U.S. Men 2022-23 news & updates

[Jammers]

Besides wanting to see Jason stay for another season or so it gives the other US Men time to finally get it together so Ilia doesn't have to carry them all the way to 2026. Hopefully someone like Lucas B will rise and be a solid 2nd to go along with Ilia and whoever else becomes the 3rd guy.

 

[Sylvia]

Jacob Sanchez's "Cool little combo from last week!" (3F+3A at Jump camp): https://www.instagram.com/reel/CsUzhsntTCZ/

 

[Rukia]

Jacob Sanchez's "Cool little combo from last week!" (3F+3A at Jump camp): https://www.instagram.com/reel/CsUzhsntTCZ/

Well this brightened up my day. I love him!

 

[Evgeniafan]

Well this brightened up my day. I love him!

I love him, too.

 

[Sylvia]

Tomoki's post tonight - "Worked with Mark Pillay for my Short Program! Thank you to @yorkregionskating [Richmond Hill, Ontario] for having me here and I hope I can skate here again!" https://www.instagram.com/p/CsKfUwGuNgo/

Jeff Buttle posted a photo with Tomoki at the Cricket club: https://www.instagram.com/p/Csc3EHNOuqR/

This guy is incredible! Everyday discovering some new, wild and explosive trick that he can do. Thanks for your hard work this week @tomostar0120 sooo much fun!!!

Tomoki posted about working with Jeff on his free program: https://www.instagram.com/p/Csc0ar3OTWT/
His latest Instagram story last night shows him and Kazuki Tomono at a Blue Jays game.

Brian Orser's first photo includes Tomoki, Kazuki & Kaiya in the group visiting the Cricket club: https://www.instagram.com/p/Csbr1lOONNm/

 

[Wyliefan]

Another look at Camden's SP, with comments from Marie-France, who says she sees him portraying a vampire who wants a human connection!

On Ice Perspectives ❄️🎥 on Instagram: "“I imagine Camden as a vampire, who is tired of feeding on humans. He desires more, a human connection now.” Choreographer @mf_dubreuil on @campulk’s new 2024 Short Program, set to “A Different Kind of Love” by

663 likes, 14 comments - On Ice Perspectives ❄️🎥 (@oniceperspectives) on Instagram: "“I imagine Camden as a vampire, who is tired of feeding on humans. He desires more, a human con..."

www.instagram.com

 

[Sylvia]

In honor of Samuel Mindra's birthday today!

https://twitter.com/x/status/1668658192132321284

 

[Frau Muller]

Checking on my US Junior-level fave, Kirk Haugeto! Does anyone know when/where he’ll next compete? I hope that his new programs are NOT boring. (Haha)

From Ice House Hackensack (NJ)

 

[Evgeniafan]

Checking on my US Junior-level fave, Kirk Haugeto! Does anyone know when/where he’ll next compete? I hope that his new programs are NOT boring. (Haha)

From Ice House Hackensack (NJ)

Hopefully Cranberry Open.

 

[Frau Muller]

Hopefully Cranberry Open.

Hope so! I also like Robert Yampolsky and Jacob Sanchez a lot, among US jr men. Sanchez is surely within the age limit but Yampolsky may be close to the maximum - turning 19 in December.

 

[ice coverage]

For contenders for JGP assignments (singles), U.S. Junior Team Cup starts July 5.

Cranberry Open and Cranberry Cup International are not until August 9 - 13.

[FWIW: At Garden State Games this past weekend, Aleksandr Fegan won Junior Men SP by about ten points. Same for FS. (Not a combined event.) 2023-24 will be Fegan's first season of eligibility for junior internationals.
Lucius Kazanecki placed second in SP and second in FS.
Haugeto placed third in SP and withdrew from FS.]

ETA: These three were the only entries in Junior Men.​

ETA:​

Unrelated to Junior Men, I loved watching Emmanuel Savary in the On Ice Perspectives video published yesterday.​

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTGK2vlFCyQ​

(Jun 19)​

IIRC, Emmanuel made an allusion not too long ago on Instagram that he will compete at U.S. Collegiates (scheduled for Aug 3 - 4 in San Jose). Which I think will be his first time at Collegiates?
At 2023 National Intercollegiate Final, Emmanuel contributed to U Delaware's second-place finish in overall team standings. He won Senior Men SP, plus I think Emmanuel, Peter Liu, and David Shapiro joined forces with a couple of other skaters for U Delaware's second-place finish in the High Team Maneuvers segment.​

 

[Evgeniafan]

Hope so! I also like Robert Yampolsky and Jacob Sanchez a lot, among US jr men. Sanchez is surely within the age limit but Yampolsky may be close to the maximum - turning 19 in December.

I love Jacob, too.

 

[zigzig]

In honor of Samuel Mindra's birthday today!

https://twitter.com/x/status/1668658192132321284

I love his skating - not the most polished but has a nice connection to the audience which is something that just can't be taught. Hope he beefs up his tech content and that we'll see more of him in the next quad.

 

[Frau Muller]

… At Garden State Games this past weekend, Aleksandr Fegan won Junior Men SP by about ten points. Same for FS. (Not a combined event.) 2023-24 will be Fegan's first season of eligibility for junior internationals.
Lucius Kazanecki placed second in SP and second in FS.
Haugeto placed third in SP and withdrew from FS.]

….​

Haugeto has great charisma but he needs to clean-up his tech. He always makes me smile, though!

 

[YukiNieve]

Jordan (On Ice Perspectives) uploaded the practice video (footwork sequence) of Joseph (Joe) Klein's new SP (Underground by CodyFry).

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[YukiNieve]

Chesapeake Open　(6/21/6/24/23)
Due to time constraints, I only watched Jr. Men and Dance (I wrote a note for US ice dance thread).

Jr Men
SP
1st: Beck Strommer : The Night We Met（Lord Huron). Big Kaori-like 2A and 3Lz. 2nd jump for combo became single. Beck has beautiful arm positions and various impressive movements such as hydro and knee-slide.

2nd: Antonio Monaco : No Pain for Cakes. Choreographed by Rohene Ward. Beautiful 3F-3T. Doubled Lutz. Nice variations in final spin (CCoSp).

3rd: Vladimir Volkov: Game of Thrones. Vladimir's jumps are quick and fast. Had he landed them cleanly, he'd have got much bigger scores.

My not-so-good photos that are barely enough to see the costumes (due to the net):

https://twitter.com/YukiNieve/status/1672463171305586691

 

[Rukia]

Jordan (On Ice Perspectives) uploaded the practice video (footwork sequence) of Joseph (Joe) Klein's new SP (Underground by CodyFry).

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This could be really gorgeous

 

[YukiNieve]

Chesapeake Open　(6/21/6/24/23)

Jr Men
FS

1st (total 2nd): Antonio Monaco Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 1 & No. 2.
Choreographed by Rohene Ward. Antonio fell and hit the wall pretty hard after the 2nd jump, 3Lz, but did a great comeback skate except the last spin that he lost balance a bit. Antonio moves big and expresses well this type of "big" music.

2nd (total 1st): Beck Strommer Tree of Life.
Beck told us that he chose this music and choreographed the program by himself. Very impressive.
He has nice positions and his program includes interesting moves such as Keegan-like low hydro, knee-slide, spiral and many tano jumps. His last spin was also not counted, and I wonder why.

3rd (total 3rd): Vladimir Volkov A Thousand Times Good Night
Vladimir seemed to skate with more confidence for free skate.

Again, not-so-good through-the-net photos:

https://twitter.com/YukiNieve/status/1673189918863147009

----
Beck explained his FS music to Debbie and me as music used for a light show for a fountain in Italy, and Debbie and I were like
I googled and this could be what he meant:

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Actual composer's name is Roberto Cacciapaglia.

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[Sylvia]

Thank you for your Chesapeake Open reports, @YukiNieve!

Last month Beck Strommer posted clips of his self-choreographed Junior programs - his SP: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CrtsyJDpYh4/

FS to The Tree of Life Suite by Roberto Cacciapaglia: https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cs6roglPt8U/

Here is the choreo sequence from my new free skate!! I am very very proud of how this program has come out and how it is continuing to evolve. I’ve had this music in the back of my head ever since I heard Kaori use it a few years ago. I finally felt ready use it this season. I am especially excited about this program because it’s the first of my programs that I have choreographed by myself from beginning to end (with some detail work by @drew_meekins ). My concept for this program is that each piece of music represents a different part of the water cycle. This last peice is the “thunderstorm”.

Antonio Monaco's FS is to Rachmaninov piano concertos no. 1 & 3. He was added to the ISP last month (eta link to his happy post): https://www.instagram.com/p/Cs9789BLOh3/

I've compiled the top Senior/Junior scores so far this season in the 2023 U.S. Club & NQS Competitions thread in the Kiss & Cry section: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/2023-u-s-club-nqs-competitions.110799/

I can create a 2023-24 U.S. Men's news thread as soon as the initial Grand Prix assignments are published... by later this week, hopefully!

 

[YukiNieve]

Thanks, Sylvia! I think I've seen Beck's IG but did not remember about the music. My memories suck...
I don't remember when Kaori used the pieces from Tree of Life, so I asked my Twitter friends.

I am no expert (at all) about the classic music, but when I was watching Antonio skate his FS, I did hear that famous part from No.2 that so many skaters, such as Daisuke and Mao, used. But I am not familiar with No.3, so who knows, lol.

I ended up talking with Anotnio a bit. He told me that he began skating competitively pretty late - he landed first double jump, 2S, at age 13. He met Kori before Covid but then Covid began and he learned all triple jumps remotely (I think he said via Zoom) with Kori. Antonio said that Kori is a great technician and helped him figure out what exactly he had to do to fix his jump issues. He planed to include 3A this time but since he changed other elements, he decided not to overwhelm himself with the program. For the upcoming season, Antonio also wants to improve PCS to get ready for the following season (2024-2025) when he moves to the senior rank. He is very friendly and motivated skater!

 

[TanithandBenFan]

Andrew Torgashev is Polina's latest guest on her podcast. It's great to hear about his journey the past season and how he started a new chapter in California.

The Iron Butterfly: The Comeback Kid ft. Andrew Torgashev

bleav.com

 

[Sylvia]

^^^ Thank you, was just about to post the podcast link (listening now...).

I am no expert (at all) about the classic music, but when I was watching Antonio skate his FS, I did hear that famous part from No.2 that so many skaters, such as Daisuke and Mao, used. But I am not familiar with No.3, so who knows, lol.

I'm not as familiar with Rach piano concerto #1 and get Rach 2 and 3 mixed up all the time! I believe @Debbie S recognized a part of Monaco's FS music made famous by Kwan's inside to outside edge forward spiral in her 1998 Nationals/Olympics SP to Rach 3.

Antonio went to Bergamo, Italy in May with his coach Kori Ade to partcipate in an ISU Regional Development Camp for Africa and the Middle East (almost 40 skaters were there from Egypt, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates) - his photo there with Kori and coach Franca Bianconi: https://www.instagram.com/p/CsOcreILNWi/

Ice Skating Egypt posted 3 clips of Kori giving a motivational speech in Bergamo : https://www.instagram.com/reel/Ctt2i7TN_pn/ & https://www.instagram.com/reel/CtydTJnuXJ8/ & https://www.instagram.com/p/Ct07yg9oFeD/

 

[Willin]

Kori is such a good coach for fundamentals. She's had a lot of great Junior skaters and some great Seniors she helped in their earlier careers (Mariah, Amber, Tomoki, etc). It's such a shame coaches like her aren't valued - even if she doesn't translate into a great coach for international skaters, her ability to get skaters to that point is amazing. If only her skaters were more consistent...

 

[Stephanie]

Based on the announcement ( https://isu.org/docman-documents-li...figure-skating-bangkok-2023-announcement/file ) it looks like the US has picked up an extra men's spot at JGP Bangkok (the first event). On the initial JGP announcement the US was only allotted one spot in each event. Switzerland had 2 spots here (and at each event) but aren't sending anyone, so this is likely where it came from.

 

[her grace]

Broussard is skating senior.

 

[Rukia]

Broussard is skating senior.

I mean might as well. Who do the us really have lighting it up in seniors anyway (excepting Ilia obviously)? Good time to set yourself up in the Olympic cycle.

 

[Sylvia]

2023 Grand Prix assignments as of June 28 (9 spots/7 men):

Ilia Malinin: Skate America & France SB #3 / WS #2
Camden Pulkinen: France & Japan SB #21 / WS #18
Andrew Torgashev: Skate America (debut) SB #54 / WS #110
Maxim Naumov: Skate America (debut) SB #32 / WS #55
Liam Kapeikis: Skate Canada SB #36 / WS #38
Jimmy Ma: Cup of China SB #37 / WS #20
Lucas Broussard: Cup of China (debut) SB #40 / WS #42

Elected not to compete in Grand Prix again: Jason Brown SB #6 / WS #16

 

[Karen-W]

Broussard is skating senior.

I mean might as well. Who do the us really have lighting it up in seniors anyway (excepting Ilia obviously)? Good time to set yourself up in the Olympic cycle.

I agree. Especially with the US not being guaranteed 2 spots in each of the JGPs. It isn't as though any of our men (aside from Ilia) are setting the world on fire.

I literally yelped with delight here in the office this morning when I realized Lucas had received a GP assignment.

 

[Ena Grins]

Interesting that USFS named all three men's sports at SkAm right away. Neither Naumov nor Torgashev got another spot off the bat, so I like that they wanted to support/give a chance to both without waiting on summer performance. After Ilia and Jason, there's a chance for another couple US men to rise and challenge Camden.

 

[tony]

Interesting that USFS named all three men's sports at SkAm right away. Neither Naumov nor Torgashev got another spot off the bat, so I like that they wanted to support/give a chance to both without waiting on summer performance. After Ilia and Jason, there's a chance for another couple US men to rise and challenge Camden.

Torgashev probably wasn't going to get anything with so little to show internationally and an abysmal Worlds standing/performance, so the Skate America spot isn't a surprise to me.

Naumov, Kapeikis, and Ma are all in the first group of alternates and we all know how GP rosters change between now and October. Jin is also in that clumping and he's almost certainly just going to get assigned to Cup of China anyways, and Economides likely isn't getting a second event before France finalizes their TBA and just adds him (or pulls him from events in typical French fashion). In getting host events for those two, Broussard also jumps into the group of first 10 alternates.

Moreover, Japan is completely maxed out besides one TBA spot at home, and Tsuboi and Kataise are in that group of 10.

The chances of all of these US men picking up another event (besides Torgashev) are extremely high IMO, and I think the USFS did the work to figure that out, too. I don't know that there's really anyone else who should be so deserving to get Skate America (of course it's not even summer competition time yet and someone could really impress, but Torgashev also won the free skate at Nationals).