2026 U.S. Nationals - St. Louis!

[acraven]

Today I received an email from USFS, announcing sale of tickets for the junior and novice events. Key info is as follows:

"Day passes for all junior and novice events at the 2026 Prevagen U.S. Figure Skating Championships are now on sale! The U.S. Championships will take the ice Jan. 4-11 with the junior and novice competition taking place Jan. 5-6 at Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, Missouri.

"Day passes for competition on Monday, Jan. 5 and Tuesday, Jan. 6 can be purchased for $33 per day, including taxes and fees.

"Official practice sessions on Sunday, Jan. 4 are free and open to the public."

Refer to skipaway's post (above) for the schedule.

The $33 price includes taxes and fees. This purports to be the place to buy tickets for the junior and novice events: https://stlsports.org/special-event/2026-us-figure-skating-championships/junior-novice-tickets/. However, the webpage isn't responding for me at the moment.

 

[my little pony]

when I went to Nationals in STL, my seat was in a row by itself and kind of high up like a lifeguard but not quite that high. I wonder if it still there it was rather awkward.

 

[Karen-W]

The fields for Nationals have been announced/confirmed by USFS today:

Senior Women:
Starr Andrews (bye)
Sarah Everhardt (bye)
Brooke Gewalt (national score)
Amber Glenn (bye)
Logan Higase-Chen (Midwestern Final)
Sonja Hilmer (national score)
Josephine Lee (bye)
Isabeau Levito (bye)
Elyce Lin-Gracey (bye)
Alysa Liu (bye)
Erica Machida (national score)
Emilia Nemirovsky (Midwestern Final)
Katie Shen (Pacific Coast Final)
Bradie Tennell (bye)
Sophie Joline von Felten (Eastern Final)
Anabel Wallace (Pacific Coast Final)
Sherry Zhang (bye)
Ava Ziegler (Eastern Final)

Senior Men:
Will Annis (Eastern Final)
Jason Brown (bye)
Lorenzo Elano (Midwestern Final)
Goku Endo (Pacific Coast Final)
Tomoki Hiwatashi (bye)
Liam Kapeikis (bye)
Lucius Kazanecki (bye)
Kai Kovar (national score)
Jimmy Ma (bye)
Ilia Malinin (bye)
Daniel Martynov (Midwestern Final)
Samuel Mindra (Pacific Coast Final)
Maxim Naumov (bye)
Camden Pulkinen (bye)
Jacob Sanchez (bye)
Emmanuel Savary (Eastern Final)
Andrew Torgashev (bye)
Michael Xie (national score)

Senior Pairs:
Emily Chan and Spencer Akira Howe (bye)
Sydney Cooke and Matthew Kennedy (U.S. Pairs Final)
Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov (bye)
Linzy Fitzpatrick and Keaton Bearinger (U.S. Pairs Final)
Olivia Flores and Luke Wang (bye)
Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea (bye)
Chelsea Liu and Ryan Bedard (bye)
Katie McBeath and Daniil Parkman (bye)
Valentina Plazas and Maximiliano Fernandez (bye)
Audrey Shin and Balazs Nagy (bye)
Naomi Williams and Lachlan Lewer (bye)

Senior Ice Dance:
Emily Bratti and Ian Somerville (bye)
Oona Brown and Gage Brown (bye)
Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko (bye)
Madison Chock and Evan Bates (bye)
Amy Cui and Jonathan Rogers (U.S. Ice Dance Final)
Isabella Flores and Linus Colmor Jepsen (U.S. Ice Dance Final)
Caroline Green and Michael Parsons (bye)
Raffaella Koncius and Alexey Schepetov (U.S. Ice Dance Final)
Leah Neset and Artem Markelov (bye)
Eva Pate and Logan Bye (bye)
Elliana Peal and Ethan Peal (U.S. Ice Dance Final)
Vanessa Pham and Anton Spiridonov (U.S. Ice Dance Final)
Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani (bye)
Katarina Wolfkostin and Dimitry Tsarevski (bye)
Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik (bye)

Junior Women:
Sofia Bezkorovainaya (Eastern Final, junior)
Annika Chao (Pacific Coast Final, junior)
Madison Chong (Eastern Final, junior)
Alayna Coats (Pacific Coast Final, junior)
Mia Iwase (Eastern Final, junior)
Jiaying Ellyse Johnson (Midwestern Final, junior)
Jessica Jurka (Midwestern Final, junior)
Hannah Kim (Pacific Coast Final, junior)
Candice Leung (Pacific Coast Final, novice)
Deborah Liu (Eastern Final, novice)
Penelope Ogorelkoff (Eastern Final, novice)
Cleo Park (Pacific Coast Final, junior)
Rachel Samiri (Pacific Coast Final, novice)
Angela Shao (Midwestern Final, junior)
Mia Smith (Midwestern Final, novice)
Kaya Tiernan (Eastern Final, junior)
Stella Vajda (Midwestern Final, novice)
Annabelle Wilkins (Midwestern Final, junior)

Junior Men:
Ryan William Azadpour (Pacific Coast Final, junior)
Patrick Blackwell (Eastern Final, junior)
Nicholas Brooks (Pacific Coast Final, junior)
Thomas Chen (Midwestern Final, junior)
Zenith Chen (Midwestern Final, novice)
Caleb Farrington (Eastern Final, junior)
Aleksandr Fegan (Eastern Final, junior)
Kirk Haugeto (Pacific Coast Final, junior)
Michael Jin (Pacific Coast Final, novice)
Michael Khavin (Eastern Final, novice)
Zachary LoPinto (Eastern Final, junior)
Louis Mallane (Midwestern Final, junior)
Ryedin Rudedenman (Pacific Coast Final, junior)
Joshua Snyder (Midwestern Final, junior)
Hitonari Tani (Eastern Final, novice)
Alek Tankovic (Midwestern Final, junior)
Mike Weng (Midwestern Final, novice)
Jesse Zhong (Pacific Coast Final, novice)

Junior Pairs:
Sofia Jarmoc and Luke Witkowski (U.S. Pairs Final, junior)
Gabrielle Kaplan and Carter Griffin (U.S. Pairs Final, junior)
Alena Kerr and Sam Herbert (U.S. Pairs Final, junior)
Milada Kovar and Jared McPike (U.S. Pairs Final, junior)
Addyson McDanold and Aaron Felberbaum (U.S. Pairs Final, junior)
Juliet Meek and Devin Meek (U.S. Pairs Final, junior)
Reagan Moss and Jakub Galbavy (bye)
Kaitlyn Oh and Michael Chapa (U.S. Pairs Final, junior)
Baylen Taich and Nickolai Apter (U.S. Pairs Final, junior)

Junior Ice Dance:
Hana Maria Aboian and Daniil Veselukhin (bye)
Jane Calhoun and Mark Zheltyshev (U.S. Ice Dance Final, junior)
Marian Carhardt and Denis Bledsoe (U.S. Ice Dance Final, junior)
Effie Chen and Gordei Chitipakhovian (U.S. Ice Dance Final, junior)
Michelle Deych and Ryan Hu (U.S. Ice Dance Final, junior)
Sophia Feige and Wiles Middlekauff (U.S. Ice Dance Final, junior)
Grace Fischer and Luke Fisher (U.S. Ice Dance Final, junior)
Clara Fugate and Warren Fugate (U.S. Ice Dance Final, junior)
Anaelle Kouevi and Yann Homawoo (U.S. Ice Dance Final, junior)
Jasmine Robertson and Chase Rohner (bye)
Annelise Stapert and Maxim Korotcov (U.S. Ice Dance Final, junior)
Aneta Vaclavikova and William Lissauer (U.S. Ice Dance Final, junior)

Novice Pairs:
Amelia Chen and Tristan Yacktman (U.S. Pairs Final, novice)
Elizabeth Hansen and Hudson Lewis (U.S. Pairs Final, novice)
Olivia Jung and Laz Lune (U.S. Pairs Final, novice)
Tiffany Kim and Ian Spencer (U.S. Pairs Final, novice)

Novice Ice Dance:
Sophia Kartashov and Nicholas Kartashov (U.S. Ice Dance Final, novice)
Natalie Leitan and Nathan Leitan (U.S. Ice Dance Final, novice)
Katherine Li and James Zhu (U.S. Ice Dance Final, novice)
Rylen Lukanin and Patrick O’Brien (U.S. Ice Dance Final, novice)
Anna Waugh and Mathew Jacoby (U.S. Ice Dance Final, novice)

 

[waltzonice]

I am flying in on Tuesday morning Jan 6th and have 5 nights booked at the Magnolia downtown - 19 minute walk to the Enterprise Center according to Google Maps. I was planning on taking an Uber to the Centene Center from the airport to watch Juniors. Does anyone know if there will be any place for me to store my luggage at the Centene center? I will probably take another Uber to the Magnolia at the end of the day, unless there is a better USFS shuttle option.

 

[AJ Skatefan]

What is the official hotel?

 

[CassAgain]

Mr. Cass just surprised me with tickets to the free dance and men’s finals for Saturday night. I am so excited! We live close enough to St. Louis to drive up Saturday and back Sunday. I am too busy that week to go to the whole event and thought we would probably just skip it. So happy to be wrong!

 

[peibeck]

I am flying in on Tuesday morning Jan 6th and have 5 nights booked at the Magnolia downtown - 19 minute walk to the Enterprise Center according to Google Maps. I was planning on taking an Uber to the Centene Center from the airport to watch Juniors. Does anyone know if there will be any place for me to store my luggage at the Centene center? I will probably take another Uber to the Magnolia at the end of the day, unless there is a better USFS shuttle option.

I would not count on being able to bring your luggage and store it at Centene Center, but you can call them at 314-461-2244 to find out.

 

[peibeck]

St. Louis Missouri Attractions: Union Station Must-See List

www.stlouisunionstation.com

Above is a link to the renovated Union Station which is about 2 blocks from Enterprise Center. There are restaurants and concessions there (some have menus you can view on the website), as well as other entertainment options including the St Louis Aquarium and a large Ferris Wheel to get a high view of downtown STL. The Hilton brand Union Station hotel is connected to this venue. The Drury Inn is one block west, as I know some of you have booked there.

 

[Cayuse]

Has anyone heard anything more about a shuttle being offered to the Centene Ice Center to watch the novice and junior competitions?

 

[Capt. DeSoto]

I would not count on being able to bring your luggage and store it at Centene Center, but you can call them at 314-461-2244 to find out.

I think they could have the casino hotel next door hold their luggage (especially if it's before check-in time). I'm betting they'll just assume they have a room there, and put the luggage in their storage room and give out a receipt tag and think nothing more of it. If they ask OP about the reservation, OP could just say something like "I'm here on business, nobody else has arrived yet, and I don't have any of the reservation details yet".

 

[ice coverage]

Because of revamping of USFS website ...

Official webpage:

2026 U.S. Figure Skating Championships - St. Louis

The St. Louis Sports Commission and Enterprise Center are proud to welcome the 2026 Prevagen U.S. Figure Skating Championships to St. Louis...

stlsports.org

skatestlouis2026.com (as mentioned in presser and by KSDK) redirects there.

The new USFS home page no longer seems to have a link to the USFS event page for Nats, but it can be reached via:

usfigureskating.org/26champs​

which redirects to​

https://usfigureskating.org/sports/2025/11/3/2026-prevagen-us-figure-skating-championships.aspx​

The USFS event page for Nats covers a couple of things (such as Boitano's Lounge, including Hall of Fame panel) that I have not seen anywhere on the St. Louis Sports Commission site.

Below is the link to USFS competitor list for Nats (which I think is a different URL from when press release originally was published on Nov 26?):

https://usfigureskating.org/news/20...e-skating-championships-lineup-announced.aspx​

The first update to the list was Dec 1 withdrawal of Cooke/Kennedy from senior pairs.

 

[jkl]

The 1976 Olympic Figure Skating Team will be honored in St Louis on the 50th Anniversary of their
Olympic Experience.

 

[peibeck]

For people staying downtown for the event looking for fresh foods there is Schnuck's Downtown at 315 N. 9th Street (about a 10-15 minute walk northeast of Enterprise Center, depending on traffic and lights). It's a fully stocked grocery store, the only one in the downtown area.

For anyone staying in one of the hotels on Washington Avenue there is also a DGX (a grocery store chain connected to the Dollar General chain), which has pre-made salads/sandwiches, etc. It appears they have snacks and fruits/veggies as well. The location is 622 Washington Avenue, just east of the convention center and the Embassy Suites (so by a metro stop).

Metro-Link (train) and Metro Transit (bus) information including routes and fare information can be found here: https://www.metrostlouis.org/ I'd recommend checking weekly for service changes at stations.

 

[peibeck]

I think they could have the casino hotel next door hold their luggage (especially if it's before check-in time). I'm betting they'll just assume they have a room there, and put the luggage in their storage room and give out a receipt tag and think nothing more of it. If they ask OP about the reservation, OP could just say something like "I'm here on business, nobody else has arrived yet, and I don't have any of the reservation details yet".

While they are "next door" it is actually about a 15 minute walk from the arena to Hollywood Casino and taking a quick look on Google Maps, I don't see any sidewalks linking the two. The photos there are from when Centenne was under construction so maybe they have been added, but....

 

[~tapdancer~]

After watching the GPF on Peacock and the wonderful commentary of Ted and Mark, I am seriously dreading the NBC (except Terry G) team commentary. Congrats to all who will be attending in person, you are the lucky ones.

 

[skipaway]

After watching the GPF on Peacock and the wonderful commentary of Ted and Mark, I am seriously dreading the NBC (except Terry G) team commentary. Congrats to all who will be attending in person, you are the lucky ones.

Well we will have to endure Ashley Wagner screeching at us. She was unbearable in Boston…fortunately I brought my airpods with their noise cancellation feature.

 

[Aceon6]

After watching the GPF on Peacock and the wonderful commentary of Ted and Mark, I am seriously dreading the NBC (except Terry G) team commentary. Congrats to all who will be attending in person, you are the lucky ones.

IIRC, last year they had an international feed that featured less obnoxious commentary. Fingers crossed!

 

[Oreo]

Well we will have to endure Ashley Wagner screeching at us. She was unbearable in Boston…fortunately I brought my airpods with their noise cancellation feature.

Yeah, I was about at my limit hearing Ashley yell "Give it up for!!!..." over and over and over. However, worst of all, was sitting next to a screamer who screamed at every.single.landed.jump--to the point it kept setting off the high decibel alert on my watch. So I'm not sure which is the more torturous: arena screamers or Tara and Johnny.