State of U.S. Ladies' skating 2016-17

[andromache]

With Polina dealing with injury since her strong Nationals showing and Mirai doing pretty darn well at all events in the meantime, I think Polina is going to have to come out swinging during her GPs to shift Nationals momentum away from Mirai for that third spot. Mirai seems to be growing on the international judges; however, neither is known for their GP success - and I expect Polina's GP to be especially rough given her late start. If Mirai can get a bronze or two at her GPs, she will have made a solid case for that third spot before anyone actually skates at Nationals.

Meanwhile, I want to see the other US ladies "of the future" doing more senior Bs. Come on Karen Chen.

 

[ice coverage]

... Meanwhile, I want to see the other US ladies "of the future" doing more senior Bs. Come on Karen Chen.

Not clear whether USFS is willing to send most ladies to more than one international.

In Mirai's interview after winning Autumn Classic (interview on Skate Canada YT channel), she said (I'm paraphrasing) that USFS policy is that only members of the world team last season are eligible for two internationals -- and she was pleased to have two assignments for that reason.

But ... when I heard her say that, I immediately thought of Mariah Bell, who was assigned to both SLC and Nepela.
So the policy must have wiggle room.
[Also unclear whether Mirai meant the policy applies only to ladies. Cain/LeDuc have two (yes, I know that they are a new pair); and Jason already has had two (yes, I know that his petition for the world team was denied). Calalang/Sidhu originally were going to have two; withdrew from their second (replaced by Cain/LeDuc).]

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... I was reading the "tests passed" section of Skating and I noticed there's a mention of Selena Zhao, Broadmoor SC, passing the senior free skate test. ....

ETA2: If she was going to compete in the U.S., she would have to compete in regionals/sectionals to get to Nationals. Since she's with Broadmoor SC, she would be in the Southwestern regional. So I'll guess we'll know pretty quickly.

My thoughts as to why Selena Zhoa took the USFS test and neither has to do wirh switching countries.

There are several Seniors ladies at my rink who represent other countries. My understanding is if you want to skate in a US club competition, then you have had to passed the USFS free stake test for the level that you want to skate at (or at least one level down so you can skate up). At the club competition, your Country is listed as your figure skating club.

Others skaters want to complete the US Senior test so that they can list it on their ice skating resume.

Thx, concorde .

Selena is not competing at Southwestern regionals (not listed for juniors or seniors).

http://www.usfigureskating.org/leaderboard/results/2017/24260/results.html​

Whether she eventually does compete again or not, hope she is having a great experience at Harvard .

 

[tulosai]

Not clear whether USFS is willing to send most ladies to more than one international.

In Mirai's interview after winning Autumn Classic (interview on Skate Canada YT channel), she said (I'm paraphrasing) that USFS policy is that only members of the world team last season are eligible for two internationals -- and she was pleased to have two assignments for that reason.

But ... when I heard her say that, I immediately thought of Mariah Bell, who was assigned to both SLC and Nepela.
So the policy must have wiggle room.
[Also unclear whether Mirai meant the policy applies only to ladies. Cain/LeDuc have two (yes, I know that they are a new pair); and Jason already has had two (yes, I know that his petition for the world team was denied). Calalang/Sidhu originally were going to have two; withdrew from their second (replaced by Cain/LeDuc).].

Honestly I flat out think Mirai was mistaken, who get two seems completely arbitrary and I couldn't even hazard a guess as to why some of the people who get 2 get two.

As a side note it's a little ironic/unbelievable that Mirai would claim that's the policy since she actually had 2 internationals last fall as well (Ice Challenge and Nebelhorn), and she wasn't on the World team the year before.

 

[Gullygirl84]

Polina and Mirai are interesting, because they both seem to share some of the same weaknesses (under rotations, getting stronger in the latter half of the GP season). On paper, Polina’s first grand prix assignment looks easier than Mirai’s, so I wouldn’t be surprised if she got her first grand prix medal-but I was also wondering how her injury would affect her, since it supposedly made the flip and lutz painful. Since Mirai has been competing more and doing well, she has been able to climb in the world rankings, while Polina’s ranking has fallen due to her time off. It will be exciting when Mirai and Polina compete against each other at NHK!

I didn’t rewatch, but I don’t think Mirai said that “only” world team members get to do two Senior Bs-so my own logic based on nothing interpreted that to mean that the world team members get the opportunity to do two Senior Bs in addition to their grand prixs, and that others who get two Senior Bs may get the opportunity because they don’t have two grand prix assignments (Mirai and Mariah each had only one grand prix assignment last year, and got two Senior Bs. Mariah has no grand prix assignments this year, so she got two Senior Bs. I do remember Karen Chen doing two Senior Bs last year, but maybe that’s because the only reason she didn’t get to go to Senior worlds was that she was too young…again, just my own logic that is based on nothing!).

 

[apgold]

Re: Polina from her recent Instagram posts, it looks like she is joining/pledging a sorority this semester. I don't know what pledging is like at her school, but when I did the sorority thing in college, it took up quite a bit of time getting to know the sisterhood and participating in functions. It seems like she has a lot of things on her plate, including classes, pledging and training for GPs. So we'll see.

 

[tulosai]

Re: Polina from her recent Instagram posts, it looks like she is joining/pledging a sorority this semester. I don't know what pledging is like at her school, but when I did the sorority thing in college, it took up quite a bit of time getting to know the sisterhood and participating in functions. It seems like she has a lot of things on her plate, including classes, pledging and training for GPs. So we'll see.

On the other hand Meryl Davis was active in a sorority at the time of the 2010 Olympics...

 

[apgold]

On the other hand Meryl Davis was active in a sorority at the time of the 2010 Olympics...

True, but when you're already an active member, you can elect which sorority functions to attend, pledges usually are expected to attend all of them. Again, I'm not claiming to know what Polina's commitments are, but that's my experience.

 

[tulosai]

True, but when you're already an active member, you can elect which sorority functions to attend, pledges usually are expected to attend all of them. Again, I'm not claiming to know what Polina's commitments are, but that's my experience.

I was in a sorority myself and don't disagree wholly with what you're saying, but surely Meryl was a pledge at some point (probably a year or two before the 2010 Olys actually, so a similar situation to Polina). Granted Polina is coming off injury but honestly she might not be able to be on the ice as much as usual now anyway, it might relatively speaking be a good time to pledge.

 

[ice coverage]

... As a side note it's a little ironic/unbelievable that Mirai would claim that's the policy since she actually had 2 internationals last fall as well (Ice Challenge and Nebelhorn), and she wasn't on the World team the year before.

Your negative tone make me feel the need to defend Mirai.
Mirai apparently was answering something about why she was competing at Autumn Classic. (The questions were edited out of the interview video.)
Her answer (I'm paraphrasing) was in the vein that she was happy to be there ... was happy to have the opportunity to earn standings points at two comps.
She did not use the word policy (it was my word).

Maybe Mirai was referring to a (loose) policy (again, just my word) in effect only for this year??
And/or maybe she was referring to Challengers scheduled before Skate America (i.e, the start of the GP series)??

Last year, Bell and Chen were assigned to Skate America.
Bell competed at two internationals before Skate America (so she again would be an "aberration"). Chen competed at one before and one after.

I'm sure Mirai remembers her events from last year. Esp. that she won Ice Challenge ... which came after Skate America.
Wang competed at one Challenger before Skate America, and one after.
Pierce competed at two Challengers after Skate America.
And Pierce and Wang both competed at Autumn Classic (which was not a Challenger last year).

http://www.usfigureskating.org/story?id=89746&menu=TeamUSA

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ETA:

... I didn’t rewatch, but I don’t think Mirai said that “only” world team members get to do two Senior Bs-so my own logic based on nothing interpreted that to mean that the world team members get the opportunity to do two Senior Bs in addition to their grand prixs, and that others who get two Senior Bs may get the opportunity because they don’t have two grand prix assignments (Mirai and Mariah each had only one grand prix assignment last year, and got two Senior Bs. Mariah has no grand prix assignments this year, so she got two Senior Bs. I do remember Karen Chen doing two Senior Bs last year, but maybe that’s because the only reason she didn’t get to go to Senior worlds was that she was too young…again, just my own logic that is based on nothing!).

I have not re-watched either.
Maybe I misunderstood and/or misremembered exactly what Mirai said ...
If so, my apologies.

Anyway, my original point was (and is) that USFS controls the assignments.
So if someone has done only one or zero, we cannot assume that she would not want to do more.

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Re: Polina from her recent Instagram posts, it looks like she is joining/pledging a sorority this semester. ...

On the other hand Meryl Davis was active in a sorority at the time of the 2010 Olympics...

Yes, Meryl lived in her sorority house for the first year.
And has spoken of how valuable it was to her U Mich experience to do so. Made lifelong friends, etc. B/c the world-class-athlete side of her life was somewhat unconventional (although great ), I think the sorority really helped the college-student side of her life seem more normal (in a good way).
She continued to be active after the first year, although no longer living at the sorority.

 

[andromache]

I was about to make a post about how at some point Polina will have to commit to being a student or to skating, because the full-time student lifestyle just isn't compatible with being an elite athlete. But then I read about Meryl, which surprised me!

Then again, Meryl Davis is a queen. I imagine juggling so many commitments will be difficult. And I'm not trying to be negative about Polina - I had the full college experience (not at all an elite athlete) and it made me a better, well-rounded person who stopped being so sheltered! So I totally recommend it.

Will Polina be in classes full time?

 

[tulosai]

I was about to make a post about how at some point Polina will have to commit to being a student or to skating, because the full-time student lifestyle just isn't compatible with being an elite athlete. But then I read about Meryl, which surprised me!

Then again, Meryl Davis is a queen. I imagine juggling so many commitments will be difficult. And I'm not trying to be negative about Polina - I had the full college experience (not at all an elite athlete) and it made me a better, well-rounded person who stopped being so sheltered! So I totally recommend it.

Will Polina be in classes full time?

I do have to admit a difference (if Polina indeed intends to take a full course load) is that Meryl never took a full course load at UMich, even when she was active in the sorority or after the 2014 Olys. She only ever took one or two classes at a time and often they were actually online classes, not even in person. In fact, honestly, I am not sure she has ever graduated (up to this point). So that is something that has to be considered.

 

[andromache]

I do have to admit a difference (if Polina indeed intends to take a full course load) is that Meryl never took a full course load at UMich, even when she was active in the sorority or after the 2014 Olys. She only ever took one or two classes at a time and often they were actually online classes, not even in person. In fact, honestly, I am not sure she has ever graduated (up to this point). So that is something that has to be considered.

Polina is living in a dorm this year, right? AFAIK, part-time students never live in dorms. Never. Then again, I can imagine institutions making exceptions for an 18 year old who has already been to the Olympics.

 

[ice coverage]

I was about to make a post about how at some point Polina will have to commit to being a student or to skating, because the full-time student lifestyle just isn't compatible with being an elite athlete. But then I read about Meryl, which surprised me!

Then again, Meryl Davis is a queen. I imagine juggling so many commitments will be difficult. And I'm not trying to be negative about Polina - I had the full college experience (not at all an elite athlete) and it made me a better, well-rounded person who stopped being so sheltered! So I totally recommend it.

Will Polina be in classes full time?

Polina is taking a full-time load, according to the new issue of Skating magazine.
Her classes all are scheduled for the morning.

Max Aaron and Angela Wang both are taking a full-time load of classes.
Mirai too, IIRC.
In previous years, Dornbush too.
Probably others too??

More about Meryl:

In the final year (IIRC) before Sochi, Charlie and she took a complete hiatus from their studies. (Understandably, of course.)​

I think it's the kind of thing that every skater makes an individual decision as to what is best for her or him at any given time.
Nathan Chen will be deferring college for a year in order to give 2018 his best shot.
Perhaps Max, Mirai, Polina, etc., will decide to take a hiatus for the same reason.

BTW, when Tessa was training/living in Canton, she was a part-time student at the University of Windsor.
Drove back and forth across the U.S.-Canadian border to attend classes . At least two or three times per week, IIRC.

 

[TwinnerA]

Re: Polina from her recent Instagram posts, it looks like she is joining/pledging a sorority this semester. I don't know what pledging is like at her school, but when I did the sorority thing in college, it took up quite a bit of time getting to know the sisterhood and participating in functions. It seems like she has a lot of things on her plate, including classes, pledging and training for GPs. So we'll see.

Polina apparently has pledged Delta Gamma. I'm a Delta Gamma too!

 

[desertskates]

Polina is living in a dorm this year, right? AFAIK, part-time students never live in dorms. Never. Then again, I can imagine institutions making exceptions for an 18 year old who has already been to the Olympics.

Oooh, I hope she's not in a dorm. She'll need to be well rested to for classes and training. At least in my case, the poor sleep I got in a dorm from all the loud comings and goings just about drove me bonkers, and I'm just a regular schmo. Polina will know what's best for her, though.

 

[jenaj]

Polina is taking a full-time load, according to the new issue of Skating magazine.
Her classes all are scheduled for the morning.

Max Aaron and Angela Wang both are taking a full-time load of classes.
Mirai too, IIRC.
In previous years, Dornbush too.
Probably others too??

More about Meryl:

In the final year (IIRC) before Sochi, Charlie and she took a complete hiatus from their studies. (Understandably, of course.)​

I think it's the kind of thing that every skater makes an individual decision as to what is best for her or him at any given time.
Nathan Chen will be deferring college for a year in order to give 2018 his best shot.
Perhaps Max, Mirai, Polina, etc., will decide to take a hiatus for the same reason.

BTW, when Tessa was training/living in Canton, she was a part-time student at the University of Windsor.
Drove back and forth across the U.S.-Canadian border to attend classes . At least two or three times per week, IIRC.

I think Mirai may have scaled back from full-time. She didn't do the collegiate challenge, which is open only to full-time students. Or maybe she just decided not to do it this year. I'm surprised that Polina is going full-time and living on campus. Maybe it's a way to break away from her mother (not a bad thing, IMO)?

 

[andromache]

So lot of skaters have taken a full-time class load before...which makes sense actually, because you need to be full time to receive financial aid.

Meryl has done the sorority thing before, lived in the house for a year.

Polina is taking classes full time, joining a sorority, and living on-campus (to my knowledge, anyway, I recall seeing somewhere on her social media something about moving into dorms?

I'm not sure what to think. I find it unlikely she will be able to commit herself to training at the highest level - though again, I could be wrong about her living in the dorms.

 

[ice coverage]

I think Mirai may have scaled back from full-time. She didn't do the collegiate challenge, which is open only to full-time students. Or maybe she just decided not to do it this year. ...

At the time of 2016 US Collegiates, Mirai was performing in Japan on The Ice tour.
The schedule conflict could have been the reason for not defending her title this year.

"Sad I won't be able to compete at collegiates ..." is what Mirai had tweeted.

https://twitter.com/mirai_nagasu/status/738451999339905024 (Jun 2)​

It was not clear whether she was not able to b/c of the schedule conflict or b/c of another reason.

In any case, I take my hat off to all the students (including the many not mentioned in this thread), part-time or full-time.

https://twitter.com/mirai_nagasu/status/782950935517474818​

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... Polina is taking classes full time, joining a sorority, and living on-campus (to my knowledge, anyway, I recall seeing somewhere on her social media something about moving into dorms?

I'm not sure what to think. I find it unlikely she will be able to commit herself to training at the highest level - though again, I could be wrong about her living in the dorms.

You are correct that Polina moved into a dorm.
She did post on social media about it ... and then Skating magazine reported that she is living with five others there .

 

[MiraiFan]

I think Mirai may have scaled back from full-time. She didn't do the collegiate challenge, which is open only to full-time students. Or maybe she just decided not to do it this year. I'm surprised that Polina is going full-time and living on campus. Maybe it's a way to break away from her mother (not a bad thing, IMO)?

Ha ha--exactly!!!

 

[R.D.]

With Polina dealing with injury since her strong Nationals showing and Mirai doing pretty darn well at all events in the meantime, I think Polina is going to have to come out swinging during her GPs to shift Nationals momentum away from Mirai for that third spot. Mirai seems to be growing on the international judges; however, neither is known for their GP success - and I expect Polina's GP to be especially rough given her late start. If Mirai can get a bronze or two at her GPs, she will have made a solid case for that third spot before anyone actually skates at Nationals.

I don't get all this talk about momentum. It did nothing for Wagner in 2010 or 2015 or Gold this year.

And since we're talking Edmunds - well, did she have any "momentum" going into the 2014 Nationals? How about Nagasu? Zawadzki? Gao?