US Ice Dance 2024-25 News & Updates

[Sylvia]

Can someone please post an excerpt or 2 from the follow-up article (refer to the above 2 posts) in the Hartford Courant article following Aboian/Veselukhin’s Junior title? Reposting @DORISPULASKI’s link here:

The Hartford Courant had a nice article about A&V

CT-trained junior ice dance duo wins gold at U.S. Figure Skating Championship

Hana Maria Aboian and Daniil Veselukhin beat out a field of 11 junior ice dance teams from across the country at the 2025 Prevagen U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

www.courant.com

 

[Karen-W]

Okay, final update to the ISU Championships Selection Pool table -

Skater

Level

Age Eligible

ISU Min Score

2024 U.S. Nats

GPF

GP/ JGP 1

GP/ JGP 2

GP/ JPG Highest

GP/ JGP Avg

CS/ Sr B/ Jr Int 1

CS/ Sr B/ Jr Int 2

CS/ Sr B/ Jr Int Highest

CS/ Sr B/ Jr Int Avg

Dance Final (Top 2 in each Section JR/SR)

NQS Score (Top 2 in each Section JR/SR)

Non-USFS Funded Event

Prev Yr Final Number

Total

Chock, Madison/Bates, Evan

S

Y

Y

223.52​

219.85​

205.63​

215.95​

215.95​

210.79​

0.00​

0.00​

168.63​

168.63​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

16

2622.16​

Wolfkostin, Katarina/Tsarevski, Dimitry

S/J

Y

Y/Y

186.83​

164.98​

144.94​

166.88​

166.88​

155.91​

0.00​

0.00​

124.73​

124.73​

0.00​

149.74​

0.00​

0

1901.46​

Carreira, Christina/Ponomarenko, Anthony

S

Y

Y

210.79​

0.00​

198.97​

198.18​

198.97​

198.58​

197.51​

194.69​

197.51​

196.10​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

13

1879.68​

Peal, Elliana/Peal, Ethan

J (S)

Y

Y

153.00​

143.08​

152.55​

160.50​

160.50​

156.53​

0.00​

0.00​

128.40​

128.40​

0.00​

145.27​

0.00​

0

1698.54​

Zingas, Emilea/Kolesnik, Vadym

S

Y

Y

204.17​

0.00​

189.41​

189.48​

189.48​

189.45​

194.34​

196.07​

196.07​

195.21​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

3

1677.81​

Neset, Leah/Markelov, Artem

S/J

Y

Y/Y

183.12​

0.00​

179.38​

176.60​

179.38​

177.99​

175.33​

171.42​

175.33​

173.38​

0.00​

183.75​

0.00​

8

1650.49​

Green, Caroline/Parsons, Michael

S

Y

Y

205.37​

0.00​

188.76​

189.86​

189.86​

189.31​

186.47​

149.18​

186.47​

167.82​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0

1607.78​

Brown, Oona/Brown, Gage

S

Y

Y

193.37​

0.00​

179.14​

176.57​

179.14​

177.86​

186.96​

190.08​

190.08​

188.52​

0.00​

186.01​

0.00​

0

1597.70​

Bratti, Emily/Somerville, Ian

S

Y

Y

193.28​

0.00​

173.08​

185.88​

185.88​

179.48​

189.91​

190.86​

190.86​

190.39​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

2

1593.47​

Pate, Eva/Bye, Logan

S

Y

Y

183.24​

0.00​

168.76​

180.35​

180.35​

174.56​

180.83​

184.41​

184.41​

182.62​

0.00​

184.00​

0.00​

0

1543.97​

Morozov, Annabelle/Chen, Jeffrey

S

Y

Y

173.54​

0.00​

166.73​

133.38​

166.73​

150.06​

177.05​

141.64​

177.05​

159.35​

183.17​

163.74​

0.00​

0

1519.22​

Aboian, Hana Maria/Veselukhin, Daniil

J

Y

Y

162.40​

0.00​

160.12​

155.96​

160.12​

158.04​

0.00​

0.00​

124.77​

124.77​

167.62​

155.28​

158.54​

0

1467.54​

Mullen, Caroline/Mullen, Brendan

J (S)

Y

Y

148.51​

0.00​

156.42​

161.16​

161.16​

158.79​

0.00​

0.00​

127.03​

127.03​

153.50​

168.24​

0.00​

0

1335.09​

Ilin, Olivia/Cain, Dylan

J

Y

Y

134.51​

0.00​

137.15​

142.21​

142.21​

139.68​

0.00​

0.00​

111.74​

111.74​

145.90​

138.80​

0.00​

0

1193.60​

Renzi, Emily/Lissauer, William

J

Y

Y

123.04​

0.00​

128.10​

102.48​

128.10​

115.29​

0.00​

0.00​

81.98​

81.98​

134.73​

136.44​

0.00​

0

1041.34​

Deych, Michelle/Hu, Ryan

J

Y

Y

135.45​

0.00​

121.85​

97.48​

121.85​

109.67​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

130.29​

133.69​

0.00​

0

929.76​

Koncius, Raffaela/Shchepetov, Alexey

S

Y

4CCs

169.90​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

173.66​

169.55​

160.50​

0

889.07​

Pham, Vanessa/Spiridonov, Anton

S

Y

4CCs

166.39​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

168.52​

174.69​

163.72​

0

875.35​

Cui, Amy/Rogers, Jonathan

S

Y

Y

154.95​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

173.00​

170.92​

174.10​

0

836.08​

Yi, Grace/Savelev, Danila

S

Y

N

142.03​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

134.62​

143.14​

0.00​

0

671.22​

Chen, Effie/Eckert, Kenny

J

?

N

131.78​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

132.50​

126.52​

0.00​

0

625.00​

Stapert, Annelise/Korotcov, Maxim

J

Y

N

124.74​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

138.38​

135.56​

0.00​

0

602.04​

Melillo, Michela/Schapfel, Karl

S

Y

N

123.23​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

124.23​

128.21​

0.00​

0

587.09​

Kouevi, Anaelle/Homawoo, Yann

J

?

N

120.17​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

121.79​

134.69​

0.00​

0

575.25​

Kirwan, Ja Yi/Le Coq, Rowan

J

?

N

118.62​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

121.46​

127.91​

0.00​

0

567.19​

Epps, Julia/Gilman, Blake

J

Y

N

115.32​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

0.00​

133.94​

142.42​

0.00​

0

563.86​

The Worlds & 4CCs pool will consist of the following:
2025 Nationals Top 5 (sr age-eligible) - Chock/Bates, Carreira/Ponomarenko, Green/Parsons, Zingas/Kolesnik, Brown/Brown
Top 5 Selection Pool - Chock/Bates, Wolfkostin/Tsarevski, Carreira/Ponomarenko, Zingas/Kolesnik, Neset/Markelov (Peals don't have Sr CTES mins)
Top 10 2024 Worlds - Chock/Bates, Carreira/Ponomarenko,
2022 Olympian - Chock/Bates
Top 24 Current Season Senior World Rankings - Carreira/Ponomarenko, Chock/Bates, Zingas/Kolesnik, Neset/Markelov, Brown/Brown, Bratti/Somerville, Green/Parsons

The Jr Worlds pool will consist of the following:
2025 Nationals Top 3 Age-Eligible from Seniors - Wolfkostin/Tsarevski, Neset/Markelov (no other junior age-eligible teams in seniors this year)
2025 Nationals Top 3 Age-Eligible from Juniors - Aboian/Veselukhin, Peal/Peal, Mullen/Mullen
Top 5 Selection Pool - Wolfkostin/Tsarevski, Peal/Peal, Neset/Markelov, Aboian/Veselukhin, Mullen/Mullen
Top 10 2024 Jr Worlds - Neset/Markelov, Peal/Peal
Top 24 Current Season Junior World Rankings - Wolfkostin/Tsarevski, Peal/Peal, Aboian/Veselukhin, Mullen/Mullen, Ilin/Cain

I suppose the only question is whether or not ChoBat want to compete at 4CCs.

 

[Karen-W]

Evan just confirmed in the FD press conference that they plan on going to 4CCs.

 

[layman]

Congratulations to Chock/Bates for winning their 6th US National Title and tying the all-time record of wins with Davis/White!

I am so proud of Carreira/Ponomarenko, Green/Parsons, Zingas/Kolesnik, and Brown/Brown. It was so close between them!

I am biting my nails right now and hoping that Green/Parsons get selected for the World Team! I think they earned it (both at Nationals and all season).

I see a great deal of improvement in Zingas/Kolesnik. I think they are right there for the future. I am really glad to see the Browns finally being rewarded for their dance excellence (with a 5th place finish). This was well deserved.

Finally, I really loved Gabriela Papadakis commentary. I think she added something really special to the broadcast. I hope she will provide commentary for many years to come!

 

[Karen-W]

U.S. Figure Skating Names Ice Dance World, World Junior and Four Continents Team Selections | U.S. Figure Skating

www.usfigureskating.org

Copying them out for the good of the group:

2025 World Championships
Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko
Madison Chock and Evan Bates
Caroline Green and Michael Parsons


Alternate 1: Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik
Alternate 2: Emily Bratti and Ian Somerville
Alternate 3: Oona Brown and Gage Brown


2025 World Junior Championships
Hana Maria Aboian and Daniil Veseluhkin
Caroline Mullen and Brendan Mullen
Katarina Wolfkostin and Dimitry Tsarevski


Alternate 1: Elliana Peal and Ethan Peal
Alternate 2: Olivia Ilin and Dylan Cain
Alternate 3: Michelle Deych and Ryan Hu


2025 Four Continents Championships
Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko
Madison Chock and Evan Bates
Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik


Alternate 1: Caroline Green and Michael Parsons
Alternate 2: Emily Bratti and Ian Somerville
Alternate 3: Oona Brown and Gage Brown

 

[Theatregirl1122]

I suppose the only question is whether or not ChoBat want to compete at 4CCs.

No surprise, except in Olympic years, skipping 4CCs hasn't been popular in dance. USA and Canada teams want to try to get ahead of each other and put in big scores before worlds to match those coming from euros.

 

[Karen-W]

I'm shocked and THRILLED for the Mullens! Their FD is just magical.

Also, quite happy they split Worlds & 4CCs between GreenP & ZingKol given how close their scores were.

 

[jlai]

I am thrilled for the Mullins but I am not sure what criteria they use for the decision?

 

[Karen-W]

I am thrilled for the Mullins but I am not sure what criteria they use for the decision?

My head canon is that the Mullens had the tougher fields at their JGPs otherwise they probably would have made the JGPF over the Peals, plus they beat the Peals by several points in the FD even with an error while the Peals were cleaner.

 

[her grace]

The Mullens have the higher international SB score, but it’s close. Last time USFS went out of junior national order was taking Ling/Wein over Neset/Markelov for 2022 Jr. Worlds.

 

[muchasplantas]

I love the Mullens and preferred them to go to junior worlds but after the Peals beating the Mullens at nationals this just feels unfair. Yes the Mullens got better scores on the JGP but not by much. The Mullens have also had mistakes in their past couple events (not that Peals were strong at JGP final but still). Plus the Peals were top 5 at worlds last year so we know they can skate under pressure. Going out of national order made sense for Ling/Wein over Neset/Markelov because Ling/Wein had significantly higher scores on the JGP.

Anyways, I'm glad they decided to split worlds and 4CC because G/Pa and Z/K both deserve championship events pre-Olympics.

 

[kwanfan1818]

The ISU has already updates the WS lists after Euros Dance, so all of that initial mathing for naught .

Guignard/Fabbri, Fear/Gibson, and Chock/Bates (who can earn no incremental points at 4C's) are in the last RD group and can't be caught. ETA: Neither can Lopareva/Brissaud, after double-checking the math.

Currently, Lopareva/Brissaud and Gilles/Poirier are in 4th and 5th, with Lajoie/Lagha leading the penultimate group . Carreira/Ponamarekno can't catch Gilles/Poirier, even with a win at 4C's, so they will start in the penultimate group.

Green/Parsons are currently 12th after FB/S are skipped, in the 3rd-to-last group. Lim/Quan would pass them with 6th or higher at 4C's, but no one else can catch them. They would have needed gold or silver at 4C's to pass the Taschlers for the last spot in the penultimate group.

The interesting is the race for the last spot in the last group between Gilles/Poirier and Lajoie/Lagha. If either win 4C's, they get the last spot in the last group. If G/P don't come in 1st or 2nd, they can't win any incremental points, and a podium finish by L/L will earn them the last spot. Skating in the last group could give L/L an advantage over C/P.

 

[Sylvia]

The Detroit Free Press' Jeff Seidel on Chock/Bates' 6th national title and his visit to MIDA in Canton:

Champion skaters Madison Chock, Evan Bates are dose of inspiration amid tragic plane crash

Madison Chock and Evan Bates, two-time defending ice dance world champs, were competing on Jan. 25 at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

www.freep.com

Excerpts:

This is a story about perseverance and longevity.
It’s a story about toughness. It’s a story about legacy and impact; and it all played out in one magical, revealing moment. Madison Chock and Evan Bates, the two-time defending ice dance world champions, were competing in the free dance last Sunday at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas.
Chock had been sick for days, unable to eat anything other than a few crackers. But she got through her program.
“I knew she would do that because she's Maddie,” Bates said of his wife. “She's a fierce competitor. Underneath all the beauty and the glamor and the skating costumes, there's a really incredible, tough, competitive athlete in there; and that’s what came through.”
When they finished, Chock was so weak she could barely skate off the ice. Bates kind of propped her up as they got their scores. “Okay, you can just lean on me if you want,” Bates said. “She just put her body weight towards mine because she wanted to be laying horizontally.”
They won their sixth national championship, tying a U.S. record set by Meryl Davis and Charlie White — their close friends and one-time training partners.
That’s the legacy part of this story.

To try to put Chock and Bates’ accomplishment into perspective, I went to the Arctic Edge Ice Arena in Canton, where I found figure-skating royalty. […]
In the same way, all these national titles are connected — one couple inspiring the next.
In the 1990s, Jerod Swallow and his wife Elizabeth Punsalan won five national championships, and then he went on to direct the Detroit Ice Skating Club.
Belbin and partner Benjamin Agosto won five straight national titles from 2004-08.
“When I first moved to Michigan, I got to witness Tanith and Benjamin Agosto firsthand,” Chock said. “I was so enamored and inspired by them. I still remember it to this day. Even when I look at Tanith now, I'm just like, wow.”

Now, White and Belbin have started the Michigan Ice Dance Academy, training the next wave of ice dancers in Canton. Two of their skaters — Caroline Green and Michael Parsons — took third at nationals.
And that legacy keeps flowing.
“We do what we do with a lot of love and devotion, and that's what I'm grateful for,” Belbin said. “So we're very fortunate, and we are very happy with what we're building with our kids, and it's very special.”

ETA: @TanithandBenFan originally posted this link in the Chock/Bates fan thread. Since it's also about "the long history of ice dance excellence rooted in Michigan" (her words), I'm sharing the article here as well.

 

[Karen-W]

Egna Ice Dance Trophy entries are up and we have quite a few US teams entered in junior, advanced novice & intermediate novice. Brooke Tufts is entered in senior solo ice dance also.

Junior Ice Dance -
Emily Renzi/William Lissauer
Annelise Stapert/Maxim Korotcov

Advanced Novice Ice Dance -
Marian Carhart/Denis Bledsoe
Grace Fischer/Luke Fischer
Clara Fugate/Warren Fugate

Intermediate Novice Ice Dance -
Rylen Lukanin/Patrick O'Brien

 

[Karen-W]

The ISU has already updates the WS lists after Euros Dance, so all of that initial mathing for naught .

Guignard/Fabbri, Fear/Gibson, and Chock/Bates (who can earn no incremental points at 4C's) are in the last RD group and can't be caught. ETA: Neither can Lopareva/Brissaud, after double-checking the math.

Currently, Lopareva/Brissaud and Gilles/Poirier are in 4th and 5th, with Lajoie/Lagha leading the penultimate group . Carreira/Ponamarekno can't catch Gilles/Poirier, even with a win at 4C's, so they will start in the penultimate group.

Green/Parsons are currently 12th after FB/S are skipped, in the 3rd-to-last group. Lim/Quan would pass them with 6th or higher at 4C's, but no one else can catch them. They would have needed gold or silver at 4C's to pass the Taschlers for the last spot in the penultimate group.

The interesting is the race for the last spot in the last group between Gilles/Poirier and Lajoie/Lagha. If either win 4C's, they get the last spot in the last group. If G/P don't come in 1st or 2nd, they can't win any incremental points, and a podium finish by L/L will earn them the last spot. Skating in the last group could give L/L an advantage over C/P.

With Green/Parsons assigned to the Road to 26 Trophy Oly test event in Milano the same week as 4CCs, they would pass the Taschlers for the last spot in the penultimate group with 3rd place or higher since they have an open spot for a Sr B competition this season.

ETA - apparently the Taschlers are also assigned to this event, so they would need a 1st place in order to add the incremental points necessary to stay ahead of GreenP should GreenP finish 3rd (2nd for GreenP behind the Taschlers would still give GreenP the points necessary to jump ahead of the Taschlers overall). I don't think a Taschler win is very likely since TurkVers are also planning on competing at this event.

 

[Spikefan]

Why do my favorites have to knock my other favorites out?

 

[kwanfan1818]

Who replaced USFS with people who are thinking strategically ? Not only an open slot, but one that gets all of the points, not just incremental points.

I have mixed feelings about giving points in such a limited field, but there shouldn’t be any issue reaching the minimum number of countries represented/discipline, given the “no more than one/country” entry restrictions, going to more only if there aren’t enough applicants. Above Green/Parsons only C/B and Gilles/Poirier have open slots, and neither is sweating about points, and you have to go to #32, Grimm/Stavitskiy to find another open slot.

 

[Karen-W]

Who replaced USFS with people who are thinking strategically ? Not only an open slot, but one that gets all of the points, not just incremental points.

I have mixed feelings about giving points in such a limited field, but there shouldn’t be any issue reaching the minimum number of countries represented/discipline, given the “no more than one/country” entry restrictions, going to more only if there aren’t enough applicants. Above Green/Parsons only C/B and Gilles/Poirier have open slots, and neither is sweating about points, and you have to go to #32, Grimm/Stavitskiy to find another open slot.

Let's just hope that we don't have the likes of FearGib or LopBri also entered here to knock GreenP off the podium (I'm presuming that GuigFab are doing this comp, lol).

 

[Debbie S]

I think sending Z/K to 4CC was also just the right thing to do. There have been times previously when USFS has split assignments between 4CC and Worlds, or Worlds and the Olys, when Nats results were very close and the skater/team not going to the 'bigger' comp was deserving of a major assignment based on prior int'l results. And still giving Green/P an opportunity to get more comp experience and potentially boost their world ranking in advance of Worlds was also correct.

 

[PRlady]

Mulling over Ben Starr trying out with Annabelle and Flora.

I remember him as a biggish guy, Flora would be too small? Plus the notoriety from recent events. I really liked her with Desyatov but she’s high-risk.

 

[Belsornia]

I enjoyed Hauer/Starr but I don't find his skating particularly memorable (his throwback ice dancer hair and baggy shirts OTOH...) Sometimes unexpected partnerships really work out, but this feels more like a "which guys are available?" tryout rather than something with lots of potential.

 

[Dobre]

FWIW, I think Ben is the real deal if he is interested in committing to the senior ranks. He's strong. He has charisma. We're lucky if we get both of those traits in most ice dance guys.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

I would never want to crowd one coaching team with another incoming team, but zingers and Kolesnik would they benefit with a coaching change? Who else does he coach? I don’t know if I would send them to Montreal but what about to Carol Lane or hear me out on this… The one and only Babs…

 

[Marta24]

With Green/Parsons assigned to the Road to 26 Trophy Oly test event in Milano the same week as 4CCs, they would pass the Taschlers for the last spot in the penultimate group with 3rd place or higher since they have an open spot for a Sr B competition this season.

ETA - apparently the Taschlers are also assigned to this event, so they would need a 1st place in order to add the incremental points necessary to stay ahead of GreenP should GreenP finish 3rd (2nd for GreenP behind the Taschlers would still give GreenP the points necessary to jump ahead of the Taschlers overall). I don't think a Taschler win is very likely since TurkVers are also planning on competing at this event.

Is it sure that the skaters can gain any points at the test skate in Milano? Skatingscores.com is usually very quick in updating the World Ranking and they haven't added any points to the skaters. I wonder then why USFSA didn't enter GreenP instead in Egna Dance Trophy or Challengers. Seems like a missed chance for GreenP to get into the penultimate warm-up group at Worlds.

 

[Karen-W]

Is it sure that the skaters can gain any points at the test skate in Milano? Skatingscores.com is usually very quick in updating the World Ranking and they haven't added any points to the skaters. I wonder then why USFSA didn't enter GreenP instead in Egna Dance Trophy or Challengers. Seems like a missed chance for GreenP to get into the penultimate warm-up group at Worlds.

WS haven't been updated yet, but there's no reason to believe that Road to 26 won't have WS points. It fulfills all the senior B criteria.

 

[Karen-W]

Is it sure that the skaters can gain any points at the test skate in Milano? Skatingscores.com is usually very quick in updating the World Ranking and they haven't added any points to the skaters. I wonder then why USFSA didn't enter GreenP instead in Egna Dance Trophy or Challengers. Seems like a missed chance for GreenP to get into the penultimate warm-up group at Worlds.

WS haven't been updated yet, but there's no reason to believe that Road to 26 won't have WS points. It fulfills all the senior B criteria.

Just to follow up - the WS for Pairs have been updated since 4CCs is complete and I went through & checked the teams that were at Road to 26 to see if they had points added - all three of Ghilardi/Ambrosini, McBeath/Parkman and Holichenko/Darenskiy received their points for their placements in Milano, so we should see GreenP's points updated tomorrow after the 4CCs FD.

 

[BittyBug]

... we should see GreenP's points updated tomorrow after the 4CCs FD.

But Green/Parsons aren't at 4CCs, so why would their points change?

 

[Wyliefan]

But Green/Parsons aren't at 4CCs, so why would their points change?

They were at the Road to '26 competition (and won silver).

 

[Karen-W]

But Green/Parsons aren't at 4CCs, so why would their points change?

Because they got points from Road to 26 Trophy, but the ISU only updates points at the end of an ISU Championship or on Mondays. So, we'll see the WS updated tomorrow night after the 4CCs FD, but it will also include the Road to 26 points earned.

 

[jkl]

Emily Renzi is on IcePartner Search as of this morning. She is 15.