2025-26 USFS International Assignments

[Karen-W]

JGP Riga assignments are also out!

Men - Lorenzo Elano*
Women - Angela Shao* & Sherry Zhang
Pairs - Naomi Williams/Lachlan Lewer* & Addyson McDanold/Aaron Felberbaum
Ice Dance - Michelle Deych/Ryan Hu & Jasmine Robertson/Chase Rohner*

* = JGP debut

Amazingly, WilLew are making their JGP debut AFTER they made their GP debut (Finlandia 2024) and also after their 2nd Jr Worlds (2024 & 2025) appearance.

These align with what I was told privately earlier today for Men, Pairs & 1 of the Dance teams, so I presume the Women & other Dance team are also not placeholders.

 

[her grace]

Also, we have the Cranberry Cup senior entries up!

Sr Men - Tomoki Hiwatashi, Liam Kapeikis, Kai Kovar, Jimmy Ma, Daniel Martynov, Jacob Sanchez, Jared Sedlis
Sr Women - Brooke Gewalt, Sonja Hilmer, Josephine Lee, Isabeau Levito, Katie Shen

Adding national placements in brackets to the entries:

Sr Men
Hiwatashi [S6]
Kapeikis [S8]
Kovar [S15]
Ma [S5]
Martynov [S11]
Sanchez [S7]
Sedlis [J9]

So, it looks like this will be a good battle between Senior 5th-8th. Of the men, Ma has 2 GPs, Sanchez has 1 GP, and the rest have none. There's still a TBD at Skate America and the results here could factor into that selection. It's also a chance for newer seniors Kovar and Martynov to try to make a statement. Sedlis's inclusion after only finishing 9th in Juniors is a bit odd, but it helps to be local!

Sr Women
Gewalt [S14]
Hilmer [S9]
Lee, J. [S7]
Levito [S-WD]
Shen [DNQ]

Interesting that they chose a lot fewer women. And no battle for GP consideration since USFS already used up the host spots. I will be very interested to see how SA-bound Lee skates in comparison to the rest of the Americans. Of the other athletes, I'm not as familiar with Katie Shen, and she wasn't at nationals last season. She was the 2022 U.S. jr pewter medalist and she won Cranberry in Juniors in 2023. I would've liked to see Gasparotto [S13] get an invite as well, but maybe she'll be assigned somewhere else as the season progresses.

 

[Karen-W]

Cranberry and JGP Riga assignments are confirmed on the USFS website -

2025-26 International Assignments and Results

2025-26 International Assignments and Results

usfigureskatingfanzone.com

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Is the ole cran still gonna be non YouTubed and non-linked? For video?

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

The cran is going to start giving the golden spin luxury vibes

 

[Karen-W]

Is the ole cran still gonna be non YouTubed and non-linked? For video?

There has been zero mention on the SCoB website about a livestream so I'm guessing neither it nor LPIDI will have a livestream available.

 

[Karen-W]

Hmmmmm... Digerness/Sadusky are no longer listed on the ISP. I know they're training bc I follow both of them on IG, so it's a bit surprising that they're no longer listed.

 

[marshallpond]

Hmmmmm... Digerness/Sadusky are no longer listed on the ISP. I know they're training bc I follow both of them on IG, so it's a bit surprising that they're no longer listed.

Nica has a GoFundMe set up on July 7, and the description of her medical needs seems intense. Wishing that she could raise the funds needed for all the medical procedures she needs and a fast recovery.

Donate to Nica's Urgent Treatment Needs Your Help, organized by Savanna McLean

Nica Digerness is a team USA National and International, competitive figure ska… Savanna McLean needs your support for Nica's Urgent Treatment Needs Your Help

www.gofundme.com

 

[barbk]

Nica has a GoFundMe set up on July 7, and the description of her medical needs seems intense. Wishing that she could raise the funds needed for all the medical procedures she needs and a fast recovery.

Donate to Nica's Urgent Treatment Needs Your Help, organized by Savanna McLean

Nica Digerness is a team USA National and International, competitive figure ska… Savanna McLean needs your support for Nica's Urgent Treatment Needs Your Help

www.gofundme.com

I don't know where she needs the PRP, but I had it for achilles tendinitis and it took several months before the area was not painful to pressure, and I wasn't in tight skating boots. It definitely helped, but not quickly.

 

[Karen-W]

JGP #2 Ankara assignments are up on the ISU website but not yet confirmed on the USFS Int'l Assignments page -

Men - Henry Gao, Lucius Kazanecki
Women - Sofia Bezkorovainaya, Sophie Joline von Felten
Pairs - Moss/Galbavy, Jarmoc/Witkowski
Dance - Kouevi/Homawoo, Stapert/Korotcov

 

[Karen-W]

Robin Cousins Cup entries are available on the Sportity app. The US is sending a nice group of athletes.

Sr Men - Samuel Mindra, Michael Xie
Sr Women - Alex Evans, Michelle Lee
Sr Pairs - Fitzpatrick/Bearinger, Flores/Wang
Jr Women - Alayna Coats, Rachel Samiri
Jr Pairs - Kovar/McPike, Meek/Meek

https://twitter.com/x/status/1950448730634666311

 

[Karen-W]

JGP #3 Varese assignments are out - I wonder if some or all of these are placeholders.

Men - Nicholas Brooks (6th at Jr Cup); Aleksandr Fegan (5th at Jr Cup) - still to be assigned from the Top 6 at Jr Cup is Patrick Blackwell (4th) - we have 11 spots total, so 6 more to be assigned (1 Bangkok, 2 in Baku, 2 in Gdansk and 1 in Abu Dhabi)

Women - Annika Chao (6th at Jr Cup); Logan Higase-Chen (WD from Jr Cup; competed this weekend at Philly Summer Champs NQS & posted a 164.08 score in Sr Women) - still to be assigned from the Top 6 at Jr Cup is Emilia Nemirovsky (5th) who posted a stunning 195.87 in Sr Women at the DuPage Open NQS yesterday.

Dance - Robertson/Rohner and Stapert/Korotcov - still to be assigned include Aboian/Veselukhin, Ilin/Cain and the new team of Calhoun/Zheltyshev

 

[peibeck]

I don't think I've ever heard of the Robin Cousins Cup before but for Mindra being there. Hopefully injury free!

 

[Karen-W]

I don't think I've ever heard of the Robin Cousins Cup before but for Mindra being there. Hopefully injury free!

It's a new competition for singles & pairs sponsored by British Ice Skating. They're also hosting a new ice dance comp, Bolero Cup, in September.

 

[Karen-W]

John Nicks IPC entries are out - almost all of the senior US teams listed on the ISP are competing here; and it would seem that all of the junior US teams on the ISP are either competing or listed as substitutes.

Sr teams -
Chan/Howe
Efimova/Mitrofanov
Fitzpatrick/Bearinger
Flores/Wang
Kam/O'Shea
Liu/Bedard (this is a guess - the entry list skips team #11, so that team doesn't seem to have an ISU bio yet & Liu/Bedard are the only US senior team without one)
McBeath/Parkman
Shin/Nagy
Williams/Lewer

Jr teams -
Carpenter/Maravilla
Meek/Meek
Moss/Galbavy

Jr teams listed as substitutes -
Jarmoc/Witkowski
Kovar/McPike
McDanold/Felberbaum
(it's possible that Taich/Apter are also substitutes, but not listed as they don't have an ISU bio yet)

 

[Rukia]

I see we have having early season us nats at this comp

 

[ice coverage]

John Nicks IPC entries are out - almost all of the senior US teams listed on the ISP are competing here; and it would seem that all of the junior US teams on the ISP are either competing or listed as substitutes.

Jr teams -
Carpenter/Maravilla
Jarmoc/Witkowski
Moss/Galbavy

Jr teams listed as substitutes -
Kovar/McPike
McDanold/Felberbaum
Meek/Meek
...

Nicks juniors from Team USA, according to what I am seeing in ISU listings as of now:

Full entries:
Carpenter/Maravilla
Meek/Meek
Moss/Galbavy

Substitutes:
Jarmoc/Witkowski
Kovar/McPike
McDanold/Felberbaum

 

[Karen-W]

Nicks juniors from Team USA, according to what I am seeing in ISU listings as of now:

Full entries:
Carpenter/Maravilla
Meek/Meek
Moss/Galbavy

Substitutes:
Jarmoc/Witkowski
Kovar/McPike
McDanold/Felberbaum

Yes, however, as I noted - if a team doesn't have an ISU bio yet they won't be listed.

The official entries list for Seniors, for example, skips from entry #10 to entry #12. The logical explanation for this is that there is a team listed as entry #11 that does NOT have an ISU bio created yet. As the USA entries are also listed alphabetically, we can further deduce that the missing team has a female partner whose last name is between Ellie KAM and Katie MCBEATH, therefore, entry #11 must be the new team of Chelsea LIU / Ryan BEDARD who do NOT have an ISU bio yet.

Taking that logic as well as the fact that every single US senior and junior pairs teams currently on the ISP with the exception of Plazas/Fernandez is listed as an entry or a substitute for John Nicks, it is POSSIBLE that there is a 4th Substitute team on the Junior list that is not showing up on the ISU official list - Baylen TAICH / Nikolai APTER - because they, like Liu/Bedard, do not have an ISU bio created yet.

 

[ice coverage]

@Karen-W -- you completely missed the point of my previous post.

What I was pointing out is that ISU site says that Jarmoc/Witkowski are substitutes and that Meek/Meek are a full entry.

Whereas your post had said that Jarmoc/Witkowski were a full entry and that Meek/Meek were substitutes.

(I was not responding at all to your ongoing theorizing that certain pairs are "invisible" in the ISU listings.)

 

[Karen-W]

@Karen-W -- you completely missed the point of my previous post.

What I was pointing out is that ISU site says that Jarmoc/Witkowski are substitutes and that Meek/Meek are a full entry.

Whereas your post had said that Jarmoc/Witkowski were a full entry and that Meek/Meek were substitutes.

(I was not responding at all to your theorizing that certain pairs are "invisible" in the ISU listings.)

Oh, gotcha!

It's not as though any of the teams will get any ISU WS points since there are only 2 countries entered. And chances are the substitute teams will be competing in the accompanying Mid Atlantics NQS pairs event.

 

[her grace]

I see we have having early season us nats at this comp

Smart move by USFS. Especially with needing to decide the OQE entry.

 

[Karen-W]

Smart move by USFS. Especially with needing to decide the OQE entry.

Well, the OQE entries are due Aug 15th and word on the street is there will be a competition simulation at Champs Camp next week to decide that. Remember, traveling to China requires time for acquiring visas, so John Nicks may be a little late for that. But this is likely going to be the deciding factor in the SkAm host TBD spot, I'd think.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

John Nicks IPC entries are out - almost all of the senior US teams listed on the ISP are competing here; and it would seem that all of the junior US teams on the ISP are either competing or listed as substitutes.

Sr teams -
Chan/Howe
Efimova/Mitrofanov
Fitzpatrick/Bearinger
Flores/Wang
Kam/O'Shea
Liu/Bedard (this is a guess - the entry list skips team #11, so that team doesn't seem to have an ISU bio yet & Liu/Bedard are the only US senior team without one)
McBeath/Parkman
Shin/Nagy
Williams/Lewer

Jr teams -
Carpenter/Maravilla
Meek/Meek
Moss/Galbavy

Jr teams listed as substitutes -
Jarmoc/Witkowski
Kovar/McPike
McDanold/Felberbaum
(it's possible that Taich/Apter are also substitutes, but not listed as they don't have an ISU bio yet)

Liu/Bedard For the

 

[Karen-W]

Liu/Bedard For the

Yeah, given their individual past performances, I'm gonna say that I don't want to see a competition so messy that Liu/Bedard manage to come out on top. Especially with 1 former WCs, 1 former 2-time 4CCs silver medalists, 1 former 4CCs bronze medalists and EfiMit competing.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Yeah, given their individual past performances, I'm gonna say that I don't want to see a competition so messy that Liu/Bedard manage to come out on top. Especially with 1 former WCs, 1 former 2-time 4CCs silver medalists, 1 former 4CCs bronze medalists and EfiMit competing.

Prayer circle has commenced