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

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

Yep and one Canadian too, right? I think Gabby is competing at nationals. I'd assume if she wins she may represent Canada at worlds. She struggled this season before stepping away so there's no telling what kind of shape she's in.

Still, even without Gabby in the mix it's going to be tough. The two US skaters will have to rely on others to make mistakes but also capitalize on any mistakes there are by skating clean.

Normally, Gabby's inclusion would have been a no-brainer. But until she has competed at this week's Canadian Championships, I just can't make that assessment yet.

Canada will be lucky if any two of their other prospective ladies' on the world team make the top fifteen, or even the free skate in Saitama. It hasn't been a great season for Chartrand or Pineault.

 

[Coco]

Russia got 3 spots last year by the skin of their flesh colored gloves, and who would have predicted that?

Anything can happen

 

[Moto Guzzi]

Who knows?

Jones does.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

Russia got 3 spots last year by the skin of their flesh colored gloves, and who would have predicted that?

Anything can happen

Crazy to think Sotskova isn't even on the European or World team this year, either. Konstantinova reminds me of Japan's Rika Hongo, where she would luck out when more favoured skaters didn't really put it together.

 

[lurkz2]

I think you have detailed why incorporating the Body of Work component into choosing a world team scares me.

Do you pick the skater who has come prepared and does well now, or the champion who skated well three or four months ago, but is struggling.

Argh. Skating is such a crap shoot at times.

Ideally, the Body of Work component should remove the need to tinker with Nationals results to get your desired world team.

 

[haribobo]

Save for that one time when she was injured, Michelle Kwan never needed BoW to make a team. She showed up at Nationals and slayed. I don't know why we need BoW to prop up skaters who bomb. Just send the top 2/3 from Nats and let the chips fall....

 

[Maximillian]

Save for that one time when she was injured, Michelle Kwan never needed BoW to make a team. She showed up at Nationals and slayed. I don't know why we need BoW to prop up skaters who bomb. Just send the top 2/3 from Nats and let the chips fall....

Technically, that's not true. Kwan was originally named to the 2006 Olympic team, having not competed at Nationals and only withdrew the weekend the Games began.

 

[haribobo]

literally what I just said... "save for that one time when she was injured"...and by that point her resume was pretty out of this world. But I could've done without that 2006 bye for her too

My point is that the true champions aren't leaving it up to chance and bombing at Nationals. And I am an Adam fan. But replacing the 11th best man in the world for the 9th best man in the world is kinda silly IMO, and I hope that doesn't pave the way for more situations like that.

 

[Jammers]

All this talk that the judges won't put Alysa 1st if she outskates everyone else just because she's so young and can't go to Worlds or hasn't even competed on the JGP is nonsense. Russia put a 12 year old on the top of their podium in 2008 and she wasn't even eligible for the JGP for two more seasons. Yes Russia was at a low point with having no good Senior ladies skaters which would explain a 12 year old winning their Nationals but this was really the beginning of the Russian domination in Juniors and then in Seniors a few years later. Lets face it the US is not exactly stacked with world beating contenders at the moment either. Beyond Bradie, Mariah,Ting and Alysa the field is rather lukewarm.

 

[Maximillian]

literally what I just said... "save for that one time when she was injured"...and by that point her resume was pretty out of this world. But I could've done without that 2006 bye for her too

My point is that the true champions aren't leaving it up to chance and bombing at Nationals. And I am an Adam fan. But replacing the 11th best man in the world for the 9th best man in the world is kinda silly IMO, and I hope that doesn't pave the way for more situations like that.

Sorry, somehow missed the first part...

 

[Bonjour Sherry]

Crazy to think Sotskova isn't even on the European or World team this year, either. Konstantinova reminds me of Japan's Rika Hongo, where she would luck out when more favoured skaters didn't really put it together.

Sotskova seemed really unprepared all season. I was already suspecting she may not make it to Worlds after her performance at Japan Open. I think it's because she started uni. Entering Nationals I was expecting the third spot to go to Medvedeva, Konstantinova, Samodurova, Gubanova or Tarusina.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

Sotskova seemed really unprepared all season. I was already suspecting she may not make it to Worlds after her performance at Japan Open. I think it's because she started uni. Entering Nationals I was expecting the third spot to go to Medvedeva, Konstantinova, Samodurova, Gubanova or Tarusina.

The overall standard in the ladies' event at Russian Nationals was insane. So many outstanding skates, too.

 

[Aceon6]

Hmmmm, Sotskova is a US skater? How did I not know that she switched? I get it that it’s in the context of who might get selected for 4CCs/Worlds, but I will wait until after Nats to be happy or be indignant.

 

[Sylvia]

U.S. Nationals kicks off today with Juvenile & Intermediate level events. I've started a thread for the Juvenile events in the 2019 U.S. Nationals sub forum/Kiss & Cry section: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/juvenile-girls-boys-pairs-fs.105123/

For those who may remember Patricia Mansfield (competed at 3 Nationals in Senior - in 1994, 5th in 1995 & 2002 at the age of 28), her daughter Ava Ziegler is competing this morning in the Juvenile Girls event. They are mentioned in this 1/13/19 New Jersey article on 6 local Juvenile skaters: https://www.dailyrecord.com/story/l...-skating-championships-nj-skaters/2496495002/

ETA that Ava won the pewter (4th place) medal. The top 3 all landed a clean triple apiece.

 

[Joubabe]

Isn't there a statue of limitations on whining "my favorite skater was robbed"

No, I will probably take my disappointment over Ashley's not being named to the Olympic team to my grave. I do take some solace, however, from knowing that I am clearly not alone.

 

[love skating]

U.S. Nationals kicks off today with Juvenile & Intermediate level events. I've started a thread for the Juvenile events in the 2019 U.S. Nationals sub forum/Kiss & Cry section: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/juvenile-girls-boys-pairs-fs.105123/

For those who may remember Patricia Mansfield (competed at 3 Nationals in Senior - in 1994, 5th in 1995 & 2002 at the age of 28), her daughter Ava Ziegler is competing this morning in the Juvenile Girls event. They are mentioned in this 1/13/19 New Jersey article on 6 local Juvenile skaters: https://www.dailyrecord.com/story/l...-skating-championships-nj-skaters/2496495002/

ETA that Ava won the pewter (4th place) medal. The top 3 all landed a clean triple apiece.

Oh wow, that makes me feel old. I remember seeing Patricia at the 2002 Nationals. I love seeing all these 2nd generation skaters though!

 

[olympic]

Re AW - just my .02

After her failure to capitalize on 2016 in both 2017 and 2018, I gave up and her exclusion from the team didn’t affect me at all, but I think my pessimism was also due to the same deal with various promising US ladies going back a decade: At some point, falling short isn’t a surprise

 

[VGThuy]

No, I will probably take my disappointment over Ashley's not being named to the Olympic team to my grave. I do take some solace, however, from knowing that I am clearly not alone.

I just remember before 2018 where people were still complaining about Mirai not being named on the team in favor of Ashley in 2014 and they were also told to get over it and how the decision was fair. It's just interesting to observe now.

 

[Carolla5501]

No, I will probably take my disappointment over Ashley's not being named to the Olympic team to my grave. I do take some solace, however, from knowing that I am clearly not alone.

Clearly every time you post that some of us say “Thank goodness USFSA didn’t gift her again”. We need more Michelle Kwans unless Ashley Wagners


It was pointed out above Michelle came to National’s every year and didn’t give anyone a reason to think she should not be on a team. She had one injury and even then she withdrew to let a better skater do the olympics.


I Hope that the person who skates the best this year wins. We need to quit doing coronations and reward skating. If that happens to be a girl who is too young to go to worlds, maybe that’s what it takes. It worked for Russia a few years ago

 

[Coco]

Was it also pointed out that sometimes Michelle only came to Nationals and Worlds?

LOL... different system, different times.

 

[Theoreticalgirl]

Can we please take the Wagner/KwanChat elsewhere on the board? You'd never know it from these posts that Nationals has begun. Let's leave some space for talking about current US skaters, thanks.

 

[Willin]

Kudos to the young up-and-coming US Ladies! It seems like the bonus system is working, as a lot of the young ladies are trying and landing very difficult jumps. The top FOUR Juvenile girls all landed a clean 3T or 3S and the top two intermediate ladies after the SP landed 3-3's!

 

[Bonjour Sherry]

Can we please take the Wagner/KwanChat elsewhere on the board? You'd never know it from these posts that Nationals has begun. Let's leave some space for talking about current US skaters, thanks.

I think there's thread drift since IMO most of the discussion about the current ladies was already well-beaten and the Karen/Ashley issue last year still is a contentious topic .

We've settled regarding this year that:
- The favorites are Tennell, Bell, Cui, and Liu, with three of them being senior-eligible. I think Ting might actually have a higher score potential than Bradie if she scores clean.
- Hicks and Glenn are comparable skaters and could play the role of spoiler. But they'd better get their act together this year or they could be written off almost completely next year by USFSA.
- Starr Andrews is a lovely performer, but she's going to need more tech content if she wants to break into the podium or Worlds discussion.
- After these skaters, we have others such as Ashley Lin, Pooja Kalyan, Megan Wessenberg, Emmy Ma, etc. They could place in the top 6 if they skate well.
- Alysa Liu IMO has the potential to be an Olympic medal/gold medal contender if she keeps up the good performances. I believe she and Kamila Valieva are two of the new skaters to look out for next year on the Junior Grand Prix.

 

[VGThuy]

What has been the best performance of Mariah's SP?

 

[olympic]

Kudos to the young up-and-coming US Ladies! It seems like the bonus system is working, as a lot of the young ladies are trying and landing very difficult jumps. The top FOUR Juvenile girls all landed a clean 3T or 3S and the top two intermediate ladies after the SP landed 3-3's!

Isn’t this what spawned the massive surge in Russian ladies a decade ago? Rewarding difficulty at a young age?

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

I think Ting might actually have a higher score potential than Bradie if she scores clean.

I would say it would be Liu not Ting with higher score potential.....

 

[Erin]

What has been the best performance of Mariah's SP?

Isn’t her SB from Nebelhorn?

 

[DimaToe]

I think the spoiler here isn’t Liu, she isn’t age eligible for much of anything post nationals, Ting Cui is though. Many are forgetting that Bradie is defending a national title, history has proven that isn’t pressure to easily move to the side. Mariah is unpedictable, I’m sure she will have one great program but unsure about 2 of them. Im sure to enjoy the unpredictability of this event though, feels like there an upset coming

 

[Bonjour Sherry]

Mariah's PB is from Nelbehorn. She also skated very well in the SP at Golden Spin, but her score was a bit lower due to a UR call. I wasn't thinking much of Liu since she is so far away from being senior-eligible. It's hard to predict how the judges will score her in PCS. I do think Ting can score upwards of 220 at Nationals if she scores clean, and that'll be tough for Alysa to beat unless she gets high PCS.

 

[Dobre]

I don't see any evidence that Alysa will have a hard time getting comparable tech or PCS to Ting if they both skate well at Nationals. Alysa defeated Ting in at least their last two head-to-heads. Alysa has the higher qualifying scores out of sectionals in both TES and PCS. They have come up together. I think they are great competition for each other. And I think Ting would probably need to outscore Alysa technically to defeat her. At the least, she would have to be very close.