2019-20 U.S. Ladies Figure Skating

[el henry]

for the entry from Bethlehem’s own Penguins Figure Skating Club, three miles from my house

I like Gracie but not enough for a 1 1/2 hour drive to see basically her. Even if I didn’t have a conflict.

But hey if that many people are knocking down the door on a Friday afternoon to sit on IceWorks’ portable benches in that freezing rink, go for it. I hope they are polite enough to stay for all the competitors:thumbsup:

 

[ice coverage]

FWIW, I expect Jill Heiner and Julia Biechler to advance to sectionals.

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Emily Zhang got sixth at U.S. Juniors last year.

And this Emily Zhang.

(I had to delete my earlier comment re the two different Emily Zhangs ... I am an idiot :hopelessness: who had gotten them mixed up.)

 

[natsulian]

VERY excited to see Gracie's progress. Last time she performed for a crowd was back in April at a local show.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdtC49pqJR4

It will be immensely interesting to see how far the SP and FS have come. As for her spins, Gracie with barely any training was able to get Level 3's and 4's at Rostelecom and she's always been one of the best spinners in the US, so I'm sure they're more than fine. I just hope fans won't nitpick too much. What Gracie is doing is INCREDIBLY courageous, especially given what she's gone through and I'm happy so long as she's happy with what she manages to put out there.

 

[figurefan0726]

gracie is slated to skate 13th out of 20 skaters. since there’s 20 skaters, she will probably be the 3rd skater of the 3rd group. good luck to gracie!

 

[moonvine]

for the entry from Bethlehem’s own Penguins Figure Skating Club, three miles from my house

I like Gracie but not enough for a 1 1/2 hour drive to see basically her. Even if I didn’t have a conflict.

But hey if that many people are knocking down the door on a Friday afternoon to sit on IceWorks’ portable benches in that freezing rink, go for it. I hope they are polite enough to stay for all the competitors:thumbsup:

.

I would totally drive another 2 days there and 2 days back to see her, but I’d have to skip Nationals. And yes I would stay for all the competitors. I noticed there were only 4 men competing. Does that mean they all advance?

 

[catjohnsn2]

I would totally go to this Sectional just to see Gracie. I'd sit in a freezing rink too! This woman has more courage and guts than most people I know. It's time for her to get her feet wet and we need to be a supportive audience. I'm beyond excited for her and glad she's going to be in the mix again. US Figure Skating needs her!!!

 

[el henry]

.

I would totally drive another 2 days there and 2 days back to see her, but I’d have to skip Nationals. And yes I would stay for all the competitors. I noticed there were only 4 men competing. Does that mean they all advance?

. I know you would.:thumbsup:

But this is not a dis on Gracie, I just don’t follow the ladies enough, any of them, to go for *just* one. Even Gracie. Now if it were Gracie, and Karen, and Bradie, ...you know, Nats maybe I would fake injury to get out of my obligation

There is one men’s skater I would fake injury, drive and sit on the bleachers for. But he won’t be there

 

[frida80]

Emily Zhang got sixth at U.S. Juniors last year.

Are we clear on which Emily Zhang this is? There were two. Last year one was in juniors and the other was in novice. One went to skate for China and the other is still skates for the US.

The novice Emily Zhang was 9th.

 

[ice coverage]

Are we clear on which Emily Zhang this is? There were two. Last year one was in juniors and the other was in novice. One went to skate for China and the other is still skates for the US.

The novice Emily Zhang was 9th.

My two cents:

Emily Zhang of SC of New York placed ninth in Novice Ladies at 2019 Nats.
AFAIK, she is the same Emily Zhang of SC of New York who just a few days ago competed in Junior Ladies at U.S. Challenge Skate.

The Emily Zhang who placed sixth in Junior Ladies at 2019 Nats then represented Richmond FSC.
Although there was active discussion earlier re Emily Zhang of Richmond FSC joining Team China, my guess (by process of elimination) is that she is the Emily Zhang who is competing in Senior Ladies at regionals this week -- now representing SC of Wilmington.​

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Anyway, good luck to all, including Gracie.

 

[macy]

why are the junior and senior ladies flights so big? 20 is kind of pushing it and 30 (!!!) for juniors is way, way too big. they could have at least separated juniors into 2 QRs. that's kind of absurd.

 

[concorde]

Emily Zhang got sixth at U.S. Juniors last year.

Jill Heiner is also really good (great jumper). She broke?? her ankle last year right before Regionals so she was out for the rest of the season. When she was a Juvie, she got 3rd at Nationals.

According to NQS, Jill is #6 in Easterns so she has a bye through Regionals. Julie is #7 so I assume she will also get a bye once those with byes through different means (GP and Nationals placements) are eliminated.

 

[concorde]

Jill Heiner is also really good (great jumper). She broke?? her ankle last year right before Regionals so she was out for the rest of the season. When she was a Juvie, she got 3rd at Nationals.

According to NQS, Jill is #6 in Easterns so she has a bye through Regionals. Julie is #7 so I assume she will also get a bye once those with byes through different means (GP and Nationals placements) are eliminated.

The Emily Zhang is the really good one. She used to skate out of Richmond but is now out of SC of Wilmington. She skates in a group coached by Victor Pfeiffer that includes some really good Junior men.

I looked for her name on the NQS list but did not see it near the top. That really surprised me -maybe she did not sign up for it.

 

[gkelly]

why are the junior and senior ladies flights so big? 20 is kind of pushing it and 30 (!!!) for juniors is way, way too big. they could have at least separated juniors into 2 QRs. that's kind of absurd.

In 6.0 days, the maximum group size at regionals was 18.

When IJS came in they raised it to 24.

A few years ago they added a provision that they would take the top 4 (or 6 if there were only two qual groups) from each qualifying groups plus the top 4 scoring skaters across all groups of those who hadn't made top 4 in their groups. That was to mitigate the effect of uneven group quality, especially at juvenile level where very few of the skaters are seeded across the groups and the distribution is pretty much random. (Maybe that has changed now with the data from the NQS available, but I don't remember reading anything about using that data for seeding.)

So if there were 6 intermediate or juvenile qualifying groups at a large regionals, that would mean 28 skaters in the final round, exceeding the official 24 maximum. But the alternative would be adding a second round of cuts -- two groups of 14 in a middle round and then top 12 or 16 or whatever advancing to the final. For juveniles that would mean skating the same program three times since they don't have an SP.

One year that there were 28 junior ladies at South Atlantics that all skated in one group. I think the thinking of allowing that was that 1) they were already going to have 28 juvenile girls in the final round at that level and 2) it was likely that some of the juniors would scratch at the last minute, as is often the case at higher levels. But few if any did.

So I guess now they figure 30 is not much different from 28 -- it doesn't require an additional warmup group.

 

[concorde]

why are the junior and senior ladies flights so big? 20 is kind of pushing it and 30 (!!!) for juniors is way, way too big. they could have at least separated juniors into 2 QRs. that's kind of absurd.

If you have 2 groups, then you have to add a qualifying round. Most competitors prefer one big round (2 skates) than a QR and finals (3 skates). In the latter, some competitions then throw in an off day. By the end of a QR/FR, things are feeling like "groundhogs day the movie" where each day is a repetition of the day before.

 

[concorde]

If you have 2 groups, then you have to add a qualifying round. Most competitors prefer one big round (2 skates) than a QR and finals (3 skates). In the latter, some competitions then throw in an off day. By the end of a QR/FR, things are feeling like "groundhogs day the movie" where each day is a repetition of the day before.

I also think the event planners take into account timing.

USFS uses the long for the qualifying round so all skaters do that. With just one round, then all skaters move to the short. If you have a final round, than all skaters do their short and the long (again).

Also, its 2 judging panels vs 3.

 

[Ginask8s]

It is worth it to see the lovely Julia Bechler and Emily Zhang. I'm away but would definitely go if I could! Julia's short to Adelle is breathtaking as is her long to Love Story.

 

[princessalica]

Please, someone video. I know that eventually it will be put up on Sports Gold, but please share!

 

[macy]

Please, someone video. I know that eventually it will be put up on Sports Gold, but please share!

is there a subscription/payment required to watch regionals?

BTW if anyone is attending EGL this weekend i will be ice monitoring (again)

 

[princessalica]

is there a subscription/payment required to watch regionals?

)

They’re eventually added on NBC Golds figure skating pass for the senior level. I think everything else is supposed to be on the usfigureskwting fanzone

 

[moonvine]

Please, someone video. I know that eventually it will be put up on Sports Gold, but please share!

Do you know WHEN it will be put up?