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Karen-W

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Sending Lofton to arguably the most competitive and prestigious Challenger event deserves to at least be questioned. I would have preferred Sonja Hilmer here.
Pffft. The USFS didn't know who would or wouldn't be entered at Finlandia. As far as the level of prestige, surely Lombardia or Nebelhorn have an equal amount of prestige.
 

Jarrett

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Look how far hype got Alysa Liu. She lasted exactly one season as a senior. Yet, the weaknesses in her technique were visible from her juvenile days and foreshadowed what would happen once she grew. So, I don't think it's alarmist to point out how the same kinds of technical issues might hinder other skaters.
Alysa's triples, footworks and spins were sound for the most part so I don't see how anyone would question her technique in general. The quads? Well I dont anything really thought those would stick around or if they should have ever been counted as clean based on the comments from the peanut gallery.
 
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clairecloutier

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Pffft. The USFS didn't know who would or wouldn't be entered at Finlandia. As far as the level of prestige, surely Lombardia or Nebelhorn have an equal amount of prestige.


Nebelhorn maybe yes, Lombardia no, in my opinion. (Not that it’s a big deal either way.)

Lombardia often isn’t a CS event for pairs and seldom attracts strong pairs fields, whereas Finlandia and Nebelhorn do, which makes them overall more high-profile events, imo anyway.

Finlandia has also benefited in the past from usually having a strong lineup of Russian skaters due to relative proximity. Plus, maybe some Russian fans who come to watch.

If I were USFS, I’d make it a priority to get Sonja Hilmer another event.
 

jlai

Question everything
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This is a transition year with so many top skaters not returning or competing right now, and we need very goood skaters at the top but usfs has no way of knowing who the potential skaters are beforehand. The only way to know is to send as many out to competitions and see who does well. Some will do poorly ( or extremely poorly ) because they are… well …untested)

This is gonna be a rough year, but front runners will emerge during the Olympics cycle
 

Karen-W

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This is a transition year with so many top skaters not returning or competing right now, and we need very goood skaters at the top but usfs has no way of knowing who the potential skaters are beforehand. The only way to know is to send as many out to competitions and see who does well. Some will do poorly ( or extremely poorly ) because they are… well …untested)

This is gonna be a rough year, but front runners will emerge during the Olympics cycle
Yes, and see who can bounce back from a disappointing SP to skate well in the FS. There have been some enlightening data points so far through the first five Challengers. Should be interesting to see where Izzo and Ziegler stack up compared to the rest of the women.

SP scores -
Levito 65.37
Shin 61.16
Harrell 60.83
Hilmer 57.93
Glenn 55.99
Andrews 53.31
Thorngren 52.86
Heiner 47.41
Gold 45.08
Budko 42.07
Lofton 40.77

FS scores -
Levito 133.62
Glenn 121.02
Hilmer 116.53
Shin 115.28
Harrell 114.72
Thorngren 112.23
Andrews 103.29
Budko 102.13
Heiner 95.12
Gold 93.81
Lofton 69.13
 

Karen-W

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And the Goddess Amber
She has two GPs, she doesn't need another Challenger necessarily. This is a good season to send a bunch of mostly untested women out once or twice and let them do their best to get onto the SB Top 75 and set themselves up for potential selection to the GP next season, and give them some valuable international competition experience.

I do agree, though, that Hilmer seems to have earned a second Challenger. Same with Harrell. If one of the women who's already been sent out does get a 2nd Challenger, Budko would be my choice, because of how she responded to her very disappointing SP at Nepela to skate much better in the FS, but I tend to think that women like Cheng and Cui will receive a Challenger assignment first.
 

Debbie S

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If I were USFS, I’d make it a priority to get Sonja Hilmer another event.
I'm also hoping Ting Cui gets an assignment. Her NQS score and summer comp results are in line with other skaters who received assignments (and she's directly beaten some of them). I think it was a missed opportunity for USFS to not send Ting or Ava (or anybody, but they were the closest geographically) to replace Izzo at the U.S. Classic.

Agree that this season is a transitional year for U.S. women and I think it makes sense to give as many int'l assignments as they can. Skaters need experience, particularly after the past couple of years.
 

Karen-W

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I'm also hoping Ting Cui gets an assignment. Her NQS score and summer comp results are in line with other skaters who received assignments (and she's directly beaten some of them). I think it was a missed opportunity for USFS to not send Ting or Ava (or anybody, but they were the closest geographically) to replace Izzo at the U.S. Classic.

Agree that this season is a transitional year for U.S. women and I think it makes sense to give as many int'l assignments as they can. Skaters need experience, particularly after the past couple of years.
Ava hadn't competed yet in the NQS by the time US Classic came around, so I don't see how the USFS could have assigned her. I do agree about Ting, though - they had plenty of time between the Potomac Open and US Classic to assign her. Here is Sylvia's update to the top summer scores from the senior women on Sep 6th.

From @natsulian's Top Summer Scores [* = Philly or Cranberry international] posted on August 22, with NQS & other competitions added by me:

SENIOR WOMEN summer scores - top 16 19:
Isabeau Levito 207.67*
Lindsay Thorngren 203.62*
Clare Seo 185.10 (Broadmoor Open in June; 178.76 CO Champs NQS)
Gracie Gold 180.26*
Josephine Lee 178.63 (SoCal Open NQS)
Sonja Hilmer 177.72 (Glacier Falls NQS)
Audrey Shin 175.89*
Hanna Harrell 173.57 (Glacier Falls NQS)
Alena Budko 172.70 (Scott Hamilton Inv. NQS)
Hannah Lofton 170.21 (DuPage Open NQS)
Ting Cui 167.30 (Potomac Open NQS)
Amber Glenn 166.73*
Jill Heiner 165.19 (Potomac Open NQS)
Maryn Pierce 162.12 (Skate Detroit NQS)
Finley Hawk 161.94 (Southport in June)
Wren Warne-Jacobsen 160.49 (Minnesota State Champs per @love skating)
Paige Rydberg 160.36 (Collegiate Championships)
Nicole Park 158.19 (Cactus Classic NQS)
Michelle Lee 156.52 (CO Champs NQS) - recently added to the ISP
 

love skating

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Do we have a list yet of the competitors who qualified for the sectional finals (at all levels)? I know the USFS tweeted out the top three in each level and discipline, but not all who qualified. I never could totally understand the qualifying rules nor keep up with who would be in which section. And I also forget the rules for then qualifying on for Nationals. I know it used to be top four in each section moved on plus byes but I know it's changed in the past years.
 

Sylvia

TBD
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Do we have a list yet of the competitors who qualified for the sectional finals (at all levels)?
Not yet but I've posted a projected/unofficial Senior women's list in the Kiss & Cry section (do you have access? I can excerpt parts of it here later).
I never could totally understand the qualifying rules nor keep up with who would be in which section. And I also forget the rules for then qualifying on for Nationals. I know it used to be top four in each section moved on plus byes but I know it's changed in the past years.
Here's a GSD thread with the latest info: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/th...tional-qualifying-season.109661/#post-6287471

ETA:
CS events have prestige???
For the majority of U.S. skaters on Team USA or in ISP, getting the opportunity to compete in just one Challenger Series event, senior international, JGP, junior or adv. novice international is likely to be THE achievement of their careers.
 
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On My Own

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For the majority of U.S. skaters on Team USA or in ISP, getting the opportunity to compete in just one Challenger Series event, senior international, JGP, junior or adv. novice international is likely to be THE achievement of their careers.
Fair enough - but an event's prestige is hardly determined by the roster of American skaters who don't get the opportunity to skate anywhere else. I agree the opportunity is great. I just question whether these events have any prestige, or that there is some ranking of these events based on such prestige. The skaters can be sent to any of the CS events at all, and they'd still be getting the opportunity.
 

sk9tingfan

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And Mariah Bell has formally retired. Wonder what she will do next:

 

Karen-W

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And Mariah Bell has formally retired. Wonder what she will do next:

Well, she says she'll skate in shows and for fun, but she doesn't give us any hint beyond that. I'm glad she won a National title and made it to the Olympics. She really did go about as far as she could in the sport, and it's always great when a skater recognizes this and bows out at their zenith.

Meanwhile, looking ahead to Nats, that opens up a spot to qualify through Sectionals:
Women - 6 spots available through Sectionals (maximum 12 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) Audrey Shin (US Classic, GPdF, NHK), Amber Glenn (Lombardia, SkAm, NHK), Starr Andrews (Nebelhorn, SCI, NHK) = 3
Gracie Gold, Bradie Tennell and Clare Seo do not (yet) qualify for a bye to Nationals. They have had two international assignments from the events listed on the NQS document, but need a 3rd one.

The only event left on the NQS document is Ice Challenge Austria, which is the same week as MKJW, which is Bradie's first GP. Given that Bradie had to withdraw from the Japan Open this past weekend, the only path left, per the NQS document, for Bradie to qualify for a bye to Nats is making the GPF.

Ice Challenge Austria entries are due this week and should be known by early next week. Right now, I'm going to guess that both Gracie and Clare will be assigned to this Challenger and given byes to Nationals. The rest of the senior women who have had an international assignment (Budko, Harrell, Heiner, Hilmer, Lofton, Wang & Ziegler) and Josephine Lee (2 JGPs, but isn't age-eligible for seniors internationally) are going to have to compete at Sectionals and earn their way to Nationals.

Tentatively, it appears there will be anywhere between 8-10 byes to Nationals, top 2 in each Sectional, plus between 2-4 of the remaining top scorers from Sectionals combined.

I also think we're likely to see the 2 women with the highest scores from Sectionals who haven't been sent out internationally yet this fall assigned to Golden Spin to try and earn their TES mins.
 

Debbie S

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USFS always has discretion, so I assume Bradie will get a bye to Nats instead of having to come to the U.S. for Sectionals the week before her GP. Agree that Gracie and Clare will likely be assigned to Graz, which will free up spots, so to speak, at Mids and Easterns (thinking of the top 2 spots that automatically make Nats).
 

aml78

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And Mariah Bell has formally retired. Wonder what she will do next:

She will be coaching Texas with her sister.

 

Karen-W

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USFS always has discretion, so I assume Bradie will get a bye to Nats instead of having to come to the U.S. for Sectionals the week before her GP.
Sectionals is the same week as MKJW. Midwestern Senior Women's SP is Tue, Nov 8th and the Senior Women's FS is Thu, Nov 10th. So, she will need a bye - and I'm sort of the opinion that any bye will be contingent upon her actually competing in both of her GPs.
 

Karen-W

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Bradie is entered to compete at Trophee Metropole Nice Cote d'Azur next week! Hopefully there will be a live stream of this competition - and she's recovered enough to compete!
 

Sylvia

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Sept. 27:
Yes, the rink is called the Sports Palace Jean Bouin and located upstairs (there's an elevator) so has gorgeous views of Nice.

I wonder if Bradie might compete at the Trophy Metropole Nice Cote d’Azur (new name for Coupe de Nice) that's held at the rink where she's training now? Entries by name were due on September 18. Dates are October 18 to 23, 2022.
Fingers crossed she can start her comeback next week!

I've created a competition thread in Kiss & Cry: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/th...e-côte-dazur-oct-19-23-in-nice-france.109985/
There used to be a livestream when it was "Coupe de Nice"...
 
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