2024 Pacific Coast Sectional Singles Final

[moonvine]

Two WD - Connor OGrady and Yaroslav Paniot in Senior Men

Oh no!!!!!!! Not Yaro!

 

[labgoat]

Oh no!!!!!!! Not Yaro!

He WD just before his free skate. I think he has had an injury of some sort for some time.

 

[moonvine]

Starr is in, she can finish no worse than second. Katie Shen currently second.
Sherry Zhang had a large lead from the short - here she goes.

Told y'all Starr is a fighter

 

[labgoat]

anyone looking for videos try here. I am not going to catalog this many skaters.

 

[Jumping_Bean]

Congrats on your win @spencerlane Well done

 

[ramurphy2005]

Going through some, not all of the individual performances, and I have to say Sherry Zhang's SP has vaulted to the top of the list of my favorite short programs this year.

 

[moonvine]

I think I'm on the last event. Eyeballs hanging on by a thread.

 

[gkelly]

Pacific Sectionals Sr Women. How did some of these skaters qualify as Sr. I wouldn't think they'd make it as novice.

I haven't watched sectionals much and have some questions.

I thought there were tests to pass to be able to skate at certain levels. They seem to be letting lower levels skate at sectionals?

(In the US qualifying system) It has always been required to have passed a minimum test to compete in qualifying competitions.
In the past year there have been some changes to the test names and also a change that now allows skaters to pass higher tests without being required to move up their competitive level, although once they do move up they can't go back down.

The minimum requirements for the Senior Free Skate (recently renamed Gold Singles) test are:
*Axel-type jump (at least single, can be higher revolutions)
*Four different solo double jumps (one of which must be a double flip, double Lutz, or double Axel)
*Two jump combinations each including two jumps with at least two rotations
*One spin combination (minimum 10 revolutions)
*One flying spin (minimum 6 revolutions)
*One spin with only one position (minimum 6 revolutions)
*One step sequence
*One choreographic sequence

It is permitted to use triple or quad jumps in place of doubles, but not required. It is permitted but not required to use a double (or triple) axel as the axel jump, or in the other solo or combination jump slots. Therefore, it is possible to pass this test with nothing harder than a double lutz.
There is no requirement for the spins or steps to include any level features. A level B spin could meet the requirements.
Even skaters who are strong competitors with consistent difficult jumps and high-level spins and steps may reduce the difficulty in the test program, to play it safe and make sure they can pass the test that day.

If a skater is competing senior at sectionals, they must have passed this test at some point.
The same is true at lower levels, with lower test requirements.

The top competitors at each level are capable of much more difficulty than the test requirements. But there are also skaters who pass tests as soon as they can meet the minimum requirements. Maybe they just want to pass tests and not compete. Maybe they compete in the Excel track. And now they are allowed to pass higher tests but stay at a lower level for competition.

Under the current system, to qualify for sectionals they must have been one of the top NQS point earners from their region.

They might have earned those points by landing difficult jumps at one or more NQS competitions. Or they might have had average or lower jump content but earned their points through GOEs and other elements and/or PCS. By whatever means, for the women they must have scored higher than most other women at that level in their region.

For male skaters, often there are few enough men/boys per region that all of them qualify for sectionals.

The majority of skaters you might see at a local rink, or entering an NQS competition, may be capable of meeting the minimum requirements for the applicable test, but not further. Which means for juniors and seniors they may not have mastered the minimum jump content required to skate a legal short program at that level. Still, if they do what they can do well, especially in the free skate where double axels and triples are not required, they can score higher than skaters who do attempt harder jumps but don't succeed or who have weaker skating skills, spinning skills, and performance skills.

With senior women in late teens or older, in some cases their skating (or at least their jumping) peaked as younger teenagers but they want to continue skating and competing, even if their bodies have matured in ways that make jumping more difficult and/or if they are busy with college or adult life and don't have as much time to devote to training as when they were younger.

The total number of competitors at novice level is higher than the total number of seniors, so skaters who have already competed as novices for one or more years, whether they qualified for sectionals at that level or not, whether they ever mastered double axels or triples, may decide to move up because they feel that they've been there-done that with novice competition, to stay with their age cohort, or possibly because they think they have a better chance of qualifying for sectionals in the smaller senior field in their region, even if they are realistic enough to know they will not qualify for Nationals at any level.

 

[moonvine]

(In the US qualifying system) It has always been required to have passed a minimum test to compete in qualifying competitions.
In the past year there have been some changes to the test names and also a change that now allows skaters to pass higher tests without being required to move up their competitive level, although once they do move up they can't go back down.

The minimum requirements for the Senior Free Skate (recently renamed Gold Singles) test are:
*Axel-type jump (at least single, can be higher revolutions)
*Four different solo double jumps (one of which must be a double flip, double Lutz, or double Axel)
*Two jump combinations each including two jumps with at least two rotations
*One spin combination (minimum 10 revolutions)
*One flying spin (minimum 6 revolutions)
*One spin with only one position (minimum 6 revolutions)
*One step sequence
*One choreographic sequence

It is permitted to use triple or quad jumps in place of doubles, but not required. It is permitted but not required to use a double (or triple) axel as the axel jump, or in the other solo or combination jump slots. Therefore, it is possible to pass this test with nothing harder than a double lutz.
There is no requirement for the spins or steps to include any level features. A level B spin could meet the requirements.
Even skaters who are strong competitors with consistent difficult jumps and high-level spins and steps may reduce the difficulty in the test program, to play it safe and make sure they can pass the test that day.

If a skater is competing senior at sectionals, they must have passed this test at some point.
The same is true at lower levels, with lower test requirements.

The top competitors at each level are capable of much more difficulty than the test requirements. But there are also skaters who pass tests as soon as they can meet the minimum requirements. Maybe they just want to pass tests and not compete. Maybe they compete in the Excel track. And now they are allowed to pass higher tests but stay at a lower level for competition.

Under the current system, to qualify for sectionals they must have been one of the top NQS point earners from their region.

They might have earned those points by landing difficult jumps at one or more NQS competitions. Or they might have had average or lower jump content but earned their points through other elements and/or PCS. By whatever means, for the women they must have scored higher than most other women at that level in their region.

For male skaters, often there are few enough men/boys per region that all of them qualify for sectionals.

The majority of skaters you might see at a local rink, or entering an NQS competition, may be capable of meeting the minimum requirements for the applicable test, but not further. Which means for juniors and seniors they may not have mastered the minimum jump content required to skate a legal short program at that level. Still, if they do what they can do well, especially in the free skate where double axels and triples are not required, they can score higher than skaters who do attempt harder jumps but don't succeed or who have weaker skating skills, spinning skills, and performance skills.

With senior women in late teens or older, in some cases their skating (or at least their jumping) peaked as younger teenagers but they want to continue skating and competing, even if their bodies have matured in ways that make jumping more difficult and/or if they are busy with college or adult life and don't have as much time to devote to training as when they were younger.

The total number of competitors at novice level is higher than the total number of seniors, so skaters who have already competed as novices for one or more years, whether they qualified for sectionals at that level or not, whether they ever mastered double axels or triples, may decide to move up because they feel that they've been there-done that with novice competition, to stay with their age cohort, or possibly because they think they have a better chance of qualifying for sectionals in the smaller senior field in their region, even if they are realistic enough to know they will not qualify for Nationals at any level.

Thank you so much for the detailed explanation I "sort of" knew most of this but could never have typed up something as well.

 

[moonvine]

Oh no! I hate seeing them get injured. Caroline looked like she was in a lot of pain.

 

[MFarone]

Wait, can that be Caroline Zhang in the K and C? How did she suddenly become 31 years old? Where does time go?

Yes, that was definitely Caroline Zhang - she and her husband Grant both coach in the LA area. I think Caroline specializes in teaching spins. Caroline and Grant also have 2 adorable little girls....and the older girl likes skating.

 

[ramurphy2005]

All right, so, Endo and Kovar get the two Pacific Coast bids.

Right now, Kapeikis, Xie, and Mindra are currently the highest scorers for those last three spots, but that could change after Midwesterns, but I don't know who is skating there aside from Hiwatashi, so I have no idea how those scores are going to hold up.

With Lucas Broussard's injury taking him out for the rest of the season, Daniil Murzin is now currently on the bubble to make Nationals.

 

[labgoat]

REWATCH
2025 Pacific Coast Sectional Singles Final - 11/11/2024 - 11/17/2024 (MST)
Ogden, UT - The Ice Sheet | Entries/Results

In order of finish Short Intermediate Men Short 1 Alan Fang, Glacier Falls FSC 2 Dashiell Williams, FSC Of Park City 3 Nathan Gu, Carousel Sherwood FSC 4 Adrastos Deng, St. Moritz ISC 5 Matthew Centers, San Diego FSC 6 Alexander Peace, FSC Of Park City 7 Michael Han, All Year FSC 8 Richard Wawro, St. Moritz ISC 9 Nathan Cawrse, Individual Member 10 Creed Ford, Peaks FSC 11 Mathieu Penafiel, FSC Of Park City 12 Jackson Golling, Peaks FSC 13 Jerry Lu, Glacier Falls FSC WD Tristan Tan, Carousel Sherwood FSC In order of finish Short Novice Men Short 1 Jesse Zhong, Glacier Falls FSC 2 Jinbo Yao, All Year FSC 3 Ethan Yan, Peninsula SC 4 Yaoshan Jiang, All Year FSC 5 Hitonari Tani, St. Moritz ISC 6 Trevor Meeboer, FSC Of Park City 7 Michael Jin, All Year FSC 8 Zane Benson, All Year FSC 9 Luke Endo, FSC of Southern California WD Brian Tokuda, Los Angeles FSC Junior Men Short Warm-up Group 1 1 Vaclav Vasquez, Glacier Falls FSC 2 Ryan William Azadpour, Carousel Sherwood FSC 3 Nicholas Brooks, All Year FSC 4 Ethan Kormanyos, Seattle SC Warm-up Group 2 5 Aaron Li, St. Moritz ISC 6 Ryedin Rudedenman, All Year FSC 7 Arsen Meghavoryan, Peninsula SC 8 Sergei Evseev, All Year FSC Senior Men Short Warm-up Group 1 1 Yaroslav Paniot, All Year FSC 2 Anthony Mugg, All Year FSC 3 Andriy Kratyuk, Salt Lake Figure Skating 4 Liam Kapeikis, Wenatchee FSC 5 Michael Xie, SC of San Francisco 6 Samuel Mindra, Portland ISC Warm-up Group 1 7 Connor OGrady, Cottonwood Heights FSC 8 Daniil Murzin, SC of San Francisco 9 Goku Endo, Los Angeles FSC 10 Alain Sandraz, Peninsula SC 11 Joonsoo Kim, Los Angeles FSC 12 Kai Kovar, Wasatch FSC

In order of finish Short Intermediate Women Short 1 Rachel Samiri, All Year FSC 2 Iris Han, San Diego FSC 3 Katie Kusner, FSC Of Park City 4 Sofia Chen, Los Angeles FSC 5 Zhiyuan Zhu, Peninsula SC 6 Anastasia Balinsky, Glacier Falls FSC 7 Genesis Lira, Glacier Falls FSC 8 Enya Yang, St. Moritz ISC 9 Irene Huang, Glacier Falls FSC 10 Autumn Boyd, FSC Of Park City 11 Alia Edwards, SC of Nevada 12 Yedda Ma, All Year FSC 13 Cassidy Lee, St. Moritz ISC 14 Sophia Carlos, All Year FSC 15 Elizabeth Drewery, SC of San Francisco 16 Vera Ee, All Year FSC 17 Ariadne Kuo, Glacier Falls FSC 18 Reidun Olsen-Makdessian, Santa Rosa FSC 19 Anika Scullion, Salt Lake Figure Skating 20 Katelyn Geary, Carousel Sherwood FSC 21 Coco Jiang, All Year FSC 22 Avery OBrien, FSC of Southern California 23 Audrey Yun, Alaska Assoc of Figure Skaters 24 Mia Tanaka, Carousel Sherwood FSC 25 Emma Lu, Winterhawks FSC In order of finish Short Novice Women Short 1 Hannah Kim, Glacier Falls FSC 2 Carina Tanabe, All Year FSC 3 Joanne Liu, Los Angeles FSC 4 Aya Zeleznikar, All Year FSC 5 Kelsey Lee, Pasadena FSC 6 Jessie Chen, Los Angeles FSC 7 Kendall Harman, Glacier Falls FSC 8 Allison Brooks, Glacier Falls FSC 9 Violet Ee, All Year FSC 10 Alvy Yeh, Los Angeles FSC 11 Sophia Sizova, All Year FSC 12 Zlata Tiurina, All Year FSC 13 Candice Leung, Peninsula SC 14 Sophia Gloskowski, FSC Of Park City 15 Zoe Huynh, St. Moritz ISC 16 Saskia Leversee, Kraken Skating Academy 17 Kaia Soni, All Year FSC 18 Jocelyn Zhang, All Year FSC 19 Ava Eubank, Peninsula SC 20 Apple Lee, Glacier Falls FSC 21 Mel Xu, Los Angeles FSC 22 Jolea Kim, Lakewood Winter Club 23 Isabella Ellers, Portland ISC 24 Katerina Murphy, Carousel Sherwood FSC Junior Women Short Warm-up Group 1 1 Ashley Kao, SC of San Francisco 2 Natasha Saladin, Lilac City FSC 3 Kate Pressgrove, FSC Of Park City 4 Maile Hilbelink, Glacier Falls FSC Warm-up Group 2 5 Teryn Kim, Glacier Falls FSC 6 Annika Chao, Glacier Falls FSC 7 Athena Huang, Pasadena FSC 8 Anabel Wallace, Glacier Falls FSC 9 Angelina Chang, Glacier Falls FSC Warm-up Group 3 10 Vanessa Kim, Carousel Sherwood FSC 11 Anastasiya Rodriguez, All Year FSC 12 Cleo Park, Glacier Falls FSC 13 Joanna Lee, Peninsula SC 14 Alayna Coats, All Year FSC Warm-up Group 4 15 Isobel Morrow, Glacier Falls FSC 16 Ella Kim, St. Moritz ISC 17 Stephanie Coe, Wenatchee FSC 18 Shona Iwaya, All Year FSC 19 Hannah Gahan, Coyotes SC of Arizona Senior Women Short Warm-up Group 1 1 Katie Shen, Glacier Falls FSC 2 Ashlyn Huber, Seattle SC 3 Tia Hilbelink, Glacier Falls FSC 4 Evelyn Jackson, Seattle SC 5 Ariana Lee, Peninsula SC Warm-up Group 2 6 Grace Clifford, Carousel Sherwood FSC 7 Alena Budko, Winterhawks FSC 8 Christie Lee Marshall, Sun Valley FSC WD 9 Hanna Harrell, Los Angeles FSC 10 Caroline Santaguida, St. Moritz ISC 11 Sherry Zhang, Glacier Falls FSC Warm-up Group 3 12 Starr Andrews, Los Angeles FSC 13 Milena Markin, Los Angeles FSC 14 Ashley Yang, Coyotes SC of Arizona 15 Brynn Roberts, FSC Of Park City 16 Erica Machida, Peninsula SC 17 Skylar Urfrig, Los Angeles FSC

Spoiler: Free Skate Start Orders

In order of finish Free Juvenile Boys Free 1 Jake Ueno, Pasadena FSC 2 Ryker Benson, All Year FSC 3 Leon Ban, Pasadena FSC 4 Jung Jun Yoo, Pasadena FSC 5 Alvin Yin, All Year FSC 6 Slater Blenkle, Glacier Falls FSC 7 David Brooks, Glacier Falls FSC 8 Henry Malaret, Individual Member 9 Noah Shi, Seattle SC 10 Darren Liu, SC of San Francisco 11 Dominick Cavaliere, San Diego FSC 12 Louie Jeung, St. Moritz ISC 13 Dylan Duong, Portland ISC 14 Duncan Robertson, Glacier Falls FSC 15 George Huang, FSC of Southern California 16 Lucas Son, Alaska Assoc of Figure Skaters 17 Marcus Lee, St. Moritz ISC 18 Zacheri Wayman, FSC Of Park City 19 Ian Chong, Los Angeles FSC 20 Timothy Weng, La Jolla FSC 21 Arjun Lall, FSC of Southern California In order of finish Intermediate Men Free 1 Alan Fang, Glacier Falls FSC 2 Nathan Gu, Carousel Sherwood FSC 3 Dashiell Williams, FSC Of Park City 4 Adrastos Deng, St. Moritz ISC 5 Alexander Peace, FSC Of Park City 6 Matthew Centers, San Diego FSC 7 Richard Wawro, St. Moritz ISC 8 Nathan Cawrse, Individual Member 9 Mathieu Penafiel, FSC Of Park City 10 Creed Ford, Peaks FSC 11 Jackson Golling, Peaks FSC 12 Jerry Lu, Glacier Falls FSC WD Michael Han, All Year FSC WD Tristan Tan, Carousel Sherwood FSC In order of finish Novice Men Free 1 Ethan Yan, Peninsula SC 2 Michael Jin, All Year FSC 3 Hitonari Tani, St. Moritz ISC 4 Jinbo Yao, All Year FSC 5 Yaoshan Jiang, All Year FSC 6 Jesse Zhong, Glacier Falls FSC 7 Trevor Meeboer, FSC Of Park City 8 Luke Endo, FSC of Southern California 9 Zane Benson, All Year FSC WD Brian Tokuda, Los Angeles FSC Junior Men Free Warm-up Group 1 1 Aaron Li, St. Moritz ISC 2 Ethan Kormanyos, Seattle SC 3 Ryedin Rudedenman, All Year FSC 4 Arsen Meghavoryan, Peninsula SC Warm-up Group 2 5 Sergei Evseev, All Year FSC 6 Ryan William Azadpour, Carousel Sherwood FSC 7 Nicholas Brooks, All Year FSC 8 Vaclav Vasquez, Glacier Falls FSC Senior Men Free Warm-up Group 1 WD 1 Connor OGrady, Cottonwood Heights FSC 2 Alain Sandraz, Peninsula SC 3 Andriy Kratyuk, Salt Lake Figure Skating 4 Anthony Mugg, All Year FSC 5 Joonsoo Kim, Los Angeles FSC 6 Samuel Mindra, Portland ISC Warm-up Group 2 WD 7 Yaroslav Paniot, All Year FSC 8 Daniil Murzin, SC of San Francisco 9 Michael Xie, SC of San Francisco 10 Goku Endo, Los Angeles FSC 11 Liam Kapeikis, Wenatchee FSC 12 Kai Kovar, Wasatch FSC

In order of finish Free Juvenile Girls Free 1 Lizbeth Tu, All Year FSC 2 Hailey Han, San Diego FSC 3 Iris Huang, All Year FSC 4 Madison Lampert, FSC Of Park City 5 Emily Hu, Pasadena FSC 6 Emelyn Cobb, Wasatch FSC 7 Angela Dou, Pasadena FSC 8 Alissa Korytek, All Year FSC 9 Myra Gulati, Kraken Skating Academy 10 Svetlana Coll, Glacier Falls FSC 11 Vienna Lam, Glacier Falls FSC 12 Vida Tran, Glacier Falls FSC 13 Alexa Hamilton, SC of San Francisco 14 Lena Han, Peninsula SC 15 Xuaner Gao, San Diego FSC 16 Claire Lan, St. Moritz ISC 17 Katherine Krasjko, All Year FSC 18 Kesenia Afflerbach, Carousel Sherwood FSC 19 Valentina Kutepova, All Year FSC 20 Ava Castaneda, SC of Phoenix 21 Alessandra Kuo, Glacier Falls FSC 22 LeAnn Phan, All Year FSC 23 Evelina Polishchuk, Kingsgate SC In order of finish Intermediate Women Free 1 Rachel Samiri, All Year FSC 2 Iris Han, San Diego FSC 3 Katie Kusner, FSC Of Park City 4 Sofia Chen, Los Angeles FSC 5 Zhiyuan Zhu, Peninsula SC 6 Irene Huang, Glacier Falls FSC 7 Enya Yang, St. Moritz ISC 8 Yedda Ma, All Year FSC 9 Genesis Lira, Glacier Falls FSC 10 Elizabeth Drewery, SC of San Francisco 11 Sophia Carlos, All Year FSC 12 Cassidy Lee, St. Moritz ISC 13 Autumn Boyd, FSC Of Park City 14 Alia Edwards, SC of Nevada 15 Anastasia Balinsky, Glacier Falls FSC 16 Ariadne Kuo, Glacier Falls FSC 17 Reidun Olsen-Makdessian, Santa Rosa FSC 18 Vera Ee, All Year FSC 19 Coco Jiang, All Year FSC 20 Anika Scullion, Salt Lake Figure Skating 21 Katelyn Geary, Carousel Sherwood FSC 22 Avery OBrien, FSC of Southern California 23 Audrey Yun, Alaska Assoc of Figure Skaters 24 Mia Tanaka, Carousel Sherwood FSC 25 Emma Lu, Winterhawks FSC In order of finish Novice Women Free 1 Hannah Kim, Glacier Falls FSC 2 Carina Tanabe, All Year FSC 3 Aya Zeleznikar, All Year FSC 4 Joanne Liu, Los Angeles FSC 5 Jessie Chen, Los Angeles FSC 6 Kelsey Lee, Pasadena FSC 7 Kendall Harman, Glacier Falls FSC 8 Allison Brooks, Glacier Falls FSC 9 Candice Leung, Peninsula SC 10 Violet Ee, All Year FSC 11 Zlata Tiurina, All Year FSC 12 Zoe Huynh, St. Moritz ISC 13 Kaia Soni, All Year FSC 14 Sophia Gloskowski, FSC Of Park City 15 Alvy Yeh, Los Angeles FSC 16 Jocelyn Zhang, All Year FSC 17 Ava Eubank, Peninsula SC 18 Sophia Sizova, All Year FSC 19 Apple Lee, Glacier Falls FSC 20 Mel Xu, Los Angeles FSC 21 Saskia Leversee, Kraken Skating Academy 22 Jolea Kim, Lakewood Winter Club 23 Katerina Murphy, Carousel Sherwood FSC 24 Isabella Ellers, Portland ISC Junior Women Free Warm-up Group 1 1 Stephanie Coe, Wenatchee FSC 2 Vanessa Kim, Carousel Sherwood FSC 3 Shona Iwaya, All Year FSC 4 Natasha Saladin, Lilac City FSC Warm-up Group 2 5 Kate Pressgrove, FSC Of Park City 6 Ashley Kao, SC of San Francisco 7 Anastasiya Rodriguez, All Year FSC 8 Hannah Gahan, Coyotes SC of Arizona 9 Isobel Morrow, Glacier Falls FSC Warm-up Group 3 10 Athena Huang, Pasadena FSC 11 Joanna Lee, Peninsula SC 12 Angelina Chang, Glacier Falls FSC 13 Maile Hilbelink, Glacier Falls FSC 14 Ella Kim, St. Moritz ISC Warm-up Group 4 15 Alayna Coats, All Year FSC 16 Anabel Wallace, Glacier Falls FSC 17 Teryn Kim, Glacier Falls FSC 18 Cleo Park, Glacier Falls FSC 19 Annika Chao, Glacier Falls FSC Senior Women Free Warm-up Group 1 1 Evelyn Jackson, Seattle SC 2 Tia Hilbelink, Glacier Falls FSC 3 Grace Clifford, Carousel Sherwood FSC 4 Christie Lee Marshall, Sun Valley FSC 5 Ashley Yang, Coyotes SC of Arizona Warm-up Group 2 6 Caroline Santaguida, St. Moritz ISC 7 Ashlyn Huber, Seattle SC 8 Milena Markin, Los Angeles FSC 9 Skylar Urfrig, Los Angeles FSC 10 Brynn Roberts, FSC Of Park City Warm-up Group 3 11 Ariana Lee, Peninsula SC 12 Alena Budko, Winterhawks FSC 13 Erica Machida, Peninsula SC 14 Starr Andrews, Los Angeles FSC 15 Katie Shen, Glacier Falls FSC 16 Sherry Zhang, Glacier Falls FSC

 

[spencerlane]

Congrats on your win @spencerlane Well done

thank you!