2022-23 US Ice Dance

[dancelion21]

The rhythm dance at GP France ended, and Pate/Bye earned 69.46 while Wolfkostin/Chen scored 64.18.

Pate/Bye's score was pretty in-line with what they have been scoring so far in the season. It's higher than what McNamara/Spiridonov scored at Skate America, but slightly lower than what Bratti/Somerville earned at Skate Canada.

Wolfkostin/Chen have started getting into an unfortunate habit of making a major mistake at every other competition.

• At Junior Worlds, Katarina wiped out on the twizzles in the rhythm dance
• At Lake Placid, they were relatively clean and finished third
• At US Classic, Jeffrey fell in the middle of their midline step in the rhythm dance
• At Budapest Trophy, they were relatively clean in both programs and earned new personal bests
• GP France isn't over yet, but they messed up their rotational lift at the end of their rhythm dance, getting negative GOEs and a base level

It's all becoming a bit of a pattern, and they have high scoring potential when they don't mess up (their scores at Budapest Trophy are evident of that). They still scored slightly higher in PCS than Pate/Bye at GP France despite the major error. Let's see if they can climb a bit in the free dance, but they definitely need to work on preventing these types of major mistakes, which are really holding them back.

 

[el henry]

Story about Oona and Gage Brown preparing for their first senior GP:

The Browns prepare for their first Grand Prix, U.S. Championships as Seniors - U.S. Figure Skating

2022 World Junior Champions Oona and Gage Brown have leveled up.

usfigureskatingfanzone.com

Several months ago, they weren't even sure if they would remain as juniors for another season or move up to seniors. Although they deliberated on the decision to move up, their Worlds win made the decision easier.

"Worlds was a big factor in us moving up (to seniors)," Gage said. "It was the turning point for us, and it was great that it ended the way it did."

 

[dancelion21]

The US Ice Dance Final is this weekend, and 9 teams are competing to earn 5 spots to Nationals. Ling/Wein, Zingas/Kolesnik, and Flores/Desyatov will all be present.

Link to Results

2023 Eastern Sectional Singles and U.S. Ice Dance

Event Results for 2023 Eastern Sectional Singles and U.S. Ice Dance

ijs.usfigureskating.org

 

[purplecat]

The top three were terrific! I thought Ling/Wein's score of 70 was good, then Zingas/Kolesnik scored over 79! Then Flores/Desyatov scored less than a point behind! Wow! I felt Z&K were very sharp and precise and F&D were like they were shot out of a cannon - fast and throwing themselves full out into that program. Well done all! Nationals Dance is going to be so crazy - the depth of the field is amazing!

 

[dancelion21]

Videos of the Top 2:

 

[auser]

The top three were terrific! I thought Ling/Wein's score of 70 was good, then Zingas/Kolesnik scored over 79! Then Flores/Desyatov scored less than a point behind! Wow! I felt Z&K were very sharp and precise and F&D were like they were shot out of a cannon - fast and throwing themselves full out into that program. Well done all! Nationals Dance is going to be so crazy - the depth of the field is amazing!

Yes. Thought Flores/Desyatov skated well here especially considering how recently they teamed up.

 

[theblade]

We were able to see Zingas/Kolesnik and Flores/Desyatov live (missed a few other teams unfortunately). Z/K were fast and sharp and had great dance qualities, speed and flow. Upbeat music edit that uses Miami Sound Machine to great effect. Very prepared, in the moment, and on point. Her costume was well-cut and blinged out, and his coordinated well.

Cannot even begin to state how fast and powerful F/D were on the ice in their number. The choreo was tough and interesting, and they managed it well. Really liked their program and their music felt like '90s remix realness, so that was unexpected. Shot out of a cannon indeed. Both skates were tremendous.

Dostatni's junior team of Neset/Markelov were also very fast. Leah had a twizzle issue (a fall) and that's why they were second in the free dance. IIRC, they also issues in their earlier international competition this year and frankly, we think it's a costume issue. Her dress is very flowy and evokes the seafaring/pirates theme of the number effectively, but it's possible that it's so long it's getting in the way of her execution somehow. Aside from that one issue they had an excellent skate. Artem is an exceptional ice dancer/partner.

Carhart/Horovyi were first in the junior free dance. They were strong and error-free, it seemed. Their choreo is a bit simpler and easier to execute than what N/M are doing (so much of their Pirates number is at wind-sprint pace) that today, cleaner and simpler won the FD race, although N/M won the junior event overall. That being said, C/H skated both their RD and FD really very well and at this competition looked very strong and united as a team, so they had a great showing at the dance final. Hauer/Starr skated their FD with musicality, and eeked out a bronze over Pham/Rogers. The Peals had a twizzle issue in the RD and came back in the FD to place 5th, and Bland/Sperry had two solid skates to finish 6th.

 

[dancelion21]

Videos of F/D and Z/K free dances from US Dance Final




Zingas/Kolesnik won while Flores/Desyatov were in second.

 

[dancelion21]

Carreira/Ponomarenko had their season debut and scored 187.42, which is an excellent score, putting them well above the Wolfkostin/Chen, Pate/Bye, McNamara/Spiridonov, and Bratti/Somerville group, who all have PBs around 180. Anthony also revealed that he had ankle surgery in February on an injury that had been bothering him since 2015.

The Browns also significantly improved their SB by scoring 173.74.

Bratti/Somerville and Cesanek/Yehorov competed at CS Ice Challenge in Austria. Bratti/Somerville won the competition with 179.14 and Cesanek/Yehorov improved their SB by scoring 153.03.

 

[Weathergal]

I think we now have the list of who will be competing at Senior Nationals in Dance. There will be a maximum of 15 teams with 10 byes and the other 5 teams coming from the top five National finishers at the Dance competition held at Eastern Sectionals this weekend.

Teams with Byes:
1 Molly Cesanek / Yehor Yehorov
2 Lorraine McNamara / Anton Spiridonov
3 Eva Pate / Logan Bye
4 Emily Bratti / Ian Somerville
5 Oona Brown / Gage Brown
6 Christina Carreira / Anthony Ponomarenko
7 Madison Chock / Evan Bates
8 Kaitlin Hawayek / Jean-Luc Baker
9 Caroline Green / Michael Parsons
10 Katarina Wolfkostin / Jeffrey Chen

Top five National finishers:
11 Emilea Zingas / Vadym Kolesnik
12 Isabella Flores / Ivan Desyatov
13 Angela Ling / Caleb Wein
14 Raffaella Koncius / Alexey Shchepetov
15 Leah Krauskopf / YuanShi Jin

 

[theblade]

Ice dance dot com has started to post some of their photo cache from the Ice Dance Final. It's under the Photos tab in the 2022-2023 season folder.

 

[dancelion21]

I think we now have the list of who will be competing at Senior Nationals in Dance. There will be a maximum of 15 teams with 10 byes and the other 5 teams coming from the top five National finishers at the Dance competition held at Eastern Sectionals this weekend.

Teams with Byes:
1 Molly Cesanek / Yehor Yehorov
2 Lorraine McNamara / Anton Spiridonov
3 Eva Pate / Logan Bye
4 Emily Bratti / Ian Somerville
5 Oona Brown / Gage Brown
6 Christina Carreira / Anthony Ponomarenko
7 Madison Chock / Evan Bates
8 Kaitlin Hawayek / Jean-Luc Baker
9 Caroline Green / Michael Parsons
10 Katarina Wolfkostin / Jeffrey Chen

Top five National finishers:
11 Emilea Zingas / Vadym Kolesnik
12 Isabella Flores / Ivan Desyatov
13 Angela Ling / Caleb Wein
14 Raffaella Koncius / Alexey Shchepetov
15 Leah Krauskopf / YuanShi Jin

Current Season's Bests

International:

1. Chock/Bates - 202.80
2. Hawayek/Baker - 202.07
3. Green/Parsons - 194.19
4. Carreira/Ponomarenko - 187.42
5. Wolfkostin/Chen - 180.46
6. Pate/Bye - 179.63
7. Bratti/Somerville - 179.14
8. McNamara/Spiridonov - 179.03
9. Brown/Brown - 173.74
10. Cesanek/Yehorov - 153.03
11. Ling/Wein - 140.83

Domestic:

1. Zingas/Kolesnik - 192.74
2. Flores/Desyatov - 187.86
3. Ling/Wein - 171.30

 

[skylark]

Videos of F/D and Z/K free dances from US Dance Final




Zingas/Kolesnik won while Flores/Desyatov were in second.

thank you! for posting these. I'm very impressed with how well both teams are coming along in a short amount of time.

I'm also surprised by how much more I like Emilea with Vadym than I liked Avonley with Vadym. Whether it was the choreo, the arrangement of the elements or something else, my attention was mostly on Avonley when they skated together. Here, I'm looking at Emilea and Vadym both, and especially noticing the shapes they make together. Also, I think they match each other in passion, which is wonderful to see.

 

[dancelion21]

Assignments for Golden Spin are out, and Carreira/Ponomarenko, Pate/Bye, and Zingas/Kolesnik are assigned. I'm very excited to see how Z/K are going to score internationally, since they've scored very well domestically. I'm a bit surprised that P/B got the Golden Spin assignment, since they've already been assigned to two Challenger events, so by going to a third Challenger, they would't be able to get extra World Standings points from it. I would've preferred to see how CPom and Green/Parsons compare. However, Pate/Bye have so far been the most consistently scoring team of the P/B, M/S, W/C, and B/S group, so I can absolutely see the justification for them getting another chance to prove themselves.

 

[dancelion21]

NHK Trophy was certainly a mixed bag for the American teams competing

Chock/Bates scored a new season's best and were significantly cleaner than at Skate America, but lost to FBS by a little under two points. They revamped their free dance with a new theme and costumes, but kept much of the old choreography. They qualified for the Grand Prix Final, but it's going to be a tough battle for a spot on the podium, and they can't afford the minor twizzle errors they had at NHK.

Green/Parsons finished on the podium, but didn't score as high as Skate Canada, and finished fourth in the free dance. Their score here was still higher than that of any American team besides Chock/Bates and Hawayek/Baker, but they may need to start looking over their shoulder to competition from Carreira/Ponomarenko, who have looked much stronger this season than last season.

Wolfkostin/Chen definitely had it the worst. They finished last in the event, with their lowest score of the season, and the second lowest score of all the American dance teams who have competed internationally. They had twizzle issues, lift issues, level issues, this really was a weekend where nothing went right. They don't have any more competitions until Nationals, so they have almost two months to digest what happened and I'm sure that we will see them in much better condition at Nationals, but there's a lot of competition for places 5-10 at Nationals, and they certainly can't afford to be this messy in San Jose.

 

[Andrea82]

McNamara/Spiridonov have been entered to Santa Claus Cup (Hungary).
Neset/Markelov are in the Junior event entry list of Santa Claus Cup.

 

[Spiralgraph]

I'm certainly in a quandry about the many USA ice dance teams. Although Kaitlin and Jean-Luc are my favorites, what team I like after them can and does change often. I'm going to root for everybody when Nationals roll around. They're all wonderful and they all deserve support.

 

[labgoat]

ISU Season Best Scores Statistics 2022/2023 - Total Ice Dance

Rank	Name	Event	Date	Score	Level
5	Madison CHOCK / Evan BATES	ISU GP NHK Trophy 2022	19/11/2022	209.13	S
6	Kaitlin HAWAYEK / Jean-Luc BAKER	ISU GP Grand Prix Espoo 2022	26/11/2022	202.46	S
8	Caroline GREEN / Michael PARSONS	ISU GP Skate Canada International 2022	29/10/2022	194.19	S
13	Christina CARREIRA / Anthony PONOMARENKO	ISU GP Grand Prix Espoo 2022	26/11/2022	188.80	S
18	Katarina WOLFKOSTIN / Jeffrey CHEN	ISU CS Budapest Trophy 2022	16/10/2022	180.46	S
19	Eva PATE / Logan BYE	ISU CS U.S. International FS Classic 2022	15/09/2022	179.63	S
20	Emily BRATTI / Ian SOMERVILLE	ISU GP Skate Canada International 2022	29/10/2022	179.14	S
21	Lorraine MCNAMARA / Anton SPIRIDONOV	ISU CS U.S. International FS Classic 2022	15/09/2022	179.03	S
27	Oona BROWN / Gage BROWN	ISU GP MK John Wilson Trophy 2022	13/11/2022	173.74	S
43	Leah NESET / Artem MARKELOV	ISU JGP Egna-Neumarkt 2022	14/10/2022	156.36	J
51	Molly CESANEK / Yehor YEHOROV	ISU CS IceChallenge 2022	13/11/2022	153.03	S
62	Vanessa PHAM / Jonathan ROGERS	ISU JGP Riga Cup 2022	10/9/2022	148.24	J
63	Jenna HAUER / Benjamin STARR	ISU JGP Czech Skate 2022	3/9/2022	147.44	J
65	Helena CARHART / Volodymyr HOROVYI	ISU JGP Solidarity Cup 2022	1/10/2022	145.46	J
72	Elliana PEAL / Ethan PEAL	ISU JGP Baltic Cup 2022	8/10/2022	141.87	J
74	Angela LING / Caleb WEIN	ISU CS Finlandia Trophy 2022	9/10/2022	140.83	S
83	Romy MALCOLM / Noah LAFORNARA	ISU JGP Solidarity Cup 2022	1/10/2022	134.78	J
86	Kristina BLAND / Matthew SPERRY	ISU JGP Solidarity Cup 2022	1/10/2022	132.86	J

There are also the following teams competing nationally:

	Emilea ZINGAS/Vadym KOLESNIK	USA Eastern Sectionals	7/11/2022	192.74	S
	Isabella FLORES/Ivan DESYATOV	USA Eastern Sectionals	7/11/2022	187.86	S
	Raffaella KONCIUS / Alexey SHCHEPETOV	USA Eastern Sectionals	7/11/2022	164.86	S
	Leah KRAUSKOPF / YuanShi JIN	USA Eastern Sectionals	7/11/2022	130.76	S
	Cara MURPHY/Joshua LEVITT	USA Eastern Sectionals	7/11/2022	130.48	S
	Caroline DEPIETRI/TJ CAREY	USA Eastern Sectionals	7/11/2022	128.15	S
	Klara KOWAR/Thomas SCHWAPPACH	USA Eastern Sectionals	7/11/2022	126.57	S
	Riona HARRIS/Tyler VOLLMER	USA Eastern Sectionals	7/11/2022	DNF	S

 

[dancelion21]

GP Espoo was an ok competition for the American teams involved.

Hawayek/Baker scored a new personal best and finally broke 80 in the rhythm dance which they should be proud of, and they qualified for the Grand Prix Final. However, I'm sure that they were disappointed at the 17 point gap between themselves and Gilles/Poirier. Right now, H/B are going into the Grand Prix Final with the lowest scores of all the teams who qualified. They should still be immensely proud of qualifying for the Grand Prix Final for the first time in four years and closing the gap between themselves and Chock/Bates this Grand Prix season.

Carreira/Ponomarenko missed out on the podium, but also scored a season's best. Their scores are higher than what Green/Parsons earned at NHK Trophy, though lower than what Gr/Pa got at Skate Canada (which admittedly was a very high-scoring event). CPom are still scheduled to compete at Golden Spin, and if they can continue this upward trajectory, it's going to be a very exciting fight between them and GrPa for the third Worlds spot.

The Browns didn't score as well as they did at GP Sheffield, but it's still in line with what they've been scoring this season. They don't have any more competitions until US Nationals. They will probably realistically place somewhere between 7th-11th, depending on how they and many of the teams around them perform. It's going to be an exciting battle.

 

[dancelion21]

Some brief updates before the rhythm dance at both the Grand Prix Final and Golden Spin

McNamara/Spiridonov competed at Santa Claus Cup, where they scored 173.96 and placed 3rd. It's always hard to compare scores at minor competitions to Grand Prix scores though. McNamara/Spiridonov and Ling/Wein were both assigned to the World University Games in Lake Placid, which is a week before US Nationals.

Chock/Bates and Hawayek/Baker are both competing at Grand Prix Final.

Carreira/Ponomarenko, Pate/Bye, and Zingas/Kolesnik will all be competing at Golden Spin.