U.S. Ladies [#24]: Starr-Ting Order/Detailed Classification

[Frau Muller]

My great hope is that Amber Glenn make it to the final flight of 5. So glad to see that she’s on an upward trend.

 

[concorde]

Curious about Starr. She started the season as a front runner and now quiet. Not sure what (if anything) to make of that.

 

[Sylvia]

My great hope is that Amber Glenn make it to the final flight of 5. So glad to see that she’s on an upward trend.

I'm glad, too.

Curious about Starr. She started the season as a front runner and now quiet. Not sure what (if anything) to make of that.

What do you mean by "quiet"?

 

[Frau Muller]

I’m wondering if, in her latest Sectionals (if she went), Starr was able to improve on her 2018 Skate Canada score 174.72? Upward trend?

 

[aftershocks]

^^ Starr Andrews has a bye to U.S. Nationals, AFAIK.

And @concorde, just because we aren't hearing noise or talk or buzz from a skater, is not an indication of anything. Starr is surely taking care of her business. I look forward to seeing her in competition in Detroit!
I get the feels watching Amber. Hold it together beautiful lady!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irbGIcDqY30 Lombardia Trophy sp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Rt8Z1oJujg Lombardia fp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9JW7zlNvWY Sectionals 2018-19 sp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-vKZocoQIo Sectionals 2018-19 fp

Both lovely songs. Work it all out Amber, put your heartache in the past and do your thing!

 

[Sylvia]

Starr had a bye through Sectionals due to her 2 GP events (plus 2 Challengers). ETA an excerpt from an article on Starr that I posted recently in this thread (post #474):

Andrews is hard at work in preparation, including some lessons at the Debbie Allen Dance Academy in Los Angeles to improve her interpretation of the music.

“I’m definitely training my programs a lot,” said Andrews. “I’m focusing on my artistry and, of course, my technical, but I want my artistry to stand out a lot when I do Nationals. I’ve also been working on my stamina and my speed—improving on everything.”

SENIOR LADIES (Sectional FS scores of 100+ are noted below):

E1-6: Ting Cui, Baltimore FSC SA-bye (181.19, 119.09 FS), Megan Wessenberg, Mitchell Johansson Method NE-bye/NE1 (167.79, 104.44 FS), Julia Biechler, Colonial FSC NE4 (159.63, 101.17 FS), Rena Ikenishi, SC of New York NA1 (157.44, 101.46 FS), Heidi Munger, Mitchell Johansson Method NE3 (154.11), Emmy Ma, Mitchell Johansson Method NE-bye (145.05)

M1-4: Amber Glenn, Dallas FSC SW-bye (184.63, 117.88 FS), Hanna Harrell, Dallas FSC SW-bye (173.05, 114.95 FS), Pooja Kalyan, Ozark FSC SW-bye (157.48, 105.85 FS), Hannah Miller, Lansing SC EGL-bye/EGL1 (154.78, 104.97 FS)

P1-4: Alysa Liu, St. Moritz ISC CP1 (212.97, 138.03 FS), Akari Nakahara, All Year FSC SWP-bye (169.06, 107.88 FS), Brynne McIsaac, Los Angeles FSC SWP-bye (161.73, 105.43 FS), Sierra Venetta, SC of San Francisco CP2 (160.72)

ETA - Senior national debuts in Detroit (9): Liu, Cui, Kalyan, Harrell, Nakahara, Ashley Lin (ETA: bye through Sectionals this year; qualified but WD last year), Venetta, Biechler, Ikenishi (latter 2 first time qualifying for "big" Nationals).

 

[UGG]

I absolutely abhor the mindset of some skaters blaming their athletic failure on "mental problems." This shouldn't be encouraged as it doesn't do anyone any good. That being said, Gold or Karen Chen can do what they want as far as withdrawing goes. I don't know what the big deal is. It's really no different from any skater withdrawing from any competition.

Hu??????

 

[Willin]

@aftershocks Ikr! I want Amber to kill it out there. I hope she can find consistency because she's a great skater.

 

[Frau Muller]

So we haven’t seen Starr in a while. Hard to tell if she’s “trending” up or down since Skate Canada. Hoping for a happy surprise.

 

[Lizziebeth]

Starr seems very determined. I think she's at home working hard. Hope she has a great nationals.

 

[aftershocks]

@aftershocks Ikr! I want Amber to kill it out there. I hope she can find consistency because she's a great skater.

Right. Amber also should not get down on herself for a few mistakes. She should celebrate her positive progress and look at things glass half-full. A big key to success is staying upbeat and positive in every situation.

Everyone makes mistakes. It's how you learn from them, welcome the challenges, apply the lessons, and move forward that counts! Understand what causes the minor miscues, and stride ahead with confidence in fixing what's needed. Don't allow an overly sensitive or negative approach. Amber has beautiful programs and blazing talent. #JustBelieve!

 

[concorde]

Curious about Starr. She started the season as a front runner and now quiet. Not sure what (if anything) to make of that.

Just wanted to follow up on my posting.

By "quiet" I meant not alot of social media postings that overflowed here. It just seemed that over the summer, there were alot of references to her on this board. Now not so. Why the change? Has she (and her team) quit posting or is it more a function of her scores earlier in the season which trickled down to less hype?

I do think she will be in the mix.

 

[olympic]

Just curious, are you excluding Ting and Alysa from Bradie and Mariah’s competition? Granted, Ting only has one score in the range of Bradie and Mariah’s scores and Alysa’s scores are all domestic, but I don’t see it quite as clear cut as this.

In my initial post, I had indicated that there was a big gap this year that I hadn’t seen in over a decade. For me there were more outside shots at the podium in years past than there are this year

 

[concorde]

So we haven’t seen Starr in a while. Hard to tell if she’s “trending” up or down since Skate Canada.

That is exactly my point!

 

[Tinami Amori]

P1-4: Alysa Liu, St. Moritz ISC CP1 (212.97, 138.03 FS).

 

[Vagabond]

Heaven forbid any skater should neglect social media and concentrate on training, studying, and getting out for some fresh air instead!

 

[VGThuy]

Heaven forbid any skater should neglect social media and concentrate on training, studying, and getting out for some fresh air instead!

Agreed. People shouldn't be afraid of silence. It mostly means the skater is getting down to business and training while juggling school and/or other normal outside the rink things in their life. There's nothing out there to indicate there's something bad going on.

 

[DimaToe]

Starr went from a “skating for fun” skater to one of the top names in U.S. women’s skating, I believe she will be right up there at nationals, not make the world team but top 5 seems about right. She reminds me a lot of Wagner, not the most talented of her generation but her determination will give her more than most think she can accomplish.

 

[aftershocks]

Seriously, some of you are acting as if Starr Andrews (ignorantly termed a 'novelty act' by DL & cohort) has somehow gone missing on a desert island or something. Starr has gorgeous programs and huge talent! We saw her this season, not so long ago!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKxywnk_Rd4 season debut at Asian Open (sp)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5L7v33Kd_A Asian Open (fp)

At the Asian Open event, the skaters looked like they were skating on clouds due to the vapor that appeared to be rising from the ice surface.

Starr started out well in competition over the summer, and then she ran into some minor setbacks when the season started. But it's all part of the growth process. She celebrated her 17th b'day last June. I really could have done without TSL's ignoramous bashing of Starr at the start of the season. However, hopefully the idiotic dissing never got back to Starr and her mother. Certainly, Starr has better things to focus on, and I'm sure she's been working hard preparing for Nationals.

Flashback to Starr's senior Nationals debut last year:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cc9d5wJbUxg sp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcDEkyCgoLw fp (overcome with emotion) a fantastic senior debut!

Because Starr's surname begins with an 'A', her pretty face is the first that greets us in the 2018-19 USFS program guide (skater bios). How sweet is that!
https://usfigureskatingfanzone.com/roster.aspx?path=figureskate

 

[Tinami Amori]

Agreed. People shouldn't be afraid of silence. It mostly means the skater is getting down to business and training while juggling school and/or other normal outside the rink things in their life. There's nothing out there to indicate there's something bad going on.

To me it means an athlete is doing what athlete is supposed to do - practice and work... when an athlete is too involved in social media, i start thinking it is a gimmick to gain popularity and indirectly an advantage in sports.

 

[Frau Muller]

Numbers-wise, Alysa has this in the bag, right? Assuming that all skate clean, is there really a contest? I prefer Bradie and Mariah - and even Amber - overall and would love for one of them to go into Worlds as the USA National champ but I don’t think it will happen.

We wouldn’t be the only country with an age-ineligible champ; Russia just had to dig down to its 4th-placed skater to find someone who is age-eligible for Worlds. It’s happened before here (Mirai in ‘08), so it’s not the end of the World.

 

[Debbie S]

Numbers-wise, Alysa has this in the bag, right?

No, she doesn't "have this in the bag" b/c it's a competition, and anything can happen. Everyone landing all of their jumps and completing all of their technical elements cleanly and beautifully would be wonderful, but odds are, that's not going to happen. That's why there is a *competition* to determine a winner. And of course, there is the standard disclaimer about not comparing scores across different judging panels - really, a panel at a domestic qualifying event may be very different from a national championships panel (usually most, if not all, Nats judges have int'l appointments, many are World/Oly-level judges).

 

[Frau Muller]

No, she doesn't "have this in the bag" b/c it's a competition, and anything can happen. Everyone landing all of their jumps and completing all of their technical elements cleanly and beautifully would be wonderful, but odds are, that's not going to happen. That's why there is a *competition* to determine a winner. And of course, there is the standard disclaimer about not comparing scores across different judging panels - really, a panel at a domestic qualifying event may be very different from a national championships panel (usually most, if not all, Nats judges have int'l appointments, many are World/Oly-level judges).

I said if all skate cleanly. There’s such a huge divide between Alysa’s raw capabilities and next-best. It’s a competition but I truly hope that all will skate cleanly. Clean skates by all = Alysa the sure champ. Period. End of story. I’d hate for anybody to win because someone fell 3 or 4 times...

 

[Frida80]

I said if all skate cleanly. There’s such a huge divide between Alysa’s raw capabilities and next-best. It’s a competition but I truly hope that all will skate cleanly. Clean skates by all = Alysa the sure champ. Period. End of story. I’d hate for anybody to win because someone fell 3 or 4 times...

If everyone skates clean, Bradie will win. She already got a 219 last year at nationals with a lower base value. She simply has a larger gap in PCS that Alysa can't make up through her jumps.

 

[Debbie S]

There’s such a huge divide between Alysa’s raw capabilities and next-best.

Figure skating is not just about "raw capabilities" and total score is not just about the tech elements.

 

[Ena Grins]

I've gone back and forth over whether a clean Alysa beats a clean Bradie. Bradie has higher PCS at this point, but at the same time PCS isn't her greatest strength as an athlete, so there may not be a huge gap there. Ting and Mariah would definitely factor heavily into and "all go clean" scenario too - not necessarily to win, but to place 2-3.

 

[Jammers]

I don't think Ashley and Gracie were 15-20 points ahead of their closest competition like Bradie and Mariah are this year, were they?

Maybe not but that just says that the depth in US Ladies is much worse then 4-5 years ago. Ashley and Gracie were in the running for medals at just about every competition including Worlds. The same can't be said of Bradie or Mariah.

 

[VGThuy]

Maybe not but that just says that the depth in US Ladies is much worse then 4-5 years ago. Ashley and Gracie were in the running for medals at just about every competition they were in back then. The same can't be said of Bradie or Mariah.

To be fair to Bradie and Mariah, Ashley and Gracie weren't competing against Eteri's skaters and a risen Japanese team that includes the likes of Kihira with more to come from juniors. After the 2015-2016 season, Ashley and Gracie weren't as sure things for international medals.

 

[Frida80]

I've gone back and forth over whether a clean Alysa beats a clean Bradie. Bradie has higher PCS at this point, but at the same time PCS isn't her greatest strength as an athlete, so there may not be a huge gap there. Ting and Mariah would definitely factor heavily into and "all go clean" scenario too - not necessarily to win, but to place 2-3.

Last year Bradie's PCS was 32 in the SP 69 in the FS. Alysa's PCS was 29 and 60. I'm expecting a higher PCS from Bradie this year on account of her small bump internationally to 34 and 72. It mostly nullifies gap from the triple axels.

 

[VGThuy]

If we're using skating skills to guide PCS, then Bradie's and Mariah's PCS from a clean performance of theirs should be more than enough to make up for the TES advantage from Liu.