2018-19 U.S. Ladies' figure skating

[MarinHondas]

100% agree. There's no reason for any US skater to skip 4CCs this year.

Pooja is most likely fighting for a Junior Worlds spot, along with Ting and Hanna (I would be surprised to see any girl other than one of these three selected for JW).

I believe we only have two JW spots so, Ting and Pooja?

 

[halulupu]

Tessa Hong retired. She was suffering from Osgood-Schlatter (a growth-related syndrome causing severe knee pain) and decided she'd rather concentrate on her education.

Oh no, wasn't she promising

 

[andromache]

I believe we only have two JW spots so, Ting and Pooja?

Ting and Pooja would be my preference, but I believe Hanna outskated Pooja at Sectionals? (I could just be making that up though.)

I kind of think Ting HAS to go to Junior Worlds because her scoring/placement potential is by far the highest. I'd give the second spot to whoever skates better between Pooja and Hanna at Nationals.

 

[Bluediamonds09]

The Junior ladies who made it through sectionals:

Gabriella IZZO
Audrey SHIN
Emily ZHANG
Sarah JUNG
Wren WARNE-JACOBSEN
Stephanie CIAROCHI
Akane EGUCHI
Alyssa RICH
Emilia MURDOCK
Noelle ROSA
Amie MIYAGI
Cailtin HA

Thanks again. Now I know all of the competitors at junior nationals.

Audrey is actually pretty good.....wondering if she’ll pull some awesome performances when it really counts.

 

[Bluediamonds09]

Ting and Pooja would be my preference, but I believe Hanna outskated Pooja at Sectionals? (I could just be making that up though.)

I kind of think Ting HAS to go to Junior Worlds because her scoring/placement potential is by far the highest. I'd give the second spot to whoever skates better between Pooja and Hanna at Nationals.

Hanna Harrell is honestly amazing, and needs to be in (almost!) the same category as the Japanese and Russian juniors. But I think her jumps get thrown off by the rippon feature she usually does.

 

[vitamintea]

Hanna Harrell is honestly amazing, and needs to be in (almost!) the same category as the Japanese and Russian juniors. But I think her jumps get thrown off by the rippon feature she usually does.

I think Ting has the same problem too. Maybe if she lost the Rippon, or only put it on her lutz, she'd be more consistent with her 3Lz-3T combo.

 

[andromache]

Hanna Harrell is honestly amazing, and needs to be in (almost!) the same category as the Japanese and Russian juniors. But I think her jumps get thrown off by the rippon feature she usually does.

I see a lot of hype for Hanna but she's been pretty wildly inconsistent. And for some reason I have been very endeared to Pooja. She's developing slowly but that's not a bad thing, and she's with Alex O., who teaches fabulous, fully-rotated jumps.

Ting is the total package and international judges want to shower her with love. Rep-wise, she's pretty far ahead of both Hanna and Pooja, which is why I think she has to go. (Even if she finishes behind Pooja and Hanna, I think USFS will send her.)

 

[frida80]

100% agree. There's no reason for any US skater to skip 4CCs this year.

Pooja is most likely fighting for a Junior Worlds spot, along with Ting and Hanna (I would be surprised to see any girl other than one of these three selected for JW).

Actually, it's Gabriella that's likely fighting with Ting and Hanna for a JW spot. Pooja has scored lowly this year in spite of being consistent. Hanna has a bigger BV and beat her by 15 points in sectionals. Gabriella score 175 in sectionals which was not only higher than Hanna's 173, but was without a Choreographical sequence to boost her score. There is also Ashley Lin, who did Asian Open as a Junior and scored weakly. Then she skated as a senior in Nebelhorn and got one of the highest score of the season 181. However her next competition she only scored a 165. Of course there is still Audrey, but her underrotations take her out of any conversation. Emilia Murdock was assigned to Golden Bear and scored well. However she only scored a 162 at sectionals. Below everyone except Audrey and Pooja.

Based on who is competing this year, this is my Junior Worlds list.

Ting
Gabriella vs Hanna
Ashley Lin (spoiler)
Emilia (substitute)
Pooja (substitute)
Audrey Shin (substitute)

Keep in mind Nationals will change a lot of things. For the girls skating senior, it's the first time they've skated in front of a full audience. That can create some huge nerves. For the juniors, some of them have never medaled at nationals so that will cause a lot of pressure as well.

However, it's looking more like we have a good pool of skaters to not only get us 3 spots at JW but also 15 spots on the JGP.

 

[andromache]

Ah shoot, I totally forgot Ashley Lin!! She should definitely be in the conversation for Junior Worlds as well.

I guess I'm biased on Pooja. But IMO, USFS would be making a pretty big mistake to send Gabriella to Junior Worlds. She's 17 years old without a 3-3. Long-term development-wise, Hanna and Pooja have more potential and would benefit more from the experience. Pooja just desperately needs better programs.

 

[skylark]

I think Ting has the same problem too. Maybe if she lost the Rippon, or only put it on her lutz, she'd be more consistent with her 3Lz-3T combo.

I love Ting's Rippon:luv17: jumps! They're beautiful (and I'd so much rather see them than floppy tanos).

Thinking long-term, it takes time to get consistent with a Rippon jump. I imagine Ting and her team want to be competitive internationally in the future. It would be short-sighted to go back. I assume the same with Hanna.

 

[christinaskater]

I think
Bradie
Mariah
Ting

Will be the US top ladies
For nationals this year

Ting if she lands all jumps- has a strong chance as well

 

[andromache]

As for seniors, let's not forget Amber Glenn.

She's SO hot and cold that it kills me to be a fan of hers. But her Sectionals outing was stellar and she has high scoring potential. I could imagine her being the third US lady for 4CCs/senior Worlds alternate. (I would say that she could win bronze at Nationals, but if Alysa medals, then you don't need to be top 3 to still be the third US senior lady. It makes things complicated.)

 

[frida80]

I think
Bradie
Mariah
Ting

Will be the US top ladies
For nationals this year

Ting if she lands all jumps- has a strong chance as well

Alysa??

 

[vitamintea]

As for seniors, let's not forget Amber Glenn.

She's SO hot and cold that it kills me to be a fan of hers. But her Sectionals outing was stellar and she has high scoring potential. I could imagine her being the third US lady for 4CCs/senior Worlds alternate. (I would say that she could win bronze at Nationals, but if Alysa medals, then you don't need to be top 3 to still be the third US senior lady. It makes things complicated.)

I think there are only two spots for worlds though, and I can't see anyone overtaking Bradie and Mariah right well. Even if one of them falters at nationals there are still compelling reasons to send both to Worlds—Bradie, as the only Grand Prix medalist this season; Mariah with a new higher SB and making steady progress. It would be great if Amber did well at nationals, got 2 GP spots next season, and then moved up from there.

 

[princessalica]

Alysa Liu - who might throw in a 4Z and a few 3As. She's too young to go anywhere internationally this season, but she's hungry and ready to take on the world. She scored 212.97 for her total which is ahead of all of the senior ladies.

 

[chuckm]

Bradie's 206.41, Ting's 199.79 and Mariah's 198.96 were all scored by ISU judges at Senior international competitions. Alysa was scored 212.97 by USFS judges at Sectionals. Just not comparable.

 

[frida80]

Bradie's 206.41, Ting's 199.79 and Mariah's 198.96 were all scored by ISU judges at Senior international competitions. Alysa was scored 212.97 by USFS judges at Sectionals. Just not comparable.

Never underestimate the national inflation. Bradie had a lower BV last year but still scored a 219. If she skates clean, they give her a 230 this time. Mariah will receive an inflated score as well and so will Ting. Alysa will have to hope for some big mistakes to pull out a win here. She just doesn't have the PCS scores to make up the difference and they will inflate the GoE of the top ladies. If everyone is clean, Alysa will be just off the podium.

 

[chuckm]

I'm not so sure Bradie will skip again this year. 4CC is going to be in Anaheim, CA and with no Olympics this year there isn't the time crunch there was last year. Also it's a whole month before Worlds. I think the top US skaters SHOULD go to 4CC if it's logically feasible every year like the Russian skaters do for Europeans. It sets you up for Worlds.

The only reason why the top US ladies didn't go to 4CC last year was because the event was too close to the start of the Olympics. There was no sense in having them travel to Taiwan for 4CC, then having to go from there to Korea, losing valuable practice time in the process.

The top Canadian ladies didn't go to 4CC. The Japanese and Korean Olympic-bound ladies did go, but then they didn't have to cross time zones to get there (no jet lag).

 

[mrrice]

Will we be seeing Karen before Nationals? I'd hate to think that her last event was all the prep she's going to have going in. I have to wonder how she's doing health wise. Was she injured at her last event?

 

[andromache]

I think there are only two spots for worlds though, and I can't see anyone overtaking Bradie and Mariah right well. Even if one of them falters at nationals there are still compelling reasons to send both to Worlds—Bradie, as the only Grand Prix medalist this season; Mariah with a new higher SB and making steady progress. It would be great if Amber did well at nationals, got 2 GP spots next season, and then moved up from there.

Yes, there are only two spots for Worlds, but I assume we have three for Four Continents, and that would be a pretty big opportunity for a skater like Amber.