Which American pair will break out in 2007/2008 season?

netnuts · Jul 15, 2007

U.S. is currently having a very deep bench of young pair skaters. Many of them have either done very well at junior international level or shown great potential at senior international stage.

2007/2008 will be a season many of them want to make a breakthrough. If you want to place a bet, which pair do you believe will seize the opportunity and shine at senior international competitions? Which pairs will make the team to compete at 2008 world championships? and Why? Will veterans I&B finally make a breakthrough and medal at world championships with S&Z and Pet & T retiring. Who will have the best international placing?

Here are some of the American pair skaters that will compete at Sr. grand prix.

1. Brooke CASTILE / Benjamin OKOLSKI, 2006/2007 U.S. national champions

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bAgZ4L504Q

2. Naomi Nari NAM /Themistocles LEFTHERIS, 2006/2007 U.S. national bronze medalists.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFVyBj7jcxw

3. Tiffany VISE / Derek TRENT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H74uLfyT1pA

4. Keauna McLAUGHLIN / Rockne BRUBAKER, 2007 Junior World champions

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dv76KnYxQ6E

7. Julia VLASSOV / Drew MEEKINS, 2006 Junior world champions
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfeqCstzfVU

8. Rena INOUE / John BALDWIN

My bet is on Brooke CASTILE / Benjamin OKOLSKI. They showed great potential at 2007 Nationals. The only technical deficiency for this pair is lack of consistent sbs triple jumps.

blackrose050 · Jul 15, 2007

Well, Namiotka/Coughlin aren't together anymore, so it won't be them.

netnuts · Jul 15, 2007

blackrose050 said:
Well, Namiotka/Coughlin aren't together anymore, so it won't be them.

Oh, really? Their name are still on 'Cup of Russia' roster. Who are going to replace them I hope Julia VLASSOV / Drew MEEKINS get the nod. They are not that flashy, do not have the best lines and quality of skating.But these two youngers seem to be very hard workers, and have made progress in consistency and technical difficulty after each competition. They now have reliable triple jumps. I wouldn't be surprised if these two will win out in the long run.

waxel · Jul 15, 2007

I think I & B may have seen their best days. I have high hopes for NN & L, V & T and Mclaughlin and Brubaker. Less hopeful for C & O after the 12th place finish at Worlds --- not a bad placement really, but somewhat discouraging.

netnuts · Jul 15, 2007

amazing

http://www.isu.org/vsite/vfile/page/fileurl/0,11040,4844-184014-201236-123386-0-file,00.pdf

If you take a look at pairs roster, it's kind of amazing how many slots American pairs get for 2007/2008. There are 48 slots in total, U.S. get 12, which is 25% of total.

U.S. 12/48
Russia: 9/48
Canada: 7/48
China: 7/48
Russia:

netnuts · Jul 15, 2007

waxel said:
I. Less hopeful for C & O after the 12th place finish at Worlds --- not a bad placement really, but somewhat discouraging.

Why? I, on the contrary, believe they have the most potential. Their lackluster performance at worlds was partly due to her sudden illness. The debut performance at such interntional competions was always hard as well.

I think their technique is far sounder than the other up comers. Their throws, lifts, twists are all amazing with good speed and ice coverage. SBS triples are key for them though.

I'm not sold on NNN&T. The other Jr. teams may break up at any minute.

Sylvia · Jul 15, 2007

McLaughlin & Brubaker were quite impressive (on the webcast) in their senior debut at the Broadmoor Open club competition last month (they scored 59.12 in the SP and 98.25 in the FS). They're still "only" doing side-by-side double axels, but their pair elements (lateral 3twist, lifts, throw 3salchow with good distance, etc.) are strong and they should be ready for their Senior Grand Prix debut this fall. Last I heard, they're scheduled to compete at Liberty next week and Indy Challenge in August.

Both Castile & Okolski and Vlassov & Meekins are scheduled to compete their Senior SP at Skate Detroit at the end of this month.

netnuts · Jul 15, 2007

Sylvia said:
McLaughlin & Brubaker were quite impressive (on the webcast) in their senior debut at the Broadmoor Open club competition last month (they scored 59.12 in the SP and 98.25 in the FS). They're still "only" doing side-by-side double axels, but their pair elements (lateral 3twist, lifts, throw 3salchow with good distance, etc.) are strong and they should be ready for their Senior Grand Prix debut this fall. Last I heard, they're scheduled to compete at Liberty next week and Indy Challenge in August.

.

Is it possible to download those videos? LOL. Are they still on the website?

Sylvia · Jul 15, 2007

netnuts said:
Is it possible to download those videos?

Well, not legally since the video copyright belongs to the Broadmoor Open's official videographer and webcaster, Local Motion Productions.

Are they still on the website?

I originally posted the 2007 Broadmoor Open webcast info at: http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16913

There *could* be downloadable videos of M&B after Liberty IF all things work out...

ETA: I'm still sad about Namiotka/Coughlin -- here's the News thread about their split: http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16996

Tinymavy15 · Jul 15, 2007

Naomi Nari NAM /Themistocles LEFTHERIS is my choice. They have REALLY good side by side tripes and they have good chemistry together. I think that Castile and Olkoski have really good skating (triple twist is huge, throws are much bigger than any of the other american pairs) but somehow i feel that they still have to prove themselves. Can they pull it out everytime?

hockeyfan228 · Jul 15, 2007

netnuts said:
Oh, really? Their name are still on 'Cup of Russia' roster. .

Last time I looked so were Chait/Sakhnovski's on the dance rosters. (The .pdf isn't opening for me now.)

August 15 is the day that the Feds have to say which skaters have accepted their invitations, and I'd expect updated rosters, with declines soon after. We should know then, for example, if Denkova/Staviyski are planning not to skate this season.

childfreegirl · Jul 15, 2007

waxel said:
I think I & B may have seen their best days. I have high hopes for NN & L, V & T and Mclaughlin and Brubaker. Less hopeful for C & O after the 12th place finish at Worlds --- not a bad placement really, but somewhat discouraging.

IIRC, Brooke had the flu at Worlds. And they still finished 12th. I wonder what they would've placed if she'd been healthy.

Tonichelle · Jul 15, 2007

I'll be cheering on Brooke and Ben! Loved watching them live in STL... and their win this past year was awesome (so wish I'd been there!)

dutchherder · Jul 15, 2007

My money's on Brooke and Ben! :rock:

They're the only ones with enough power and technical difficulty to compete with the Chinese. I think their 12th place finish at Worlds is respectable, considering Brooke's illness and that it was their first trip.

I like Naomi Nari Nam and Themistocles Leftheris, but they skate more like two singles skaters than an actual pair. I'll be interested to see if they gel better this year.

Vise and Trent-- I just don't think mirror pairs have much of a shot. It just looks too weird, and they have to get so far apart during some of their elements.

McLaughlin and Brubaker look very promising! I'll be excited to see their growth this season.

Vlassov and Meekins, I think, need more musicality and speed, but I like some of their interesting variations on elements.

Inoue and Baldwin. I worry that they have hit a plateau; I hope I'm wrong.

Kypma · Jul 15, 2007

dutchherder said:
My money's on Brooke and Ben! They're the only ones with enough power and technical difficulty to compete with the Chinese. I think their 12th place finish at Worlds is respectable, considering Brooke's illness and that it was their first trip.

Vise and Trent-- I just don't think mirror pairs have much of a shot. It just looks too weird, and they have to get so far apart during some of their elements.

I agree about Brooke and Ben. their Split triple twist is really awesome, and they've said they pan to add side-by-side triples this year. Theirs lifts are also good, and I'm looking forward to seeing how they'll fare this year.

As to mirror pairs... when it's well done, I really like it. Although I'm not crazy over the side-by-side jumps, the spins, when they're on, are quite mesmerizing to me. They're just rarely well done the whole spin long...

Kypma

oleada · Jul 15, 2007

I'm really excited to see what some of the US pairs show in the future.

I think Brooke and Ben can definitely rise quickly if they add side-by-side triple jumps. Their speed, lifts and especially their twist are really good. Their long program at Nationals was my favorite out of the winning performances there.

Nam and Lefteris are one of my other favorites and there are many good things about their skating, but I think they need to skate more as a team rather than just two people skating together. However, it's only their second season together and they are already the national bronze medalists.

Out of the younger teams, I have a soft spot for Vlassov and Meekins. They seem like hard working, nice people who are constantly working to improve and that can take them a long way.

McLaughlin & Brubaker were incredible in their performance at junior worlds. But she is quite young and can still grow, so I'm still a little more cautious about them, because she could outgrow him or they could break up. But they could be really great.

Joesitz (RIP) · Jul 15, 2007

I don't think I have to have another look at Inoue and Baldwin and Naomi and Themi. They already had whatver break out they're going to show. Will look forward to seeing some improvements. Evora and Ladwiq are the budding Pairs. Must check them out again.

I've seen the others,and I really need to see more. I anticipate McLaughlin and Brubaker will make a strong statement. How good that will be, I have to wait and see.

Castile/Olkowski; Vlassov/Meekins need more viewing and hopefully they skate their best.

You have to remember, American Pairs are not based on height as are the Russians so huge throws and lifts will not be as wow, but they should show more eye to eye rapport.

The exception in height goes to Vise and Trent - she's tiny; he's tall. But they are mirror image skaters.

Joe

netnuts · Jul 15, 2007

Joesitz said:
I. Evora and Ladwiq are the budding Pairs. Must check them out again.

Joe

I've never see Evora and Ladwiq's videos. Are they good?

BTW, I'd like to know what kind of impact change of sbs jump sequence rule will have on pairs.

Anybody noticed any tweak in early competition? Maybe we'll get some ideas after next week's liberty competiton. I really believe it's going to be a killer to many many pairs including the very top in the world. I can't imagine how those pairs will manage to do a tripe-toe-triple-toe sequence under the new guideline.

Mathman · Jul 15, 2007

netnuts said:
I've never see Evora and Ladwiq's videos. Are they good?

They've been steady performers for some time, but younger teams keep jumping ahead of them (she's 22, he's 27). Starting in 2003, their placements at U.S. Nationals were 12th, 10th, 5th, 7th, and last year, 4th.

Maybe this will be their year to make the podium.

sillylionlove · Jul 16, 2007

I have to agree with Joesitz on this one.

Which American pair will break out in 2007/2008 season?

netnuts

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blackrose050

netnuts

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waxel

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Sylvia

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Tinymavy15

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hockeyfan228

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Kypma

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netnuts

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