So, just a summary of how the U.S. pairs did in competition this week ....
U.S. junior pair Lockley/Prochnow competed at JGP Riga and placed 5th overall (4th SP/3rd FS). It was quite a good showing for them! What impressed me was L/P's technical content: Triple twist, throw 3Lp, throw 3S, SBS 3S, SBS 2A/2T in the free skate. The last few years, junior U.S. pairs have often lacked a triple twist or 2 throw triple jumps, so it was great to see these elements from Lockley/Prochnow. Last year at their GP event, they did only double twist in the long program, so nice to see them upgrade to triple twist. Not only that, their triple twist actually looks great and they achieved level 4 on it in both programs at Riga--really, really impressive. Still much work to do, but great start to the season for Lockley/Prochnow. They compete again at JGP Croatia at the end of this month.
L/P Riga SP:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6jtdC04xJ4
L/P Riga LP:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAio6HPzedg&t=199s
Two U.S. senior pairs competed at the Mid-Atlantics club event in New York. Castelli/Tran won the competition (1st SP/2nd FS). Marissa/Mervin showed some improvement from their first event at Quebec Summer Championships, with higher scores in both programs here. Still not where they want to be; but at least, an improvement. Their throw jumps were better here in the FS, although SBS jumps were still a struggle. Castelli/Tran's FS score of 115.94 is #3 on the list for senior U.S. pairs so far this season, so not likely to advance them much in the race for the Skate America host spot. (Stellato/Bartholomay still lead with their 124.68 from Orange Blossom--although they did not come close to that mark in their following events.)
C/T Mids LP:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZ2P0tn3sak
Fields/Stevens continued on the comeback trail at Mid-Atlantics. Their free skate score (94.54) was lower than what they earned at Dance-Pairs Chicago (104.75). But, not bad, and it's great to see them back on the ice again. Their elements were rather shaky at Mids, but it's great to see them going for triple twist.
F/S Mids LP:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewlWuEA51Ec
Other Mid-Atlantics news--Kayne/O'Shea and Smith/Reiss were originally entered in this event, but apparently decided not to compete. Kayne/O'Shea had to evacuate from Florida this week due to the hurricane. They do not have an early Challenger Series assignment, and it looks like we may not see them until GP Cup of China in early November. It was reported earlier in the thread by
@Jojo13 that Smith/Reiss have left Skate Pairs in Boston; any news on their new coaches? They do not currently have any CS assignments, per the USFS international assignments page.
Next week, we'll see 5 U.S. senior pairs make their Challenger Series debuts: Knierims, Denney/Frazier, Liu/Johnson, and Stellato/Bartholomay at U.S. International Classic, and Cain/LeDuc at Lombardia.
U.S. junior pairs resume competition in 2 weeks at JGP Minsk.
Yes, I guess Rutherford must be biased when she says something complimentary about a team that's not your fave. 
Meanwhile none of us fans are biased when we're pointing fingers and making pronouncements for our faves. 
We all know the Knierims are front-runner faves for the lone U.S. pairs Olympics spot. It's theirs to lose, and even then, they'll still likely win it no matter what, eh! New season, new selection process. 
But the season still must be competed, so let's bear that in mind as well.
My thoughts are with our skating family and with my immediate family and friends in Florida. Prayers for your friends and family too 
