Initial U.S. Athletes Announced for 2009 Junior Grand Prix

[Sylvia]

Link to USFS press release: http://www.usfigureskating.org/Story.asp?id=43151
(Dec. 2008 JGP Final, 2009 U.S. Nationals and Jr. Worlds placements added below, where applicable.)
* = first season on JGP

Ladies
*Laney Diggs [S10]
*Taylor Firth [S13]
*Ellie Kawamura [J2]
*DeeDee Leng [J1]
Angela Maxwell [JGPF5, S8]
Kristine Musademba [JGPF6, S11]
*Karen Zhou [S19]

Men
Richard Dornbush [JGPF3, J-wd]
*Joshua Farris [N1]
Andrew Gonzales [J8]
Eliot Halverson [S13]
*Grant Hochstein [J4]
Austin Kanallakan [J5]
Keegan Messing [J2]
*Ross Miner [J1, JW10]

Pairs
*Cassie Andrews/Nicholas Anderson [N1]
*Kylie Duarte/Colin Grafton [N9]
*Meredith Pipkin/Brett Dunie-Neustadt [N8]
*Britney Simpson/Nathan Miller [J4]
*Tori Vollmer/Zach Sidhu [N5]

Dance
Isabella Cannuscio/Ian Lorello [J5]
Piper Gilles/Zach Donohue [J3]
*Charlotte Lichtman/Dean Copely [J9]
Maia Shibutani/Alex Shibutani [JGPF4, J2, JW2]
Rachel Tibbetts/Collin Brubaker [J6]

[Mathman]

Laney Diggs!

Eliot Halverson!

Duarte and Grafton!

Gillis and Donahue!

(And of course, Shibutani and Shibutani! )

[Wrlmy]

So I suppose it's official that Angela and Kristine will compete in the junior circuit again.
I'm so excited for Ellie Kawamura!

[Spun Silver]

How did someone like Taylor Firth jump to Srs at Nationals without having competed in the JGP? If that's common I guess I missed something.

[Sylvia]

How did someone like Taylor Firth jump to Srs at Nationals without having competed in the JGP?

Taylor's first senior nationals was in 2007 and she placed 14th. She was a JGP alternate in the fall of 2007 but didn't get the call and so was assigned to a Senior B international instead (Finlandia Trophy). Karen Zhou has competed at senior nationals twice now and will make her JGP debut this fall as well (Zhou competed in a Jr. (developmental) international in the spring of 2008 and at Finlandia Trophy last fall). Ditto for Laney Diggs who has competed at 2 senior nationals and was sent to a senior developmental international (Challenge Cup in the Hague) this past spring as a prelude to her JGP debut this fall.

As long as a skater or team is ISU Junior age-eligible, it doesn't matter what level they competed at their respective nationals.

[Joesitz]

Which of these names will also skate Senior Nationals? I know the rule.

Juniors is all about age, but what is the rule for Senior Nats? is that by invitation? I do not think Adam Rippon had to go through regionals and sectionals to skate Juniors and Senior Nationals. He was of the Junior age but how did he qualify for Senior Men? I presume he podiumed in a prior Junior Nats.
which made him elligible for Senior Natonals and therefore could compete in both competitions. Correct?

[Sylvia]

Qualifying for/competing at U.S. Nationals at the Novice, Junior and Senior levels is by test/skill level, not by age. "ISU Junior" skater eligiblity is solely about age.

[Sylvia]

Which of these names will also skate Senior Nationals?

I've indicated in my earlier post which skaters have competed at the Senior level at 2009 U.S. Nationals. We don't yet know for certain which of the Junior level skaters at 2009 Nationals will test/move up to Senior in 2009-10 (I'm assuming that Leng, Kawamura, Dornbush, Miner, Messing, Hochstein, and Kanallakan may all move up). Obviously Novice men's champ Joshua Farris will compete Junior both in the U.S. and internationally in 2009-10. It's quite likely that all of the JGP dance teams listed above will compete at the Junior level at 2010 Nationals (not sure about the pairs yet).

I do not think Adam Rippon had to go through regionals and sectionals to skate Juniors and Senior Nationals. He was of the Junior age but how did he qualify for Senior Men?

Rippon received a bye through the Senior Men's events at his Regionals and Sectionals last season because of his 2 Senior Grand Prix events.

[gkelly]

To skate senior at Nationals, the skater needs to have passed the US senior freeskating test (this is not a difficult test for competitive skaters at that level) and then place in the top 4 at a sectional competition OR be granted a bye to Nationals.

To compete at sectionals, singles skaters would have to have placed in the top 4 at regionals or have been granted a bye to sectionals.

There are several criteria for qualifying for these byes. Placement at national or international events in previous seasons at the junior level are not among them. Qualifying for the JGP final is one; skaters who placed well in last year's junior events and who are junior age eligible are likely to be assigned to this year's JGP and to do well there, so there is often a lot of overlap between those who earn byes and those who did well in juniors last year.

As has been pointed out, junior and senior levels are defined by test level for US competition. They are defined by age for international competition. Hence, it's not uncommon for skaters to compete at a different level internationally than they do nationally.

[Spun Silver]

Thanks for the clarifications, Sylvia and Gkelly.

[Sinclare]

Which of these names will also skate Senior Nationals? I know the rule.

Juniors is all about age, but what is the rule for Senior Nats? is that by invitation? I do not think Adam Rippon had to go through regionals and sectionals to skate Juniors and Senior Nationals. He was of the Junior age but how did he qualify for Senior Men? I presume he podiumed in a prior Junior Nats.
which made him elligible for Senior Natonals and therefore could compete in both competitions. Correct?

Joe, I thought you followed Rippon. After you discovered him, in the 2007/08 season he won the JGP final, US National Junior Mens title and World Junior title. A triple crown, so to speak.
He took his senior test in Hackensack late spring or early summer.well after Junior Worlds. He announced that he had passed at the Adult Camp. This past season was the first time he competed as a senior in the GP and at US Nationals. He was age eligible so he was selected to JW. His placement along with Oi's secured 3 spots this year for the US men at JW and the max assignments for the JGP series. Halverson former US National Junior Champ competed senior for the past two years at US Nationals and will be on the JGP series. He is 18, and I say the sport is hard enough, go for it and accept all of the assignments you can that will bring you to a higher level in your own time not the time frame of frustrated fans.

[efreedman]

Joe, I thought you followed Rippon. After you discovered him, in the 2007/08 season he won the JGP final, US National Junior Mens title and World Junior title. :

Interesting comments about Joesitz "discovering" Adam. Met Adam after I had to ask him to vacate my seat at 2005 Nationals in Portland and have followed/believed in him ever since. He's a great kid!

[Joesitz]

Thanks for the clarifications, Sylvia and Gkelly.

add me to the thank you note. I think many fans on GS now know that to be eligible for Seniors, one must pass TESTS. Are there any restrictions for skaters wanting to take the tests?

to be eligible to skate Juniors which I believe everyone knew is about age.

So a skater at the correct age can skate Senior Natonals and Junior GPs and Worlds but not Senior GPs. If in the unlikely event he qualifies for Senior Worlds (placed 1st at US Nats) and is elligible to skate Junior worlds, does he choose which or can he do both?

Interesting comments about Joesitz "discovering" Adam. Met Adam after I had to ask him to vacate my seat at 2005 Nationals in Portland and have followed/believed in him ever since. He's a great kid!

I first saw Adam at MidAtlantics a few years back, and noticed the flow and edges he had mastered. I knew then, as when I first saw Caroline in juniors, that he would be special soon. Unfortunately, his Junior comp did not pan out that way. He switched to morozov as coash and did extremely well in Junior Worlds. While I am still a fan, I am more looking forward to seeing his top competitor: Michal Brezina this season. Michal has the fastest feet in figure skating.

[nylynnr]

add me to the thank you note. I think many fans on GS now know that to be eligible for Seniors, one must pass TESTS. Are there any restrictions for skaters wanting to take the tests?

to be eligible to skate Juniors which I believe everyone knew is about age.

So a skater at the correct age can skate Senior Natonals and Junior GPs and Worlds but not Senior GPs. If in the unlikely event he qualifies for Senior Worlds (placed 1st at US Nats) and is elligible to skate Junior worlds, does he choose which or can he do both?

The tests are progressive; you must first pass basic tests and go up the line to the senior (gold/championship level) tests. Eligibility for juniors or seniors at U.S. nationals is not based on age; eligibility for Junior Grand Prix is based on age, and skaters under a certain age cannot compete on Senior Grand Prix. (There is also an under-age limit to Junior Grand Prix, which is keeping Tanovich and Chau out, but let's leave that alone.) A skater at the correct age could skate senior nationals and junior GPs and junior and/or senior worlds, all in the same season, but not junior grand prix, unless of course "he" or "she" is part of a pair. Pairs can skate both Junior and Senior Grand Prix, because there are relatively few of them and anyway the Russian Federation needs the money. Any skater the correct age can do both senior and junior worlds the same season, if his/her/their federation nominates his/her/them for both. FYI, among others, last season Gedevanishvilli and Leonova did both junior and senior worlds.

[Tammi]

The tests are progressive; you must first pass basic tests and go up the line to the senior (gold/championship level) tests.

And just to add onto this, only Juvenile and Intermediate have maximum ages with USFS for competitions.