US Team: 4CCs and Worlds (updated)

[FlattFan]

Cain and LeDuc certainly aren't new to skating or in their early teens, but they've only been skating together for 7 months. I think it's fair to say they have some potential.

But individually they are as inconsistent as the rest of them. Their elements are also not good. Look at the score sheet. It's not like C/T did worse than them in TES as terrible as C/T were.
New partnership doesn't improve individual inconsistency.

 

[slider11]

My theory has been that Castelli/Tran wouldd not get Four Continents b/c it is the Olympic test event in Korea.

They can't go to the 2018 Olympics b/c Tran does not have citizenship.

So more strategic (for 2018, including the team event) to let three pairs who have a shot at 2018 get the experience at the Olympic venue???

Good point with Mervin's citizenship. I'm pretty stunned with the Knierims getting both events. This is risky business in maintaining 2 spots for the US in pairs for the Olympics.

 

[sarama]

Typical nonsense regarding ladies for JW aside, I was wondering why they chose Alexa and Chris for Worlds and 4CC. They have never been super consistent, and they haven't competed all season, plus if they were not able to perform here I can't imagine them being at the top of their game in less than a month.... I'm not saying Mervin and Marissa are a better choice, but if I were the USFSA I would have taken some more time before making any decisions

 

[LeCygne]

Not sending Tessa is a mistake. She's the closest answer the US has got to Zagitova/Gubanova/etc. at the moment. She's no where near as strong as them, but she could be by the time they are seniors. Her SP showed so much potential. Her LP was a disaster because of nerves. NOT giving her more competitive experience will only hurt her in the future. :disapp:

I agree with this. Third alternate?? What is USFSA thinking? BUT it was also a huge mistake for her team to put her in seniors this Nationals. If I'm not mistaken, her IN bio says she last competed at Nationals in 2014. As an intermediate. What?!? So she skipped over novice, fine. She's gotten a few JGPs already. Why in the WORLD would she not compete at the junior level and easily be the class of the field, win by an overwhelming margin, and get sent to Junior Worlds for more international experience? Why force her into seniors and overwhelm her and have her popping jumps left and right? Tom Z seemed super proud on Instagram that Tessa would be the "youngest senior lady competitor at 14," but look what good that did.

 

[Chemistry66]

I agree with this. Third alternate?? What is USFSA thinking? BUT it was also a huge mistake for her team to put her in seniors this Nationals. If I'm not mistaken, her IN bio says she last competed at Nationals in 2014. As an intermediate. What?!? So she skipped over novice, fine. She's gotten a few JGPs already. Why in the WORLD would she not compete at the junior level and easily be the class of the field, win by an overwhelming margin, and get sent to Junior Worlds for more international experience? Why force her into seniors and overwhelm her and have her popping jumps left and right? Tom Z seemed super proud on Instagram that Tessa would be the "youngest senior lady competitor at 14," but look what good that did.

Tessa did intend on competing Juniors last year but broke her ankle and had to withdraw from Sectionals. She also had injury issues the year before.

(I'm not saying I agree with her pushing for Seniors this young. Probably wasn't the greatest idea.)

 

[gravy]

Typical nonsense regarding ladies for JW aside, I was wondering why they chose Alexa and Chris for Worlds and 4CC. They have never been super consistent, and they haven't competed all season, plus if they were not able to perform here I can't imagine them being at the top of their game in less than a month.... I'm not saying Mervin and Marissa are a better choice, but if I were the USFSA I would have taken some more time before making any decisions

Alexa & Chris with multiple mistakes are still the best American pair out there. Says more about the quality of the other pairs, but they have the potential to score in the 140s internationally. It's the correct choice.

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

I can't believe that Tessa is THIRD alternate! She's not even first alternate! I thought for sure she'd be chosen for Jr. Worlds! I guess three pops in a row mean no JW! It's just shocking!

Tom Z totally hyped up her, Mirai, and Max. I'm not sure what effect that had on these skaters psychologically, but they each underperformed. They all seemed to have poor plans for success. Mirai and Max could have spend more time on the bread-and-butter jumps rather than training the 3A/4A. Backloading all of Tessa's jumps didn't seem to be a good strategy, either. Maybe Mirai can go back with Frank now.

 

[Sydney Rose]

Tom Z totally hyped up her, Mirai, and Max. I'm not sure what effect that had on these skaters psychologically, but they each underperformed. They all seemed to have poor plans for success. Mirai and Max could have spend more time on the bread-and-butter jumps rather than training the 3A/4A. Backloading all of Tessa's jumps didn't seem to be a good strategy, either. Maybe Mirai can go back with Frank now.

I don't understand Tom Z's thinking at all.

In contrast, Rafael downplayed Mariah's chances for success. Smart move.

 

[cinnamon]

I don't understand Tom Z's thinking at all.

In contrast, Rafael downplayed Mariah's chances for success. Smart move.

Only if we could see that Mirai's huge clean 3A this time...

 

[andromache]

Bad week for Tom Z. overall - though USFS triple-screwed him by not sending Tessa to Junior Worlds.

I understand why Tom Z likes to hype his skaters, but maybe it doesn't work for all of them psychologically.

 

[frida80]

Remember when he did an interview about having Mirai attempt her 3A last year and she lost a medal because of it. He said he took complete responsibility for it. He wants so bad to to make history skaters over night. He has no idea that he is pushing them too hard and in the WRONG way! It's fine if Mirai has a 3A, but let that wait until after nationals. Wait until next year before Max debuts a new short. Wait for a year before Tessa tries to backload like Zhenia, since she hasn't had a full competition season and never competed at worlds.

They.were.not.ready.

 

[Lissy]

Wow if I were Marissa or Mervin, I would be incredibly offended. But I do see the reasoning of choosing Ashley and Tim over them.

It really is a shame that they won't have citizenship next year but I can't really fault the USFSA for wanting to look to next year rather than 2022.

 

[cinnamon]

Remember when he did an interview about having Mirai attempt her 3A last year and she lost a medal because of it. He said he took complete responsibility for it. He wants so bad to to make history skaters over night. He has no idea that he is pushing them too hard and in the WRONG way! It's fine if Mirai has a 3A, but let that wait until after nationals. Wait until next year before Max debuts a new short. Wait for a year before Tessa tries to backload like Zhenia, since she hasn't had a full competition season and never competed at worlds.

They.were.not.ready.

Theoretically Mirai could try it this year, since this is not the Olympic season yet...

 

[gsk8]

MEN
2017 World Championships
Jason Brown
Nathan Chen

Alternate 1 – Vincent Zhou
Alternate 2 – Grant Hochstein
Alternate 3 – Max Aaron

2017 Four Continents Championships
Jason Brown
Nathan Chen
Grant Hochstein

Alternate 1 – Ross Miner
Alternate 2 – Max Aaron
Alternate 3 – Alexander Johnson

2017 World Junior Championships
Alex Krasnozhon
Andrew Torgashev
Vincent Zhou

Alternate 1 – Camden Pulkinen
Alternate 2 – Kevin Shum
Alternate 3 – Tomoki Hiwatashi

 

[gravy]

Ashley's out of 4CC. Mirai's in.

 

[karne]

Wait until next year before Max debuts a new short.

Max couldn't have waited. He was done with Nessun Dorma and at CoC and CoR you could really tell. He needed his new SP now.

Additionally - and I can't believe I'm defending Z here - Max's spins and step sequences in KC were massively improved. Maybe he focused too hard on those, maybe not, but you can't deny that they were.

 

[kalee]

Tessa did intend on competing Juniors last year but broke her ankle and had to withdraw from Sectionals. She also had injury issues the year before.

(I'm not saying I agree with her pushing for Seniors this young. Probably wasn't the greatest idea.)

She probably went for broke to try to grab a Junior Worlds spot, so competing at Senior Nationals was the right choice strategically given USFS' modus operandi for assigning JW spots (to the highest placing junior age-eligible Senior competitors rather than to the Junior winners). Where she probably miscalculated was in attempting back-loaded programs so soon after returning from injury. IIRC, she participated in one of the later JGPs this year because it wasn't even certain that she would be fit until after the start of the JGP season. If she had done a less challenging jump layout, it's possible that she might've nailed more of it and actually gotten that JW spot. And I still think she should've gotten it anyway.

 

[Mrs. P]

Vincent Zhou is still first alternate for worlds. So he'd still have to get TES somewhere. So does that mean he'll still end up to get Bavarian open?

 

[Seren]

I am so happy with the team they went with for the men. I think that Nathan and Jason have a really strong chance of getting back the 3 spots. I like Vincent but I don't think he would do as well internationally yet. I am excited to see how his season next year goes though. If he can do well at Junior Worlds this year he will build a strong case for himself.

I am so gutted for Max, I hope he takes the positives from this year and builds on it for next year.

 

[frida80]

Vincent Zhou is still first alternate for worlds. So he'd still have to get TES somewhere. So does that mean he'll still end up to get Bavarian open?

Without a doubt! He definitely has to be ready in case Jason has to withdraw from worlds!