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From what I've read to date, by idiots who think she's in a team sport, like a synchro team.
U.S. Ice Dance 2018-19 season news & updates
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hopefully the orange slime will be history by then and someone with a brain will fix immigration a bit. Too bad she wasn't from Russia.
Well, of course on some level I'd love to see this happen now that my favorite currently competing team is in fourth; but I'm going to say the same thing I said after USFSA sent Hawayek & Baker over Hubbell & Donohue back in 2015, which is that you don't do this. Not unless a team actually wants to skip 4CCs. 4CCs and Europeans are serious business in dance. They set you up for Worlds and if you don't show, you open the door for someone else to get that setup heading into Worlds. What happened in 2015? We sent Hawayek & Baker to 4CCs, and Hubbell & Donohue couldn't take advantage of the mistakes made by teams that went because H&D weren't there. And then off they go to Worlds where they get dumped below Gilles & Poirier, Monko & Khaliavin, and Stepanova & Bukin. As far as Hawayek & Baker were concerned, the 4CC points did help them hold onto their GP eligible World Standing during the following two tough seasons; but I'd guess it also made the struggle to live up to expectations in 2015-16 tougher. And that was a tough season.
In the end, I really believe that both McNamara & Carpenter and Carreira & Ponomarenko will be the stronger for the tough road. All the three young U.S. teams in 4-6th have already demonstrated this to some extent this season. They've all defeated the teams that just finished 5th & 6th at Europeans. These young teams have competed so ferociously against each other for so long. They still have a lot to learn; but you know, when they get the opportunity, they'll know they earned it.
In the end, I really believe that both McNamara & Carpenter and Carreira & Ponomarenko will be the stronger for the tough road. All the three young U.S. teams in 4-6th have already demonstrated this to some extent this season. They've all defeated the teams that just finished 5th & 6th at Europeans. These young teams have competed so ferociously against each other for so long. They still have a lot to learn; but you know, when they get the opportunity, they'll know they earned it.
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I didn't even remember USFS chose Hawayek/Baker to do 4CC over Hubbell/Donohue back in 2015.
Aside from U.S. teams likely wanting the additional comp experience, and let's not forget that rankings points from 4CC can help boost or maintain a team's grouping in the RD draw at Worlds, with 4CC being in the U.S., I'm sure USFS wanted the top teams there.
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They only "earned" it, just like H/D and C/B only "earned" it if the assigning Fed decides that's the way it determines spots. Other Feds use Euros/4C's as skate-offs, monitoring, or the spread the wealth of WS points, which became crucial to starting orders. And Feds can change that strategy, just like the Canadian Fed is doing in Ladies this year to select its Worlds team.
For a counter-example, there's Gilles/Poirier. They missed the Olympics in 2014 and then went to 4C's, where they earned a bucket of WS points, which put them skating in the second half for Worlds 2014, while their main rivals, Paul/Islam, who went to the Olympics, skated in the first half, just like in the Olympics, drawing 16/32 teams in the SD. G/P drew 30/32. G/P put over a point between them in the SD to land in the penultimate group for the FD, while P/I skated in the group before the ice cut. G/P beat P/I by over 5 points in total, and that established the internal and international hierarchy, Gadbois or no Gadbois.
All three of C/M, C/P, and P/P will lose most of their WS points from junior championships at the end of this season, between 2016-17 dropping off and 2017-18 being factored by 70%. That puts them at a great disadvantage for GP RD starting order next season, where C/M started 9/10 at both of their GPs this year, the Parsons 7/9 and 7/10, and C/P 6/10 and 9/9.
Federation strategy doesn't have to be only "Which Pair can help to get us two spots back?"
ETA:
H/B are currently 12th in WS, 8th when you remove T/M, the Shibs, B/S, and C/L. They are assured a spot in the penultimate group at Worlds, regardless of 4C's assignment. It would take a very unlikely combination of events with H/D, C/B, W/P, and G/P there for them to earn enough points at 4C's to get into the last group. They need to be worrying about FB/S, IMO.
For a counter-example, there's Gilles/Poirier. They missed the Olympics in 2014 and then went to 4C's, where they earned a bucket of WS points, which put them skating in the second half for Worlds 2014, while their main rivals, Paul/Islam, who went to the Olympics, skated in the first half, just like in the Olympics, drawing 16/32 teams in the SD. G/P drew 30/32. G/P put over a point between them in the SD to land in the penultimate group for the FD, while P/I skated in the group before the ice cut. G/P beat P/I by over 5 points in total, and that established the internal and international hierarchy, Gadbois or no Gadbois.
All three of C/M, C/P, and P/P will lose most of their WS points from junior championships at the end of this season, between 2016-17 dropping off and 2017-18 being factored by 70%. That puts them at a great disadvantage for GP RD starting order next season, where C/M started 9/10 at both of their GPs this year, the Parsons 7/9 and 7/10, and C/P 6/10 and 9/9.
Federation strategy doesn't have to be only "Which Pair can help to get us two spots back?"
ETA:
H/B are currently 12th in WS, 8th when you remove T/M, the Shibs, B/S, and C/L. They are assured a spot in the penultimate group at Worlds, regardless of 4C's assignment. It would take a very unlikely combination of events with H/D, C/B, W/P, and G/P there for them to earn enough points at 4C's to get into the last group. They need to be worrying about FB/S, IMO.
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I think the US has no good options when it comes to 4CC dance spots. On one hand, you don't want to hamper your top 3 teams heading into Worlds. On the other, you have three more very good young teams who could really use the boost from that kind of high level competition, but whose seasons are over now.
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I think they did. This is not a top three where all three teams had a realistic shot at Worlds medals or even top 5. It may or may not be important for H/B to show they can beat FB/S before Worlds, although an upset over G/P would be very important, if a stretch, with G/P's SB over 16 pts ahead of H/B's SB, CAN #2 close to CAN #1 vs. US #3 not that close to US #2, if US Nats is any indication.
I'm not choosing drama and Mitchell emoticons over this. I just think that some math and subtlety should be included in the decision.
The concept that someone needs to "earn" a spot through multiple criteria and/or dominance, ie, removing any question, is not unheard of.
I'm not choosing drama and Mitchell emoticons over this. I just think that some math and subtlety should be included in the decision.
The concept that someone needs to "earn" a spot through multiple criteria and/or dominance, ie, removing any question, is not unheard of.
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One of my colleagues at work happens to be active with the SC of San Francisco. We've already learned Manta/Johnson's arm movements from their choreographic step sequence. We're flapping / flailing at each other each time we walk past in the hallway. 
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^^^ I do them walking down Santa Monica Boulevard today. Just sayin.
Oh, and can I just say her new makeover COMMANDS the ice.. before I wouldn't pay much attention to them.. Now, Im addicted. lol
Oh, and can I just say her new makeover COMMANDS the ice.. before I wouldn't pay much attention to them.. Now, Im addicted. lol
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I just noticed Manta & Johnson received a one point deduction in the free... What was it for??
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The protocols say extended lift.
Best wishes to Elizabeth Tkachenko & Alexei Kiliakov and Jordan Lin & Morgan Sletten (first international assignment abroad for L/S) in the Adv. Novice Dance event at the Egna Dance Trophy in Italy this weekend (they compete Feb. 1-2) - photo of the 2019 U.S. Novice gold & silver medalists backstage at Nationals: https://twitter.com/LynnRutherford/status/1087925604383629314
Bavarian Open (Feb. 5-10 in Oberstdorf GER) will be the Team USA ice dance team debuts of Ella Ales & Daniel Tsarik (7th in Junior) and siblings Elliana & Ethan Peal (4th in Novice).
Bavarian Open (Feb. 5-10 in Oberstdorf GER) will be the Team USA ice dance team debuts of Ella Ales & Daniel Tsarik (7th in Junior) and siblings Elliana & Ethan Peal (4th in Novice).
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No, they are just very good friends 
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I guess it explains why Ales/Tsarik were seen wearing TEAM USA jackets before there were results or assignments?
Oops!
Good Lord, not even video can keep this sport honest!
Oops!
Good Lord, not even video can keep this sport honest!
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I don't see anything wrong with Ales & Tsarik having an international assignment. Post-Nationals assignments to the Bavarian Open usually go to 1. the top novice teams and 2. an occasional junior team that missed out on internationals but placed well at nationals. I would think that Cesanek & Yehorov clearly had the more successful season, but my assumption is that something is up here with the country switch that is impeding their ability to compete internationally at the moment. (Not sure what. If the plan is to compete for Ukraine, then I would have thought they would have gone straight onto the JGP. UKR has two top junior teams, but probably had more berths?) If the plan is to compete for the U.S., then it would have been nice to see C&Y on the Junior Worlds sub list and get an international. They clearly earned one, IMO, regardless of the fact that they are aging up to seniors along with Haines & Koszuta and Efimova & Petrov.
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E/P I think split???? Someone can confirm?
FYI, we asked Michael and Rachel Parsons at the FOFS breakfast on Sunday if they were keeping their new FD for next season and they both said yes which made me very happy since I really enjoyed it in the competition. Poor Michael has NO idea how he fell during their performance. He said one minute he was skating and everything was great and the next he was on his rear wondering WTH just happened. He had a great attitude about it though which just made me like both of them even more. They were great!
I really liked their Queen FD, it was a different look for them and a good one. Obviously, the program would have looked more polished if they had worked on it all season, so I'm glad they are keeping it and I'm looking forward to seeing it with more practice.
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And it's not going to get any easier. We don't know if the Shibs will come back, and it will be hard if they do unless they bring something new and different. Even with H/D and C/B likely retiring at the end of this quad, there continues to be lots of depth in U.S. ice dance, and few international opportunities to compete.
The U.S. ice dance junior nationals competition was a battle royal between the top four teams, especially between 1 & 2, and between 3 & 4 respectively. If not for Avonley Nguyen's error in the RD, it's possible Nguyen/Kolesnik might have edged the Green sibs for the overall win. As it was, N/K won the FD and made up ground from the points they lost in the RD, but it was under by less than 2 points the amount they needed to overtake the Greens.
https://www.ice-dance.com/site/getting-to-know-avonley-nguyen-vadym-kolesnik/
And boy are there so many U.S. ice dance sibling teams: Parsons in seniors; Greens, Udells, Purnells, Elders, Browns -- all juniors; & the Peals in novice! Gage and Oona Brown look like fraternal twins. They ooze skill and cuteness. Ian Somerville was disappointed with his and Eliana Gropman's scores for both programs. But Ian & Eliana at least managed to grab third place overall after having placed 4th by a small margin in the RD.
The Greens, Gropman and Nguyen are all from the Cleveland, Ohio area, but I've never seen a local media outlet do any features on them.
Of course, Nguyen is training in Novi, Michigan and the others in Maryland, but that's no excuse for not acknowledging and celebrating their local origins.
Interestingly, I thought the second to last place team, siblings Claire and Lucas Purnell, are slightly mismatched in terms of ability. Lucas seems a bit more skilled than his sister. But the Purnells are being trained by Zoueva, so perhaps they will both improve and begin to match each other better.
The U.S. ice dance junior nationals competition was a battle royal between the top four teams, especially between 1 & 2, and between 3 & 4 respectively. If not for Avonley Nguyen's error in the RD, it's possible Nguyen/Kolesnik might have edged the Green sibs for the overall win. As it was, N/K won the FD and made up ground from the points they lost in the RD, but it was under by less than 2 points the amount they needed to overtake the Greens.
https://www.ice-dance.com/site/getting-to-know-avonley-nguyen-vadym-kolesnik/
And boy are there so many U.S. ice dance sibling teams: Parsons in seniors; Greens, Udells, Purnells, Elders, Browns -- all juniors; & the Peals in novice! Gage and Oona Brown look like fraternal twins. They ooze skill and cuteness. Ian Somerville was disappointed with his and Eliana Gropman's scores for both programs. But Ian & Eliana at least managed to grab third place overall after having placed 4th by a small margin in the RD.
The Greens, Gropman and Nguyen are all from the Cleveland, Ohio area, but I've never seen a local media outlet do any features on them.
Of course, Nguyen is training in Novi, Michigan and the others in Maryland, but that's no excuse for not acknowledging and celebrating their local origins.Interestingly, I thought the second to last place team, siblings Claire and Lucas Purnell, are slightly mismatched in terms of ability. Lucas seems a bit more skilled than his sister. But the Purnells are being trained by Zoueva, so perhaps they will both improve and begin to match each other better.
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The Greens, Gropman and Nguyen are all from the Cleveland, Ohio area, but I've never seen a local media outlet do any features on them. Of course, they are all training now in Maryland, but that's no excuse for not acknowledging and celebrating their local origins.
Of course, they are all training now in Maryland, but that's no excuse for not acknowledging and celebrating their local origins.
They are from DC area, Maryland and Virginia. On the other note, I watched Russian Junior Nationals today and I think it will be a tough uphill battle for US Junior teams to compete in the coming seasons. I am very impressed with skills level in Russian juniors and other ''softer'' qualities that are so valuable in ice dance.
Russia’s got a really strong dance program, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say the USA has an uphill battle in the coming seasons. Three of the top four teams at Russian nationals age out after this season. Ushakova/Nekrasov will still be around (and will probably dominate), but the U.S. will also have one of the biggest names still in junior next season: Nguyen/Kolesnik. And the top junior American teams are very young and should only get better with age. I’m excited to see how the Americans, Russians, and Canadians—who have several not young, but not on the cusp of aging out teams—do against each other in the coming seasons.
Way to go!No, I didn't forget them. They're included in the "very young" teams who are only going to get better with age. I mentioned only two teams by name and they are the ones who will be returning from the JGP Final. Right now, Nguyen/Kolesnik have the bigger international reputation having beaten Russian teams in international junior competitions and having qualified to the JGP Final. The Greens can, of course, build their reputation at Jr. Worlds and in other future competitions. Their future looks bright, too.