I know they didn’t last year but I think that was mostly due to Covid restrictions.
ETA - So since Tomoki withdrew does he now have to compete at Sectionals? Or get one of the other Challengers? He clearly had the intent to compete here but the rules say you must compete at 3 Internationals.

 

[Karen-W]

Updating the Bye status for Nationals -

Women - 8 spots available through Sectionals (maximum 10 byes total)
1) Mariah Bell, Karen Chen, Isabeau Levito, Gabriella Izzo & Lindsay Thorngren = 4, but really probably 3
2) Alysa Liu = 1, but retired, so 0
3) n/a
4) n/a
5) Audrey Shin (US Classic, GPdF, NHK), Amber Glenn (Lombardia, SkAm, NHK), Starr Andrews (Nebelhorn, SCI, NHK), Gracie Gold (Nebelhorn, SkAm, IceChallenge), Clare Seo (JGP Courchevel, JGP Solidarity Cup, IceChallenge) = 5

Bradie Tennell does not qualify for a bye to Nationals per the NQS document, however she is scheduled to compete at MKJW the same week as Sectionals and has a 2nd GP assignment (Espoo), so one has to think she'll be given a conditional bye provided she competes at both of her GPs and Golden Spin, if doesn't earn a GPF spot.

Potentially, there are 10 byes that can be assigned this season, and the top 2 from each Sectional, which would get us to 16 women - which means the top 2-4 scorers who finished 3rd or lower at Sectionals will also qualify for Nationals.

Men - 8 spots available through Sectionals (maximum 10 byes total):
1) Nathan Chen, Ilia Malinin, Vincent Zhou, Jason Brown, Camden Pulkinen = 5, but probably only 2
2) n/a
3) n/a
4) n/a
5) Jimmy Ma (US Classic, SCI, MKJW), Dinh Tran (Lombardia, Finlandia, SkAm), Liam Kapeikis (Nebelhorn, SkAm, IceChallenge) = 3

Potential byes for Tomoki Hiwatashi (MKJW, NHK), Will Annis (JGP Baltic Cup, IceChallenge) due to the conflict of MKJW & IceChallenge being the same week as Sectionals, but he would also need a 3rd international - either Warsaw Cup or Golden Spin would be options for the USFS.

Should be plenty of spots up for grabs at Sectionals for the guys who don't qualify for byes.

Pairs - 7 spots available at the Pairs Final (maximum 5 byes total)
1) Cain/LeDuc, Calalang/Johnson, Lu/Mitrofanov, Chan/Howe, McBeath/Bartholomay = 5, but only 2 teams still competing
2) Knierim/Frazier = 1
3) n/a
4) Baram/Tioumentsev (JGPF) = 1
5) Plazas/Fernandez (US Classic, Finlandia, SkAm, SCI), Mokhova/Mokhov (US Classic, Finlandia, SkAm, GPdF) = 2

Smirnova/Siianytsia (Finlandia, Espoo) had to withdraw from SkAm and do not qualify for a bye to Nationals, so they will need to compete at the US Pairs Final.

It will be a fight for the final 7 spots in Pairs at Nationals, with a handful of teams sitting at home in January.

Dance - 5 spots available at the Dance Final (maximum 10 byes total)
1) Chock/Bates, Hubbell/Donohue, Hawayek/Baker, Green/Parsons, Bratti/Somerville = 5, but 1 team retired, so 4
2) n/a
3) n/a
4) n/a
5) McNamara/Spiridonov (US Classic, Nebelhorn, SkAm), Pate/Bye (US Classic, Nepela, GPdF), Wolfkostin/Chen (US Classic, GPdF, NHK), Brown/Brown (Nepela, MKJW, Espoo), Cesanek/Yehorov (Nebelhorn, SCI, IceChallenge) = 5

Carreira/Ponomarenko (MKJW, Espoo) don't qualify for a bye per the NQS document, however their first GP, like Tennell, is the same week as the US Dance Final, so one has to think they'll be given a bye contingent upon competing in both of their GPs and Golden Spin should they not qualify for the GPF.

 

[haribobo]

Thanks, great list! Also I believe Will Annis if he is skating senior at Nationals would have a bye because of Ice Challenge being Nov 9-13, same week at Sectionals. Also, Bradie and C/P are competing that week so that alone should give them a bye to Nationals- they shouldn't also need Golden Spin. If they can't compete at Sectionals because of the timing interfering with a GP event, it would be insane and grossly unfair to keep them out of Nationals for not doing a 3rd international event.

 

[Karen-W]

Thanks, great list! Also I believe Will Annis if he is skating senior at Nationals would have a bye because of Ice Challenge being Nov 9-13, same week at Sectionals. Also, Bradie and C/P are competing that week so that alone should give them a bye to Nationals- they shouldn't also need Golden Spin. If they can't compete at Sectionals because of the timing interfering with a GP event, it would be insane and grossly unfair to keep them out of Nationals for not doing a 3rd international event.

Oh, good catch! It does seem like he's probably skating senior. I'll add him as a possible "bye" due to the conflict of two competitions that week.

ETA - and I just realized that Tomoki no longer qualifies for a bye because of his withdrawal from Lombardia. So, he has the same int'l comp conflict the week of Sectionals, but no 3rd int'l assignment as of yet.

The USFS really dropped the ball with this document, because it doesn't account for skaters/teams who, for whatever reason, wind up only competing in 2 GPs, one of which is the same week as Sectionals. They really screwed up with the list of Challengers that give teams a qualifying international, and they also really dropped the ball for the pairs teams since only 3 of the Challengers that do qualify for a bye had a pairs competition - if you didn't have a GP or get one, you're in trouble. It would have made a lot more sense to include Golden Spin on the qualifying list from the get-go, especially since Nationals isn't until the last week of January anyways.

 

[sk8nlizard]

Oh, good catch! It does seem like he's probably skating senior. I'll add him as a possible "bye" due to the conflict of two competitions that week.

The USFS really dropped the ball with this document, because it doesn't account for skaters/teams who, for whatever reason, wind up only competing in 2 GPs, one of which is the same week as Sectionals. They really screwed up with the list of Challengers that give teams a qualifying international, and they also really dropped the ball for the pairs teams since only 3 of the Challengers that do qualify for a bye had a pairs competition - if you didn't have a GP or get one, you're in trouble. It would have made a lot more sense to include Golden Spin on the qualifying list from the get-go, especially since Nationals isn't until the last week of January anyways.

I wonder if this is why we haven’t heard anything “official” about Sectionals and Nationals. USFS realized they are going to have to break a lot of their rules from the document. They’ve been doing this for a long time, you would think it would be a little better thought out before releasing the document?

 

[Karen-W]

I wonder if this is why we haven’t heard anything “official” about Sectionals and Nationals. USFS realized they are going to have to break a lot of their rules from the document. They’ve been doing this for a long time, you would think it would be a little better thought out before releasing the document?

Skaters know they're going to Sectionals already. I've seen "congrats on qualifying for Sectionals and/or Pairs/Dance Finals" posts from several clubs/coaches on IG this weekend - Dallas FSC and St Moritz FSC both hosted Sectionals send-offs yesterday.

But, you know there are problems with the document when there are skaters/teams in all four disciplines that don't qualify for a bye per their own document, all of whom have at least 2 int'l assignments and only one of whom doesn't have a conflict with an int'l competition the same week as Sectionals.

My gut says, since they won't break their "maximum byes" allowed in any discipline by giving byes to those skaters, they will do so and call it good.

 

[gkelly]

They’ve been doing this for a long time, you would think it would be a little better thought out before releasing the document?

They haven't been doing NQS to sectionals for a long time. This year's rules for qualifying for sectionals are brand new this year.

Sectionals to Nationals is somewhat different from 3 years ago as well.

There were no sectionals last year or the (virtual qualifying) year before.

It's only the second or third year for the reduced size Nationals, so it stands to reason that the bye rules from 3 or 4 years ago and earlier would not apply.

 

[sk8nlizard]

Skaters know they're going to Sectionals already. I've seen "congrats on qualifying for Sectionals and/or Pairs/Dance Finals" posts from several clubs/coaches on IG this weekend - Dallas FSC and St Moritz FSC both hosted Sectionals send-offs yesterday.

But, you know there are problems with the document when there are skaters/teams in all four disciplines that don't qualify for a bye per their own document, all of whom have at least 2 int'l assignments and only one of whom doesn't have a conflict with an int'l competition the same week as Sectionals.

My gut says, since they won't break their "maximum byes" allowed in any discipline by giving byes to those skaters, they will do so and call it good.

You’re probably right. I think leaving skaters home bc they don’t fit the criteria but have International conflicts or have multiple international assignments would not be a good look!

 

[sk8nlizard]

They haven't been doing NQS to sectionals for a long time. This year's rules for qualifying for sectionals are brand new this year.

It's only the second or third year for the reduced size Nationals, so it stands to reason that the bye rules from 3 or 4 years ago and earlier would not apply.

Yes, but they’ve been sending people to Internationals in the fall for a long time. It doesn’t take much to look at schedules and see that there are Challengers and a GP that overlap Sectionals. Put it in your document that if you are assigned to one and there’s a conflict (and you actually compete) you get a bye. I also would be interested to see what would happen if say someone had to pull out bc they caught Covid. The document says you have to compete, but what if you travel overseas, get sick, can’t compete and now you’ve missed Sectionals too?

 

[Karen-W]

Another update to the Women since Ava Ziegler has been assigned to SCI per the entries list today - https://results.isu.org/events/gpcan2022_Women.htm

Women - 8 spots available through Sectionals (maximum 11 byes total)
1) Mariah Bell, Karen Chen, Isabeau Levito, Gabriella Izzo & Lindsay Thorngren = 4, but really probably 3
2) Alysa Liu = 1, but retired, so 0
3) n/a
4) n/a
5) Audrey Shin (US Classic, GPdF, NHK), Amber Glenn (Lombardia, SkAm, NHK), Starr Andrews (Nebelhorn, SCI, NHK), Gracie Gold (Nebelhorn, SkAm, IceChallenge), Clare Seo (JGP Courchevel, JGP Solidarity Cup, IceChallenge) = 5

Bradie Tennell does not qualify for a bye to Nationals per the NQS document, however she is scheduled to compete at MKJW the same week as Sectionals and has a 2nd GP assignment (Espoo), so one has to think she'll be given a conditional bye provided she competes at both of her GPs and Golden Spin, if doesn't earn a GPF spot.

Ava Ziegler potentially could receive a bye to Nationals if she receives a 3rd int'l assignment. Two routes exist - 1) USFS adds her to IceChallenge (there are only 35 women entered, so the organizers might be willing), 2) Ava picks up an additional GP should a spot open up (which isn't out of the realm of possibility since she is a Challenger winner - Watanabe got the spots vacated by Higuchi).

Potentially, there are 11 byes that can be assigned this season, and the top 2 from each Sectional, which would get us to 16 women - which means the top 2-4 scorers who finished 3rd or lower at Sectionals will also qualify for Nationals.

 

[Sylvia]

Two of the 3 Sectionals are underway (link to the Kiss & Cry thread: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/th...d-ma-east-lansing-mi-san-francisco-ca.110089/ ) and I've copied out key info below from pages 3-4 of USFS' Advancement to 2023 Nationals document (dated Sunday, November 6, 2022) that's linked from all 3 Sectionals event pages: https://www.usfigureskating.org/sites/default/files/media-files/SanJose_PreAnnouncement.pdf

BYES to 2023 Nationals:

Senior Men (8): Will Annis (making his senior international debut in Graz this week), Jason Brown (confirmed last week that he will be at Nationals ), Tomoki Hiwatashi, Liam Kapeikis (Graz this week is his 3rd international), Jimmy Ma, Ilia Malinin, Camden Pulkinen, Dinh Tran
Top 2 finishers at Easterns, Mids & Pacifics (6) + Next 4 Best Total Scores from the 3 Sectionals + 8 Byes = 18.

Senior Women (10 are listed as of 11/6 but more likely 9): Starr Andrews, Karen Chen (she hasn't announced her plans like Jason but my unofficial hearsay info is that she likely will not use her bye), Amber Glenn, Gracie Gold (Graz this week is her 3rd international), Gabriella Izzo, Isabeau Levito, Clare Seo (making her senior international debut in Graz this week, her 3rd international), Audrey Shin, Bradie Tennell (scheduled to compete at GP Sheffield this week - she last competed at the ISU World Team Trophy in April 2021), Lindsay Thorngren
Top 2 finishers at Easterns, Mids & Pacifics (6) + Next 3 Best Total Scores from the 3 Sectionals + (assuming) 9 Byes = 18.

Senior Pairs (8): Baram/Tioumentsev, Chan/Howe, Kam/O'Shea (making their debut together in Graz this week), Knierim/Frazier, McBeath/Bartholomay, Mokhova/Mokhov, Plazas/Fernandez, Smirnova/Siianytsia + all 4 teams competing in this week's U.S. Pairs Final (ETA: as long as TES minimums are met; refer to Karen's post below) = 12.

Senior Ice Dance (10 GP teams): Bratti/Somerville, Brown/Brown, Carreira/Ponomarenko, Cesanek/Yehorov, Chock/Bates, Green/Parsons, Hawayek/Baker, McNamara/Spiridonov, Pate/Bye, Wolfkostin/Chen + top 5 teams in this week's U.S. Ice Dance Final = 15.

SINGLES
Junior: maximum of 18 entries from the Sectional Singles Final plus Byes
Top 4 athletes per section, plus top 2 novice athletes per section invited to skate up to junior
• Lucas Broussard and Robert Yampolsky have received byes per their qualification to the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final. Yampolsky will be skate at the 2023 Eastern Sectional Singles Final but will not impact the advancement of any other athletes out of the section.
• If a NOVICE SINGLES dual discipline athlete who has transferred their entry out of section to compete in pairs or ice dance places 1st or 2nd they will be invited to skate up to Junior, in addition to the 3rd place athlete.
Senior: maximum of 18 entries inclusive of Byes and Sectional Singles Final
• Lindsay Thorngren is skating at the Eastern Sectional Singles Final. She will advance regardless of her placement and will not displace a qualifier from this section to the U.S. Championships.

PAIRS
Junior: all 9 teams from the U.S. Pairs Final plus Bye
• Cayla Smith and Andy Deng received a bye per their qualification to the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final.
Senior: maximum of 12 entries inclusive of Byes [8] and the U.S. Pairs Final [all 4 teams competing there will qualify]
• Sonia Baram and Daniel Tioumentsev received a bye per their qualification to the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final. They are skating at the U.S. Pairs Final [in Senior] and will advance regardless of score and not displace a team to the U.S. Championships.

ICE DANCE
Junior: all 13 teams from the U.S. Ice Dance Final
Senior: maximum of 15 teams inclusive of Byes [10] and U.S. Ice Dance Final [top 5 finishers there]

===

Copying out Technical Notification 285 [published in the Members Only section of USFS' website]
Dated: Aug. 11, 2022
Re: Qualifying for the 2023 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships – Minimum Total Element Score (TES)

Per rule 2505*, competitors who qualify for the senior events at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships must also have met a minimum total element score (TES) at one of the following competitions in the same season:
• Any National Qualifying Series (NQS) event
• A Sectional Singles Final
• The U.S. Paris Final
• The U.S. Ice Dance Final
• Any ISU competition

Athletes/teams must earn the minimum TES in both the short program/rhythm dance and the free skate/free dance, but do not need to earn them at the same competition.

For the 2022-23 season, the minimum TES are:
• Men Short Program: 25.0 / Free Skate: 48.0
• Women Short Program: 24.0 / Free Skate: 40.0
• Pairs Short Program: 22.0 / Free Skate: 40.0
• Ice Dance Rhythm Dance: 23.0 / Free Dance: 42.0

 

[Karen-W]

Senior Pairs (8): Baram/Tioumentsev, Chan/Howe, Kam/O'Shea (making their debut together in Graz this week), Knierim/Frazier, McBeath/Bartholomay, Mokhova/Mokhov, Plazas/Fernandez, Smirnova/Siianytsia + all 4 teams competing in this week's U.S. Pairs Final = 12.

Athletes/teams must earn the minimum TES in both the short program/rhythm dance and the free skate/free dance, but do not need to earn them at the same competition.

For the 2022-23 season, the minimum TES are:
• Pairs Short Program: 22.0 / Free Skate: 40.0

Actually, Lockley/Caputo missed the Pairs SP minimum today - they earned 19.24 - skated through their lift element. They're also missing the FS TES, but if there is some sort of injury that is preventing them from doing any lifts, I can't imagine they'll hit the FS TES in a couple days. Unless the USFS lowers the TES minimum, there will only be 11 teams at Nationals. The rest of the pairs teams have the TES mins (Fitzpatrick/Bearinger needed the SP and earned it today).

 

[Sylvia]

"U.S. Figure Skating today [Nov. 21, 2022] announced the 123 qualifiers who will compete at the 2023 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships set for Jan. 23-29 in San Jose, California."

Athletes Named to 2023 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships Lineup - U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone

U.S. Figure Skating today announced the 123 qualifiers who will compete at the 2023 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships set for Jan. 23-29 in San Jose, California.

usfigureskatingfanzone.com