2026 Pacific Coast Sectional Singles and U.S. Ice Dance Final | Page 6 | Golden Skate

2026 Pacific Coast Sectional Singles and U.S. Ice Dance Final

Senior dance - Melillo/Schapfel are always a fun team, sad they won't be at Nationals but hopefully they continue on. Shocked the Mullens didn't make Nationals, but tough field here today.
I was also shocked. I was shocked that they didn't skate very well. It wasn't just his fall in the rhythm dance; they just didn't look prepared. I supposed one of them could be injured or sick.

I also like Melillo/Schapfel. I remember enjoying them last year at Nationals. Imagine a couple of normal sized people who seem to just enjoy skating and ice dance. I was happy to watch them again.
 
Ugh I can’t believe Sam Mindra has to go through Sectionals.
 
Senior dance will be fun to watch. I loved the Peals the last few years in juniors so always good to see them. Good luck to them in seniors!
Wow, are they fortunate to be training under Moir/ Hubbell. Elliana looks the fittest and happiest I have ever seen. Since they used to be trained by their skating coach father, he surely has connections. He must have decided they needed top level coaches to be viable as seniors. Their speed, flow, and edge quality already seem better. A bit more polish and elegance, too. They looked happy with Moir in the kiss 'n cry, despite the silly fall in the FD by Ethan when he was getting into his ending pose. Not too bad because it didn't happen on an element. They probably lost a few points, certainly the 1 pt deduction for a fall.
 
I thought when Pham/Rogers split she was going to continue on and he was going to retire. Guess not.
We have kept hearing that Lorraine has still been looking for a partner. Don't know if she's given up by now. The pickings are slim. Lorraine helped give Spirodonov top-level ice dance experience, but they weren't well-matched.

BTW, Spirodonov posted after the split that he was going to continue and would search for a new partner. Perhaps you are thinking of Emily Renzi & William Lissauer. Will had said he was going to pursue college studies, while Emily began searching. I wonder if she's still on Ice Partner Search. Apparently, Will had considered quitting a year or so before his split with Emily to go to college, but changed his mind. After they had a freak slip-up at their last Nationals together and fell low in the standings, they split for good. Most likely, coaches and officials reached out to Will and encouraged him to continue skating. There's a dearth of available men to partner with.

Will and Aneta look good together; made for each other good.
 
Happy for Calhoun/ Zheltyshev. BTW, Jane is Russian-American, afaik, so she speaks Russian well. Probably a great asset to their partnership on the level of understanding each other quickly. Their coach, of course, is also from Russia. She helped expand the ice dance discipline at the Broadmoor Arena.
 
Floręs & Jepson were dressed like they came from The Matrix and skated very well in their voidy program.
They've been working hard to match each other better. They have different styles, huge height difference, and training method differences. Flores was trained in the Russian technique. She's been learning the French technique. Boy, has she been hit by two abrupt partner mishaps through no fault of her own. Even earlier in her career as a junior, Flores had a good partner (Mikhail Gumba aka Johnson) who switched from ice dance to pairs, then retired to go to medical school after COVID. Her third partner was from the U.K., Adam Bouaziz. Soon after they partnered the pandemic hit and Bouaziz had to return home. But that led to a great pairing with Dima Tsarevski, whom Flores knew since he trained at WASA and had been briefly partnered with Leah Neset in Intermediate. Then, of course, something strange and personal happened to Dima just before they were set to compete at 2022 junior Nats, where they had been expected to win. Their closest rivals, the Browns, were out with COVID. After the tough, unexpected split withTsarevski, Flores tried out with a Russian partner prospect in Croatia, but he could not get into the U.S. from Canada due to a ban on Russian visas. She returned to Colorado where Desyatov was training and looking for a partner. He had arrived in the U.S. in early March 2022, prior to the Russian visa ban.

The unresolved and highly charged situation that forced Flores to ultimately split with Desyatov (a few months after they were pulled from 2024 SkAm with one of the best FDs last season), led to her surprising partnership with Colmor Jepsen. Flores & Jepsen look better than at Lake Placid, but they are obviously still trying to figure things out. Of course, Flores was much better matched with Desyatov. Their chemistry, speed, and promise was off-the-charts. Jepsen is not as strong and skilled in partnering. Just making the final cutoff spot at NQS Ice Dance finals after having placed top two with Desyatov in 2022 and 2023, is not a vote of confidence. I thought by moving to France that Flores was looking to be released, but maybe not. Or else, U.S. fed refused to release her. 🤔
 
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Who has sucked the joy from my man Kirk?
He's maturing, which has to happen. Kirk was still smiling throughout his program, so he is still joyful and passionate. But skating is hard work and takes concentration and focus if you want to succeed. Kirk's personality may be toned down from when he was younger, but his joy and passion are still evident, at least to me.
 
I was also shocked. I was shocked that they didn't skate very well. It wasn't just his fall in the rhythm dance; they just didn't look prepared. I supposed one of them could be injured or sick.
The Mullens are both very smart young people with a serious commitment to school.
Caroline is currently a neuroscience major at George Mason University
Brendan currently attends George Mason University and is a computer science major and mathematics minor

Some of the MIDA teams seem to be struggling this year as well. I think there are issues with the rink and possibly other things as well. They are beautiful skaters and talented people and I am sad to see them struggle a bit. Most of their skating is still really lovely just costly mistakes.
 
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The Peals are skating to Mr Blue Sky in Purple? They score well and also pass Bratti/Somerville best score this season.

Wow, are they fortunate to be training under Moir/ Hubbell. Elliana looks the fittest and happiest I have ever seen. Since they used to be trained by their skating coach father, he surely has connections. He must have decided they needed top level coaches to be viable as seniors. Their speed, flow, and edge quality already seem better. A bit more polish and elegance, too. They looked happy with Moir in the kiss 'n cry, despite the silly fall in the FD by Ethan when he was getting into his ending pose. Not too bad because it didn't happen on an element. They probably lost a few points, certainly the 1 pt deduction for a fall.
Actually, Ethan's fall was on a choreo lift element, so it was quite costly indeed; about 2-3 points lost on the skill and one point for the fall.

Their RD not only won; it was just excellent and one of my favorites of the season.
 
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