This is the fourth in an ongoing series about the U.S. Men. This is discussion for 2016-2017.
2016-2017 International stats: Coming soon.
Summer comp scores (overall best)
Thanks Sylvia of Unseen Skaters for the scores
Jason Brown 277.87 (Glacier Falls)
Nathan Chen 242.04 (Golden West)
Vincent Zhou 229.84 (Glacier Falls)
Max Aaron 228.81 (U.S. Collegiate Championships)
Timothy Dolensky 225.41 (Glacier Falls)
Sean Rabbit 220.27 (Glacier Falls)
Aleksei Kransnozhon 214.58 (Broadmoor; Junior)
Ross Miner 203.55 (Glacier Falls)
Grant Hochstein 202.47 (Glacier Falls)
Alexander Johnson 202.43 (Skate Detroit)
Tomoki Hiwatashi 202.13 (Broadmoor; Junior, but word is that he'll be skating Senior nationally later on)
Andrew Torgashev 196.52 (Philadelphia)
Jimmy Ma 193.45 (Glacier Falls)
Jordan Moeller 184.86 (Glacier Falls)
Shotaro Omori 183.50 (Glacier Falls)
Oleksiy Melnyk 183.84 (Philadelphia)
Daniel Kulenkamp 175.17 (Skate Detroit)
Ben Jalovick 174.15 (Glacier Falls)
Anthony Boucher 170.59 (Broadmoor)
Chase Belmontes 166.19 (Broadmoor)
Emmanuel Savary, 162.43 (Philadelphia)
Camden Pulkinen 159.41 (Broadmoor; Junior)
Sebastian Payannet 124.81 (Broadmoor)
2016-2017 Programs
Max Aaron
SP Nessun Dorma (ketp over from last year)
LP The Lion King soundtrack
Chase Belmontes
SP “Last Days” by Max Richter (music from the The Leftovers TV show); choreography by Phillip Mills
LP Selections from Jekyll & Hyde musical (1994 album featuring Anthony Warlow; Songs: Alive, Transformation, Letting Go and The Way Back); choreography by Phillip Mills
Anthony Boucher
SP “Writing’s on the Wall” by Sam Smith (from the Spectre soundtrack)
LP Aranjuez
Jason Brown
SP "Writing's on the Wa"" by Sam Smith; choreo by Rohene Ward
LP The Piano soundtrack (Big My Secret and The Scent of Love); choreo by Rohene Ward
Tim Dolensky
SP "Awake My Soul" by Mumford & Sons
LP Tango medley, choreo. by Catarina Lindgren
Tomoki Hiwatashi
SP “Big & Bad” by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
LP La Strada film soundtrack by Nino Rota
Grant Hochstein
SP Rhapsody in Blue by Gershwin, performed by Duke Ellington
LP Pagliacci by Leoncavallo
Alexander Johnson
SP Intro by B-Tribe and Bamboleo by Gipsy Kings; choreo by Tom Dickson
LP La Strada by Niño Rota; choreo by Tom Dickson
Alexei Krasnozhon
SP Etude Op. 10, No. 3 by Frédéric Chopin; choreo by Scott Brown
FS Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes by Aaron Copeland; choreo by Scott Brown
Jimmy Ma
SP "The Real Slim Shady" by Eminem
LP Piano Concerto No. 2 by Rachmaninoff
Jordan Moeller
SP
LP Romeo & Juliet (Baz Luhrmann) 1996 film soundtrack (includes voiceovers by Leonardo DiCaprio); choreo by Rohene Ward
Sean Rabbitt
SP East of Eden by Lee Holdridge; choreography by Sean Rabbitt
LP Mambo Medley by Pérez Prado
Adam Rippon
SP Let Me Think About It; choreo Jeff Buttle
LP Bloodstream, performed by Stateless; choreo: Benji Schwimmer
Andrew Torgashev
SP The Age of Cathedrals (from Notre Dame de Paris)
LP Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen
Luke West
SP
LP Notre Dame de Paris soundtrack; choreo by Drew Meekins
Vincent Zhou USA
SP "Writing's on the Wall," combining the Sam Smith song with orchestral music from the James Bond movie Spectre, for which the song was written
LP Jazz music from the 1959 TV show Johnny Staccato, composed by Elmer Bernstein; choreo by David Wilson
*** 04/30/2016 original post
Some thoughts on the men
Top contenders
* Adam Rippon - He has established himself as the top U.S. men last season. While his win at Nationals was highly disputed, he responded by earning the highest placement at Worlds. He promises to keep trying on the quad lutz and even perhaps throwing in a quad toe this season. What will it take for him to continue the momentum?
* Max Aaron - He started out strong in the 2015-2016 season with a win at Skate America, beating Japanese wunderkind Shoma Uno and Jason Brown. However, he had an up-and-down season since then. Aaron has continued to work on program components though they appeared not to be budging. What will yield the best return for Aaron -- trying to up PCS or trying to just get consistent on TES?
* Nathan Chen -- Seen as the future of figure skating, but injury plagued him at the Nationals gala of all places. Expect to see loads of quads from him. Question is whether he will stay injury free.
* Grant Hochstein -- He has respectable top 10 performance at Worlds with a SOHL in the free skate. He's had a taste of being on the top, will he be able to go further?
* Jason Brown -- He was injured for much of last season and then suddenly came roaring back at Team Challenge Cup with pretty strong scores. He's gone as far as he can go without the quad, will he be able to integrate it this season?
Dark horses
* Ross Miner -- He had some great highlights, including during Nationals SP. But he couldn't put it all together. Will that change in the upcoming season?
* Alexander Johnson -- Had a strong ending to his season with a top 6 finish, his best yet. Always a great performer with interesting Tom Dickson choreography.
* Timothy Dolensky -- A breakout season for him of sorts, including a strong free skate performance and cutting his placement in half (from 14th to 7th) at Nationals this year. He could be a dark horse for podium next season if his progress continues.
* Richard Dornbush -- Like Brown, injury kept him away from nationals. He continues to stagnate after his breakout 2010-2011 season.
* Vincent Zhou -- He has quads. He has a 3A now. He will probably do JGP one more season.
Question marks
* Joshua Farris -- Will we see him return? Radio silence for now.
* Jeremy Abbott -- He hasn't said he's officially retired, so putting him on the list.
Some stats .
Number of U.S. Champions: 4 (Rippon, Aaron, Brown, Abbott)
Number of U.S. medalists: 9 (the four above, plus Chen, Hochstein, Miner, Dornbush and Farris)
Number of World Spots: 2 (blood bath, y'all)
Previous editions:
2015-2016
2014-2015
2013-2014 (Post-GP)
2016-2017 International stats: Coming soon.
Summer comp scores (overall best)
Thanks Sylvia of Unseen Skaters for the scores
Jason Brown 277.87 (Glacier Falls)
Nathan Chen 242.04 (Golden West)
Vincent Zhou 229.84 (Glacier Falls)
Max Aaron 228.81 (U.S. Collegiate Championships)
Timothy Dolensky 225.41 (Glacier Falls)
Sean Rabbit 220.27 (Glacier Falls)
Aleksei Kransnozhon 214.58 (Broadmoor; Junior)
Ross Miner 203.55 (Glacier Falls)
Grant Hochstein 202.47 (Glacier Falls)
Alexander Johnson 202.43 (Skate Detroit)
Tomoki Hiwatashi 202.13 (Broadmoor; Junior, but word is that he'll be skating Senior nationally later on)
Andrew Torgashev 196.52 (Philadelphia)
Jimmy Ma 193.45 (Glacier Falls)
Jordan Moeller 184.86 (Glacier Falls)
Shotaro Omori 183.50 (Glacier Falls)
Oleksiy Melnyk 183.84 (Philadelphia)
Daniel Kulenkamp 175.17 (Skate Detroit)
Ben Jalovick 174.15 (Glacier Falls)
Anthony Boucher 170.59 (Broadmoor)
Chase Belmontes 166.19 (Broadmoor)
Emmanuel Savary, 162.43 (Philadelphia)
Camden Pulkinen 159.41 (Broadmoor; Junior)
Sebastian Payannet 124.81 (Broadmoor)
2016-2017 Programs
Max Aaron
SP Nessun Dorma (ketp over from last year)
LP The Lion King soundtrack
Chase Belmontes
SP “Last Days” by Max Richter (music from the The Leftovers TV show); choreography by Phillip Mills
LP Selections from Jekyll & Hyde musical (1994 album featuring Anthony Warlow; Songs: Alive, Transformation, Letting Go and The Way Back); choreography by Phillip Mills
Anthony Boucher
SP “Writing’s on the Wall” by Sam Smith (from the Spectre soundtrack)
LP Aranjuez
Jason Brown
SP "Writing's on the Wa"" by Sam Smith; choreo by Rohene Ward
LP The Piano soundtrack (Big My Secret and The Scent of Love); choreo by Rohene Ward
Tim Dolensky
SP "Awake My Soul" by Mumford & Sons
LP Tango medley, choreo. by Catarina Lindgren
Tomoki Hiwatashi
SP “Big & Bad” by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
LP La Strada film soundtrack by Nino Rota
Grant Hochstein
SP Rhapsody in Blue by Gershwin, performed by Duke Ellington
LP Pagliacci by Leoncavallo
Alexander Johnson
SP Intro by B-Tribe and Bamboleo by Gipsy Kings; choreo by Tom Dickson
LP La Strada by Niño Rota; choreo by Tom Dickson
Alexei Krasnozhon
SP Etude Op. 10, No. 3 by Frédéric Chopin; choreo by Scott Brown
FS Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes by Aaron Copeland; choreo by Scott Brown
Jimmy Ma
SP "The Real Slim Shady" by Eminem
LP Piano Concerto No. 2 by Rachmaninoff
Jordan Moeller
SP
LP Romeo & Juliet (Baz Luhrmann) 1996 film soundtrack (includes voiceovers by Leonardo DiCaprio); choreo by Rohene Ward
Sean Rabbitt
SP East of Eden by Lee Holdridge; choreography by Sean Rabbitt
LP Mambo Medley by Pérez Prado
Adam Rippon
SP Let Me Think About It; choreo Jeff Buttle
LP Bloodstream, performed by Stateless; choreo: Benji Schwimmer
Andrew Torgashev
SP The Age of Cathedrals (from Notre Dame de Paris)
LP Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen
Luke West
SP
LP Notre Dame de Paris soundtrack; choreo by Drew Meekins
Vincent Zhou USA
SP "Writing's on the Wall," combining the Sam Smith song with orchestral music from the James Bond movie Spectre, for which the song was written
LP Jazz music from the 1959 TV show Johnny Staccato, composed by Elmer Bernstein; choreo by David Wilson
*** 04/30/2016 original post
Some thoughts on the men
Top contenders
* Adam Rippon - He has established himself as the top U.S. men last season. While his win at Nationals was highly disputed, he responded by earning the highest placement at Worlds. He promises to keep trying on the quad lutz and even perhaps throwing in a quad toe this season. What will it take for him to continue the momentum?
* Max Aaron - He started out strong in the 2015-2016 season with a win at Skate America, beating Japanese wunderkind Shoma Uno and Jason Brown. However, he had an up-and-down season since then. Aaron has continued to work on program components though they appeared not to be budging. What will yield the best return for Aaron -- trying to up PCS or trying to just get consistent on TES?
* Nathan Chen -- Seen as the future of figure skating, but injury plagued him at the Nationals gala of all places. Expect to see loads of quads from him. Question is whether he will stay injury free.
* Grant Hochstein -- He has respectable top 10 performance at Worlds with a SOHL in the free skate. He's had a taste of being on the top, will he be able to go further?
* Jason Brown -- He was injured for much of last season and then suddenly came roaring back at Team Challenge Cup with pretty strong scores. He's gone as far as he can go without the quad, will he be able to integrate it this season?
Dark horses
* Ross Miner -- He had some great highlights, including during Nationals SP. But he couldn't put it all together. Will that change in the upcoming season?
* Alexander Johnson -- Had a strong ending to his season with a top 6 finish, his best yet. Always a great performer with interesting Tom Dickson choreography.
* Timothy Dolensky -- A breakout season for him of sorts, including a strong free skate performance and cutting his placement in half (from 14th to 7th) at Nationals this year. He could be a dark horse for podium next season if his progress continues.
* Richard Dornbush -- Like Brown, injury kept him away from nationals. He continues to stagnate after his breakout 2010-2011 season.
* Vincent Zhou -- He has quads. He has a 3A now. He will probably do JGP one more season.
Question marks
* Joshua Farris -- Will we see him return? Radio silence for now.
* Jeremy Abbott -- He hasn't said he's officially retired, so putting him on the list.
Some stats .
Number of U.S. Champions: 4 (Rippon, Aaron, Brown, Abbott)
Number of U.S. medalists: 9 (the four above, plus Chen, Hochstein, Miner, Dornbush and Farris)
Number of World Spots: 2 (blood bath, y'all)
Previous editions:
2015-2016
2014-2015
2013-2014 (Post-GP)
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