U.S. Women [#7]: Make Me a Believer!

Logan Higase-Chen article by Sophia Sandoval for FSO (Jan. 13):
figureskatersonline.com

Logan Higase-Chen on pressure, progress and preparing for her senior Nationals debut - Figure Skaters Online

As Logan Higase-Chen prepares to make her U.S. senior Nationals debut later this month, she is surrounded by American figure skating titans.
figureskatersonline.com
Excerpts:
Being an elite figure skater is an individual, specific experience that not many people can relate to, so it is comforting being surrounded by teammates who understand and support her, especially [Elyce] Lin-Gracey, who is around the same age as Higase-Chen.
“She’s like one of my best friends at the rink and we always support each other,” Higase-Chen said. “I think she has my best interests at heart, and that’s nice to have, especially since we’re competing against each other, and not everybody’s like that.”
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While numerous figure skaters her age do school entirely online to help maximize training hours and for flexibility purposes, Higase-Chen goes to in-person public high school while incorporating some online classes.
“I enjoy going to an actual school because I get to interact with kids my age and teachers,” she said, who is a sophomore at Cheyenne Mountain High School.
For the average high school kid in America, her schedule is staggering. Maybe not for student-athletes, but a kid on a football team cannot relate to flying out to Bangkok during a weekend for a sporting competition.
She skates extremely early in the morning, goes to school, and then has another training session in the afternoon. There are only 24 hours in a day and it can be difficult to manage her hectic schedule, so avoiding procrastinating on assignments and studying is imperative for her.
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Isabeau is out of Nats due to a foot injury. :(

www.instagram.com

Isabeau Levito on Instagram: "Hi everyone, I am heartbroken to say that I won’t be able to compete at Nationals this year due to a foot injury. This is not at all how I envisioned my season but I want to make sure I recover and come back fully witho

20K likes, 376 comments - isabeau.levito on January 14, 2025: "Hi everyone, I am heartbroken to say that I won’t be able to compete at Nationals this year due to a foot injury. This is not at all how I envisioned my season but I want to make sure I recover and come back fully without pain or...
www.instagram.com www.instagram.com

I wonder if she will petition to the World team.
 
Debbie S said:
Isabeau is out of Nats due to a foot injury. :(

www.instagram.com

Isabeau Levito on Instagram: "Hi everyone, I am heartbroken to say that I won’t be able to compete at Nationals this year due to a foot injury. This is not at all how I envisioned my season but I want to make sure I recover and come back fully witho

20K likes, 376 comments - isabeau.levito on January 14, 2025: "Hi everyone, I am heartbroken to say that I won’t be able to compete at Nationals this year due to a foot injury. This is not at all how I envisioned my season but I want to make sure I recover and come back fully without pain or...
www.instagram.com www.instagram.com

I wonder if she will petition to the World team.
Click to expand...
Hard to say without more information about the nature of the injury. 😞

If she does petition for the Worlds team then I'm sure she will be given the spot, pending monitoring by the USFS in late February.
 
Bummed for Isabeau and her fans (myself included), but the silence was deafening on this one :(.

While we don't know anything about her foot injury, I have to believe her lutz/flip takeoff is a contributor. The lutz has gotten objectively worse in the upper body lean, the edge change (which she used to avoid), the high kicking free leg, and the blade assist.

It was a race against time, but I thought she'd probably get through the 2026 cycle without her technique catching up to her. I may have been a year to 18 months too optimistic.

I don't actually think she should be named to the World team, after an uneven season with no competitions since October, unless Nationals is an uncharacteristic splatfest. Last season was also uneven, and occasionally disastrous, despite the World silver medal in the end.
 
Private Citizen said:
I don't actually think she should be named to the World team, after an uneven season with no competitions since October, unless Nationals is an uncharacteristic splatfest. Last season was also uneven, and occasionally disastrous, despite the World silver medal in the end.
Click to expand...

I hear what you are saying & don't disagree. My expectation that she will be named to the Worlds team pending monitoring is based on past precedent. Last year Chan/Howe were assigned, and the previous year Hawayek/Baker were assigned. Their results in those seasons & the immediately prior season (top 5 at Worlds and making the GPF) were enough for the USFS to conditionally name them. Isabeau's results certainly outpace both of those teams, so it stands to reason, if she petitions, she'll be assigned pending a monitoring session next month.
 
Debbie S said:
Given all of the UR calls Alysa received on the GP, I would say Sarah is a better bet.
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Sarah got a few of those as well and her PCS is far lower. But if Isabeau isn’t ready, they can both go.

Alysa fixed her UR problem before, she’s proven she will do what it takes to get better and has Worlds experience. Sarah has SO far to go not to be a fridge break from a performance standpoint, I hope she gets there but she’s nowhere near.
 
Debbie S said:
Isabeau is out of Nats due to a foot injury. :(

www.instagram.com

Isabeau Levito on Instagram: "Hi everyone, I am heartbroken to say that I won’t be able to compete at Nationals this year due to a foot injury. This is not at all how I envisioned my season but I want to make sure I recover and come back fully witho

20K likes, 376 comments - isabeau.levito on January 14, 2025: "Hi everyone, I am heartbroken to say that I won’t be able to compete at Nationals this year due to a foot injury. This is not at all how I envisioned my season but I want to make sure I recover and come back fully without pain or...
www.instagram.com www.instagram.com
Click to expand...
Lucas Broussard in the comments: Get well soon!! 💛
Isabeau's reply: You too twin 🤞

Fellow competitors Amber, Sarah, Elyce & Kimmy Repond have left supportive comments on her post so far.
 
Goodness, folks, even without Isabeau, the US is in the best position, along with Japan, to secure 3 spots.

Current SB (excluding skaters who won't be at Worlds) -
1 - Sakamoto
3 - Glenn
4 - Lin-Gracey
5 - Chiba
6 - C Kim
7 - Higuchi
10 - Everhardt
14 - Gutmann
17 - Liu
20 - Gubanova
21 - Repond
24 - Pinzarrone
26 - Tennell
27 - Kaiser

Bradie is 13th on that list, with 4 US women ahead of her, so take 2 of them out and she's 11th; Alysa is 9th with 3 ahead of her, so take 1 out and she's 8th.

I realize we have yet to see Loena compete, but even putting her in there ahead of Alysa and/or Bradie and the USA still should be just fine for 3 spots.

At this point, based on what we saw from Haein Lee at Korean Nats earlier this month, she's not going to be a factor in the fight for Worlds Top 10.
 
Debbie S said:
Isabeau is out of Nats due to a foot injury. :(

www.instagram.com

Isabeau Levito on Instagram: "Hi everyone, I am heartbroken to say that I won’t be able to compete at Nationals this year due to a foot injury. This is not at all how I envisioned my season but I want to make sure I recover and come back fully witho

20K likes, 376 comments - isabeau.levito on January 14, 2025: "Hi everyone, I am heartbroken to say that I won’t be able to compete at Nationals this year due to a foot injury. This is not at all how I envisioned my season but I want to make sure I recover and come back fully without pain or...
www.instagram.com www.instagram.com

I wonder if she will petition to the World team.
Click to expand...

I just went on to the gram and Amber has a story about Isabeau that says so proud of this girl for prioritizing her health, she’ll come back stronger, so I said to myself up I guess she must’ve withdrawn
 
Last edited:
PRlady said:
Sarah got a few of those as well and her PCS is far lower. But if Isabeau isn’t ready, they can both go.

Alysa fixed her UR problem before, she’s proven she will do what it takes to get better and has Worlds experience. Sarah has SO far to go not to be a fridge break from a performance standpoint, I hope she gets there but she’s nowhere near.
Click to expand...

I’m surprised you say Sarah is a fridge break, I don’t feel about her that way at all.

Anyway, I’m gonna go out on a limb here and see if she will get the silver medal at US nationals

I want to go out on a limb, and say she may not be named to the worlds team with a silver medal either.
 
AngieNikodinovLove (ANL) said:
I’m surprised you say Sarah is a fridge break, I don’t feel about her that way at all.

Anyway, I’m gonna go out on a limb here and see if she will get the silver medal at US nationals

I want to go out on a limb, and say she may not be named to the worlds team with a silver medal either.
Click to expand...
Well, yes. We were lucky that Josephine Lee couldn’t be assigned to Worlds given her bad international results. Sarah is a good deal better but still in her first senior season. Other than prodigies like Ilya and TBH Isabeau with her lovely presentation, I’m against rushing young skaters to the most important comp of the year when there are other choices. Same for Elyse whose style I like better.
 
Assuming that Isabeau gets one of the Worlds spots, I think whoever not named Amber in the top 2 will get the 3rd spot. None of Alysa, Sarah or Bradie (or Elyce) have a BOW that would be enough to push any of the others off the team. Of those 4, Sarah earned the highest scores on the GP....whatever anyone thinks of her presentation, she's getting the numbers and that's what matters in terms of placement. Had Alysa not had all those UR calls, she would have probably scored higher but what-ifs don't mean a lot if she doesn't finish ahead at Nats. Her Worlds medal was 3 years ago and not among the criteria in the current selection process.
 
maureenfarone said:
With Isabeau out of Nationals will Michelle Lee be called up? I think I remember she was next on the list from sectionals.
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Lee's name has been added to the Entries list:
  • Michelle Lee - added 1/14/25
  • Isabeau Levito (bye) - withdrawn 1/14/25

ETA 2025 Nationals Senior Women (updated today on USFS' website):

Starr Andrews (senior sectionals, P-2)
Alina Bonillo (senior sectionals, M-1)
Ting Cui (senior sectionals, E-1)
Alex Evans (senior sectionals, E-2)
Sarah Everhardt (bye)
Alexa Gasparotto - added 1/2/25 (M-4)
Brooke Gewalt - added 1/6/25 (M-5)
Amber Glenn (bye)
Logan Higase-Chen (senior sectionals, M-2)
Sonja Hilmer (senior sectionals, M-3)
Mia Kalin (bye)
Josephine Lee (bye)
Michelle Lee - added 1/14/25 (M-6)
Isabeau Levito (bye) - withdrawn 1/14/25
Elyce Lin-Gracey (bye)
Alysa Liu (bye)
Clare Seo (bye) - withdrawn 1/6/25
Bradie Tennell (bye)
Lindsay Thorngren (bye)
Sherry Zhang (senior sectionals, P-1)
Ava Ziegler (bye) - withdrawn 1/2/25

Sylvia said:
Senior Women (18):
  • Starr Andrews (senior sectionals, P-2)
  • Alina Bonillo (senior sectionals, M-1)
  • Ting Cui (senior sectionals, E-1)
  • Alex Evans (senior sectionals, E-2)
  • Sarah Everhardt (bye)
  • Amber Glenn (bye)
  • Logan Higase-Chen (senior sectionals, M-2)
  • Sonja Hilmer (senior sectionals, M-3)
  • Mia Kalin (bye)
  • Josephine Lee (bye)
  • Isabeau Levito (bye)
  • Elyce Lin-Gracey (bye)
  • Alysa Liu (bye)
  • Clare Seo (bye)
  • Bradie Tennell (bye)
  • Lindsay Thorngren (bye)
  • Sherry Zhang (senior sectionals, P-1)
  • Ava Ziegler (bye)
Junior Women (18):
  • Sofia Bezkorovainaya (junior sectionals, E-2)
  • Annika Chao (junior sectionals, P-2)
  • Alayna Coats (junior sectionals, P-4)
  • Ela Cui (junior sectionals, M-4)
  • Mia Iwase (novice sectionals, E-2)
  • Jiaying Ellyse Johnson (junior sectionals, M-3)
  • Jessica Jurka (junior sectionals, M-2)
  • Hannah Kim (novice sectionals, P-1)
  • Teryn Kim (junior sectionals, P-3)
  • Skylar Lautowa-Peguero (junior sectionals, E-3)
  • Emilia Nemirovsky (junior sectionals, M-1)
  • Cleo Park (junior sectionals, P-1)
  • Maria Platonova (junior sectionals, E-4)
  • Angela Shao (novice sectionals, M-1)
  • Carina Tanabe (novice sectionals, P-2)
  • Kaya Tiernan (novice sectionals, E-1)
  • Sophie Joline von Felten (junior sectionals, E-1)
  • Annabelle Wilkins (novice sectionals, M-2)
Click to expand...
 
Private Citizen said:
Bummed for Isabeau and her fans (myself included), but the silence was deafening on this one :(.

While we don't know anything about her foot injury, I have to believe her lutz/flip takeoff is a contributor. The lutz has gotten objectively worse in the upper body lean, the edge change (which she used to avoid), the high kicking free leg, and the blade assist.

It was a race against time, but I thought she'd probably get through the 2026 cycle without her technique catching up to her. I may have been a year to 18 months too optimistic.

I don't actually think she should be named to the World team, after an uneven season with no competitions since October, unless Nationals is an uncharacteristic splatfest. Last season was also uneven, and occasionally disastrous, despite the World silver medal in the end.
Click to expand...
I think we all saw this coming.

I dont' think we should despair however, as I think there is still tremendous depth amongst the remaining US Women (depth comparable to Japan). There is a new crop of American Senior Women coming up (who have excellent technique) and a whole generation of Veteran American Women returning.

The US Women were getting the highest scores in the World during the Challenger (pre) Season. Amber Glenn won the Grand Prix Season (and Sarah Everhardt was the 2nd Highest scoring American on the Senior Grand Prix).

Brady Tennell is a 2-time US Champion. Alysa Liu is a 2-time US Champion, Senior World Bronze Medalist, and Junior World Bronze Medalist. Ting Cui is a Junior World Bronze Medalist. She has her jumps back. They are breathtaking, as is her artistry (which is unmatched in the World in my opinion).

Amber, Alexa and Sophie Joline von Felten (a Junior) have 3-Axels. Starr Andrews has added the 3-lutz back to her repertoire, so she now has the full complement of 3-jumps (minus the axel). Elyce Lyn Gracey has wonderful technique.

I would say that the depth amongst the American Women is tremendous!
 
layman said:
I think we all saw this coming.

I dont' think we should despair however, as I think there is still tremendous depth amongst the remaining US Women (depth comparable to Japan).
Click to expand...

The US has depth of "top ten Jen" type skaters, but nowhere near the depth of Japan, which has at least five women who are legitimate medal contenders at Worlds and who will likely take two or even all three spots on the podium at Worlds. Then there are the Japanese juniors who could probably sweep the podium at senior Worlds if they were old enough to compete.

Granted, the US Grand Prix results were good, and Amber Glenn has (finally) positioned herself as a medal contender. But the others are "top 10" skaters, probably not even top 5 barring something unusual.

Sophie Joline von Felten has shown flashes of brilliance, but also a meltdown. The rest of the JGP was very disappointing.

layman said:
I would say that the depth amongst the American Women is tremendous!
Click to expand...

I'd say it's "good" :). I admire your optimism!
 
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