Team USA skaters on college/skating balance

[Mrs. P]

http://web.icenetwork.com/news/2017/03/03/217803142
Features ladies Mirai Nagasu and Angela Wang; men Max Aaron, Alexander Johnson, Jordan Moeller and Kevin Shum and ice dancer Karina Manta.
It's really interesting to hear about the different things they're studying.

Jordan Moeller's studies sounded really interesting:

Moeller is following an interesting path at UCCS, studying criminal justice and psychology. His coach, Kori Ade, has a degree in forensic skeletal biology, and Moeller is considering a career in forensic psychology.

"It's been a busy semester," Moeller said. "I'm doing Introduction to Biopsychology, Introduction to Research and Measurement in psychology, Violence in Society, and Graffiti and Crime. I know, it sounds really depressing."

Also news about a new U.S. Pair (Max Settlege and Winter Deardorff) plus Meagan Duhamel's new dog (that she got while at 4CC)!

http://web.icenetwork.com/news/2017/03/03/217803142

 

[ice coverage]

http://web.icenetwork.com/news/2017/03/03/217803142
Features ladies Mirai Nagasu and Angela Wang; men Max Aaron, Alexander Johnson, Jordan Moeller and Kevin Shum and ice dancer Katrina Manta.
It's really interesting to hear about the different things they're studying. ...

Thx for the thread, Mrs. P.

Enjoyed reading about all the skaters and their academic pursuits.
Respect to all .

[Very off topic -- but for Jason fans:

If someone else in the photo with Alex looks familiar, I'm pretty sure that the dark-haired guy is Jason's childhood friend from Illinois -- a fellow Kori skater back then ... who also went to Israel with Jason on their birthright trip.
Unfortunately, the friend's name escapes me :hopelessness: ...]​

 

[Mrs. P]

Thx for the thread, Mrs. P.

Manta's first name is Karina (without an R).
[Auto-correct misfired, I have a feeling.]

Enjoyed reading about all the skaters and their academic pursuits.
Respect to all .

[Very off topic -- but for Jason fans:

If someone else in the photo with Alex looks familiar, I'm pretty sure that the dark-haired guy is Jason's childhood friend from Illinois -- a fellow Kori skater back then ... who also went to Israel with Jason on their birthright trip.
Unfortunately, the friend's name escapes me :hopelessness: ...]​

Thanks I've changed it. I knew there wasn't a "t" but probably rushed through when I wrote it.

Scott Brody. I had recognized him too, but I had gotten confused cause I had thought he was a Michigan student. Turns out he graduated from there and is at UMN for grad school (From one B1G school to another. )

This is a cute childhood photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/BAzaIG_MSe3/?taken-by=scott5485

 

[ice coverage]

Thanks I've changed it. I knew there wasn't a "t" but probably rushed through when I wrote it.

Scott Brody. I had recognized him too, but I had gotten confused cause I had thought he was a Michigan student. Turns out he graduated from there and is at UMN for grad school (From one B1G school to another. )

This is a cute childhood photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/BAzaIG_MSe3/?taken-by=scott5485

Thx for the fix.
I edited my post above ... partly b/c I realized that I had garbled things myself.  I said without an R, when I should have said without a T :hopelessness:.
Sorry for my error, and I'm glad that you knew what I meant.

And thx for putting a name to Scott's face ... and for the update as well as the throwback.

ETA:

I am feeling bad that I prefaced my original comment about Scott as "very off topic."
I did not mean to be disrespectful to skaters (like Scott) who belong to collegiate/university clubs.  My apologies to them.
They all are balancing school and skating ... although the focus of the article was Team USA elite skaters. ​

 

[Mrs. P]

Ah, I wouldn't worry about it. Scott's instagram is really fun -- he posts a lot of throwbacks that feature TEAM USA skaters. I thought it was hilarious that he joked whether he might have seen more success had they grown out his hair like Jason and Jacob Simon (the U.S. pairs skater; I never realized he had his hair that long!).

I think figure skating clubs are cool. Sort of wish I had one at my university!

ETA: i just remembered that former National (and Skate America) medalist Armin Mahbanoozadeh (who now goes by a much shorter last name: Mahban) is on the Dartmouth FSC team.
https://www.dartmouth.edu/~skating/team.html
(he also made their website!)

Also, small world, I think another one of Jason's childhood friends is also on that team -- Sara Harris? I've seen her name before; I assume it's the same one since it says she's from Highland Park, where Jason is from.

Also Gretchen Donalan, former Team USA pairs skater, was on Boston U's team, as was Jimmy Morgan, also a Team USA pairs skater.

 

[el henry]

Thank you for all the info, Mrs. P and Ice Coverage :agree: Very interesting to me to see how and where these elite skaters find the time to attend college (*and* work, as Jordan does )

And great catch about Scott Brody and Sara Harris as well. Mrs. P, I think you are right it must be the same one. I've seen her post on Jason's social media, but I had no idea she also skated. Small world indeed.

 

[ice coverage]

... Jordan Moeller's studies sounded really interesting:

Moeller is following an interesting path at UCCS, studying criminal justice and psychology. His coach, Kori Ade, has a degree in forensic skeletal biology, and Moeller is considering a career in forensic psychology.

"It's been a busy semester," Moeller said. "I'm doing Introduction to Biopsychology, Introduction to Research and Measurement in psychology, Violence in Society, and Graffiti and Crime. I know, it sounds really depressing."

...

BTW, Agnes Zawadzki also had an interest in forensic psychology .
She answered a question about her interest at the beginning of this 2012 video:

https://youtu.be/N623e6ber1I​

And the source of the question must have had previous knowledge of her interest.

 

[luckyguy]

http://web.icenetwork.com/news/2017/03/03/217803142
Features ladies Mirai Nagasu and Angela Wang; men Max Aaron, Alexander Johnson, Jordan Moeller and Kevin Shum and ice dancer Karina Manta.
It's really interesting to hear about the different things they're studying.

Jordan Moeller's studies sounded really interesting:



Also news about a new U.S. Pair (Max Settlege and Winter Deardorff) plus Meagan Duhamel's new dog (that she got while at 4CC)!

http://web.icenetwork.com/news/2017/03/03/217803142

I cannot understand why the USFSA ignores the Winter Universiade. What a shame! It is not fair to the skaters.

 

[Barb]

I cannot understand why the USFSA ignores the Winter Universiade. What a shame! It is not fair to the skaters.

Yes, why? Putin even welcome the winners of the Universiade, (well, I saw to Elena R. )

 

[musicfan80]

I cannot understand why the USFSA ignores the Winter Universiade. What a shame! It is not fair to the skaters.

I don't get it either. They used to send them there in the 1990s. I believe the only international medals that Damon Allen ever won were at the Winter Universaide.

 

[karne]

I cannot understand why the USFSA ignores the Winter Universiade. What a shame! It is not fair to the skaters.

I know! There are some they definitely could have sent this year...perhaps a guy who had an uncharacteristic off-day at Nationals...that would have been nice. But no.

 

[Skater Boy]

I know! There are some they definitely could have sent this year...perhaps a guy who had an uncharacteristic off-day at Nationals...that would have been nice. But no.

Max Aaron??

 

[karne]

Max Aaron??

Of course Max was on my mind when I wrote that, but I'm sure there are plenty of other US skaters who are Universiade-eligible who might have liked the opportunity too.

 

[musicfan80]

Of course Max was on my mind when I wrote that, but I'm sure there are plenty of other US skaters who are Universiade-eligible who might have liked the opportunity too.

Like Angela Wang. I believe both Joe Johnson & Karina Manta are both in college as well.

And of course, there is Ricky Dornbush - who probably could have used the additional tune-up before he went to Worlds in 2011.

 

[ice coverage]

... And of course, there is Ricky Dornbush - who probably could have used the additional tune-up before he went to Worlds in 2011.

I like Dornbush a lot, but I think it is 20/20 hindsight to suggest a lost opportunity for a pre-Worlds tune-up for him.

His silver medal at Nats came as a surprise to many.

And the entry deadline for this year's Universiade was Dec 29 ... which suggests to me that it would have been unrealistic to foresee in time for the deadline for 2011 that Universiade could have been preparation for Dornbush to compete at Worlds.

Disclaimer: I do not know whether or not Universiade has a hard-line policy against late entries.

(I don't even know whether Dornbush had started college in 2011? If he were not an elite athlete, he would have been the right age to be in college. And it is true that elite athletes often spread college out over more than four years. But he was a full-time college student in at least 2014 and 2015 .. perhaps also 2016 .. and he still has not quite graduated, AFAIK .... so seems unclear to me how far back he started college classes??)

---

On a more general level (unrelated specifically to Dornbush):

- Just my wild speculation, but I always have wondered whether the establishment of Four Continents as a new ISU championship had anything to do with USFS no longer sending skaters to Universiade?
Not saying that the two comps are an insurmountable direct schedule conflict. I mean that USFS had to take on all the new expenses and logistical tasks/"hassles" of sending a team to Four Continents every year.

- And I do think at least in some cases, the timing of Universiade is not conducive to participation of USFS skaters.

For example: As of the 2017 Universiade entry deadline of Dec 29, Max understandably would have had serious and not-unrealistic hopes of being assigned to Four Continents (test event for 2018 Olympics) ... not to mention Worlds.
Just my two cents, but without the benefit of 20/20 hindsight :sad4: , I doubt that Max (as of Dec 29) really would have considered it a good plan to finish Nats on Jan 22; to jump on a plane (more like a series of planes??) to Almaty and to compete there on Feb 3 and 4; ... and then to expect to capitalize to the fullest on the opportunity to compete at Four Continents (again, the Olympic test event) on Feb 16 - 19; ... again, not to mention the possibility of Worlds.

(Not saying that USFS should have a Max-centric perspective. USFS should have the interest of all its skaters at heart. That's why I mentioned my speculation above re the addition of Four Continents to the post-Nats calendar.)​

---

ETA:

Forgot that I wanted to mention that Kevin Shum also belongs to and competes for the MIT Figure Skating Club :

https://twitter.com/kevinshum/status/829910604823613441 (Feb 9)
https://thetech.com/2017/02/14/figure-skating-hosts-competition​

And seems that Kevin will perform in the club's Mar 12 spring exhibition, according to the event poster:

https://www.facebook.com/events/194952027655002/​