USA & Other Countries JGP Nominees announced | Page 3 | Golden Skate

USA & Other Countries JGP Nominees announced

chuckm

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 31, 2003
Country
United-States
I agree that Skate Canada should send the younger ladies to the JGP instead of the older ones who have failed time after time to make any impact.

I'd pick those 16 and under who have shown some ability in the past: Megan Ure (who made the FSF at Liberty in her group), Dana Zhalko-Tytarenko, Vanessa Grenier, Kelsey McNeil (who looks promising), McKenzie Crawford, and the top two Novices. I'd also give Rika Inoda another chance. She is only 15, and may have been going through a bout with the puberty monster in the past year.
 

nadster

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 1, 2004
I agree that Skate Canada should send the younger ladies to the JGP instead of the older ones who have failed time after time to make any impact.

I'd pick those 16 and under who have shown some ability in the past: Megan Ure (who made the FSF at Liberty in her group), Dana Zhalko-Tytarenko, Vanessa Grenier, Kelsey McNeil (who looks promising), McKenzie Crawford, and the top two Novices. I'd also give Rika Inoda another chance. She is only 15, and may have been going through a bout with the puberty monster in the past year.

Another novice I would consider is Rylie McCulloch-Casara who is 14 years old. No she did not have her best nationals.but she did win the Western Challenge with a score ( novice) over 100. She was invited to the national development camp and was landing triple lutzes. This is great news considering that traditionally that the Canadian ladies have had problems adding jumps to the arsenal after the novice level. She is due to compete in Thornhill.

There is also Velenosi and Kirsten-Moore Towers to consider but as they both JGP bound for pairs ( in the case of Velenosi the senior GP as well ) I don't think it is too wise to select them to overload the plate. Kirsten-Moore-Towers is one of 4 ladies to meet the current Skate Canada standard and the only one to do it internationally ( She did it at the Merano cup, a junior b event).

The other ladies that make Skate Canada's standard are:

Diane Szmiett - most recently at the last Challenge ( senior level)

Erika Tisluk - most recently at the last Challenge ( senior level)

Kelsey McNeil - Junior nationals 2008

It is funny how more women meet the Skate Canada standard than men at this point.

.I do agree with your choices chuckm. I just had a few other good names to consider.
 
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chuckm

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 31, 2003
Country
United-States
Kelsey McNeil was one of my picks.

As for Szmiett and Tisluck, they are a pair who have consistently disappointed internationally. I'd rather see the younger ladies get the chance to establish themselves than see those two 17 year-olds occupy two JGP slots this year and next, and still not deliver.
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
I was happy to see South Africa get a JGP event. Obviously, there are not many skaters south of the equator but it would be nice for those that do skate to compete at that event. For US and any other northern hemisphere team, it think its a great opportunity. Frankly, a lot of the fun of these events is the chance to travel to places you would not normally visit and South Africa is one of them. Even with the extra travel time, I think the potential benefits of learning to travel long distances, adjusting your schedule, new atmosphere/food ect. is part of the learning experience. It's not just about the skating at this level, is how well you compete.
ITA. The skating will be good and you will have that most talked about city to want to stay further. There is much to do in Capetown.
 

nadster

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 1, 2004
Kelsey McNeil was one of my picks.

As for Szmiett and Tisluck, they are a pair who have consistently disappointed internationally. I'd rather see the younger ladies get the chance to establish themselves than see those two 17 year-olds occupy two JGP slots this year and next, and still not deliver.

I wouldn't pick Szmiett and Tisluck either for the reasons you state. Unfortunately since they meet Skate Canada criteria and the vast majority of the younger ones don't, they are likely to be picked again.

Skate Canada has normally been reluctant to "drop" a non-performing skater. They sent skaters like Ashton Tessier again and again even though she never had any good results. It is only when SC loses JGP slots that skaters get "dropped".
 

Sylvia

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 25, 2003
Team USA for the JGP in Courchevel, France has been announced: http://www.usfigureskating.org/Story.asp?id=41670 (2008 Nationals placements in brackets)

Ladies:
Becky Bereswill [S10], Kristine Musademba [J4; 4th, JGP Final]

Men
Eliot Halverson [S13], Armin Mahbanoozadeh [J8; 3rd, JGP Final]

Ice Dancing
Maia Shibutani & Alex Shibutani [J4], Chloe Wolf & Rhys Ainsworth [N1]

This will be the JGP debut for Bereswill, the Shibutanis and Wolf/Ainsworth.
 
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blue dog

Trixie Schuba's biggest fan!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 16, 2006
Totally off topic, but were Maia and Alex named after Usova/Zhulin?
 

nadster

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 1, 2004
What is really nice to see is that there are so many more of our top Junior ladies actually competing at the big summer US events than in previous years.

Skate Canada and its sections must have seen the success of sending ice dance teams en masse to Lake Placid and decided it was a good thing for the ladies. :rock::clap:

No matter where they place, this experience of being surrounded by quality competition is far better than winning in a field where most of the skaters have no hope of landing a double axel or any triple jump ( which unforutunately is the case with far too many Canadian summer competitions)
 

Sandra_persch

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 8, 2006
For the record ... I am really glad Skate Canada is giving Jackson and Rylie a shot. ISU also updated the Bio for Rika Inoda so I guess they must have entered here as a substitute :clap:
 

nadster

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 1, 2004
It will be interesting to see if Paul Poirier gets a second assignment because I am sure that Skate Canada will want him to get his singles assignments out of the way ASAP so he can concentrate on dance.

Hopefully Szmiett puts together 2 strong programs. She usually bombs shorts ( especially at internationals but she had short program issues as well at the challenges and Canadians) although the rules this year ( lutz out of steps instead of last year's loop ) should help her as she really does not have the loop but can do the lutz.

Congrats to Rylie and Jackson. Hopefully Rylie can bring the lutz she landed at the development camp.
 

chuckm

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 31, 2003
Country
United-States
Mckenzie Crawford finished 2nd in the Junior Ladies Final FS round at Skate Detroit. She scored 34.55 in the SP and 69.60 in the final FS. I'd like to see Skate Canada give this 15-year-old a shot in the JGP.
 

nadster

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 1, 2004
Mckenzie Crawford finished 2nd in the Junior Ladies Final FS round at Skate Detroit. She scored 34.55 in the SP and 69.60 in the final FS. I'd like to see Skate Canada give this 15-year-old a shot in the JGP.

Agree, but she was ignored by Skate Canada last year as well. In the 2007 junior ladies championships Crawford finished 6th and Kang finished 11th. Guess who got the JGP assignment? Not the then 14 year old Crawford but the 17 year old ( who at the time had already done 3 JGP's with no great results ) Kang. Although the score you state is not bad for this time of year, it is still short of Skate Canada's standard. This year Crawford's national score( junior) was 108.36 and Kang's ( senior) was 110.79. Although Crawford's score was numerically lower this year , in real terms she did better than Kang when you consider the extra spin Kang gets and that Crawford's short would have more technical content as a senior as she would do a second triple rather than a double loop.

BTW , none of the 10 ladies that beat Kang at 2007 junior nationals got an assignment. Many of them were younger then Kang as well. This year the 7 junior scores beat Kang's senior score at nationals. And when you consider the extra places for points that seniors can get, you can argue that the 8th-10th place junior ladies beat Kang as well. The 3 novice ladies who posted scores of over 100 last season would also have scores competitive with Kang when their scores are adjusted with junior PCS multipliers.

As far as selection goes, SC will first select those that made their standard. That means Tisluck, Szmiett , McNeil and Moore-Towers will be the first chosen. If Moore-Towers is not chosen , it will be because she is getting JGP's in pairs.

The next skaters that get selected will be those that have the buzz behind them. Rylie McCulloch-Casarsa was featured on a local CTV station and the tape showed her landing a triple lutz. She is only 14 years old and fully deserves her assignment. The development camp featuring the top novices and pre-novices was also well talked about. So I expect Najarro and Briggs (1st and 2nd novice) to get assignments as well. All 3 ladies mentioned in this paragraph scored over 100 in a novice competition at least once this year.

As well having the right coach politically can score points. Kang is coached by Joanne Mcleod. So little facts like that the fell from 4th in juniors in 2006 to 11th in 2007 get ignored from consideration. She still got her JGP last year despite the clear dip in performance nationally. There is clear evidence that there are at least a dozen ladies ( all younger than Kang) who have a realistic chance of actually faring better than Kang on the JGP this year. Unfortunately I still see Kang ahead on Skate Canada's pecking order ( not mine) of many of the younger juniors despite this clear evidence.
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003

The Men: I think we will be discussing: Brezina, Mahbanoozadheh, and possibly Gatchinsky. No Canadians do I know, and I notice no Japnese in the mix.

The Ladies: Maybe Musademba may skate well, but this comp, I think is open for anyone to be on the podium.

The Dance: I don't know any of these teams.
 

Meli_Huber

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 25, 2008
The Men: I think we will be discussing: Brezina, Mahbanoozadheh, and possibly Gatchinsky. No Canadians do I know, and I notice no Japnese in the mix.

The Ladies: Maybe Musademba may skate well, but this comp, I think is open for anyone to be on the podium.

I think that you have to discuss some more:

Ladies: Of course the 2 American Girls, because they are always very good; Yuki Nishino, she is my favourite for this competition
And then you have some talented girl, who show good results in the JGPs last year: (Top 10 last year)
Miriam Ziegler
Isabel Drescher
Stefanie Berton
Yuka Ishikawa
Alexandra Rout

Men: Oh, I think this JGP will be stronger than the first last year in the USA.
You have Brezina, Gachinsky and MAHBANOOZADEH
But you have some skaters with a good placement in the JGPs last year:
(Top 10 last year)
Nan Song
Chao Yang
Florent Amodio
Christopher Boyadi
Christopher Berneck
Denis Ten
Eliot Halverson

Ice Dance: I don´t know :laugh:
 

PaulE

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 5, 2008
Country
United-States
I agree with Meli about Yuki Nishino. I had the privilege to see her live at 3 competitions last season. She is a nice skater and a very good competitor. Kristine Musademba is also good but Yuki outscored Kristine by 149.42 to143.80 at the JGPF in Gdansk. Stefania Berton is getting to be an old hand at these junior competitions and skates very nicely but doesn’t get much air in her jumps. She is probably the second or third best lady from Italy–she beat Valentina Marchei in the 06/07 Italian senior championships and finished 2nd to her in the 07/08 Italian championships (I assume Carolina was hurt and did not compete in 07/08).

It should be interesting to see how the little skaters, Bingwa Geng of China and Hyeon-Jeong Kim, have developed since last season. They only scored 107.97 and 115.09 at the Junior World Championships last spring but, for both of them, it was a season’s best in SP, FP, and total score. They looked about the same age but Kim is about a year and a half older than Geng.
 
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