Let's Play To Be Determined!
Skate America has four TBD spots. Who will get them? Let's predict.
As an administrative assistant, the “TBD” is one of my favorite acronyms. I use it most often when I have to go wheeling and dealing for conference room space. Need to get this meeting on one of my boss’ calendars, but have no idea where it will actually meet? Location TBD.
U.S. Figure Skating also is quite fond of the “TBD” acronym. Per usual practice, U.S. Figure Skating is holding a TBD spot open in all four disciplines for Skate America, to be held in Norwood, Massachusetts in October. This is because U.S. Figure Skating will often use the results and performances of high-performance camps and summer qualifying and nonqualifying competitions to make international assignments, which occur after entry deadlines for Grand Prix events. As the host country, U.S. Figure Skating has the maximum number of spots for the event, and can use some spots in a discretionary manner.
The next few weeks are chock full of summer competitions that U.S. Figure Skating can use to evaluate skaters for these TBD spots, as well as Senior B competitions (such as the U.S. International Figure Skating Classic in Lake Placid in September.)1
Who will emerge for these spots? Let’s play To Be Determined!
Two important rules to note: Minimum score requirements do not have to be taken into consideration when a host country fills one of their three spots per discipline in a Grand Prix, and you cannot name someone who has already has the maximum two assignments.
Ice Dance
The favorite for the Skate America TBD would be Lorraine McNamara and Anton Spiridonov, who won the Dallas Classic earlier in July and the Lake Placid Ice Dance International this week (an event that was wildly scored in the free dance, but unfortunately not streamed…) Ninth in the nation last year, they competed at last year’s U.S. International Classic, placing fifth. In talking with other media and fans at that event, many remarked how well the partnership had developed, and how promising their skating was over the trajectory of her previous partnership.
Eva Pate and Logan Bye would also be one to watch for that spot, because they already have one Grand Prix spot (France), and there are no rules that I can see that would forbid them from getting a second as a host country spot.
While I don’t see Angela Ling and Caleb Wein getting the Skate America TBD, they should be on the Senior B radar. They made the team funding envelopes this year, but Wein’s age will most likely prevent them from going out on the Junior Grand Prix. However, they only showed their RD at Lake Placid, and it did not score particularly well, so they definitely need another domestic competition or camp performance before getting assigned internationally.
The new team of Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik would be another one to watch for that TBD spot if they could currently represent the U.S. Their scores in the domestic competition at Lake Placid would have placed third overall and third in the rhythm dance in the international portion of the event. However, according to their recent interview with Ice-Dance.com, they cannot compete internationally until November due to Zingas having previously represented Cyprus. If I were making the assignments, I would be eying December’s Golden Spin of Zagreb for their international debut. They have shown they are worth the early investment.
Men
This might be the toughest call, because it is still somewhat unknown who is continuing out of the B Team of U.S. men. If they were surely continuing, both Yaroslav Paniot and Maxim Naumov would be the leaders for any TBD, but although they are listed in the new Team Funding Envelopes, their social media has been quiet. (And they haven’t necessarily appeared on the social media of their coaches or rinks lately either.)
Thanks to Anything GOEs, we do know that both Dinh Tran and Eric Sjoberg, who both competed at the U.S. International Classic last season, have new programs. Tran withdrew from Glacier Falls, a prominent West Coast summer competition this week, so he is still an unknown. Sjoberg popped a triple Axel and counted a fall in the short at that competition on Friday, so his long program performance Saturday will be imperative to his assignment chances. (Update: Sjoberg did have a solid free skate on Saturday, jumping from ninth place to second overall.)
There is a bumper crop of junior U.S. men who could be used at the senior level, but they seem to be slated for the Junior Grand Prix. Will Annis, Maxim Zharkov, Robert Yampolsky, and Kai Kovar, among others, are listed as substitutes for the first Junior Grand Prix event in France. If I were U.S. Figure Skating, I would love to take at least one of that group and bump them to senior this season. Get them more experience while the absence of Russia and post-Olympic retirements have provided some openings for it.
Pairs
The U.S. pairs reserves right now look like the Ipswich River, and that’s not a good thing: there’s a drought. But the U.S. should use this spot to encourage the teams they do have to keep going. I would expect them to choose Megan Wessenberg and Blake Eisenach for the spot, since their coaches, Jenni Meno and Todd Sand, will already be there with Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier. The other option for this TBD would be Valentina Plazas and Maximiliano Fernandez.
The promising Sonia Baram and Daniel Tioumentsev may be too young to go to the Senior Grand Prix, though they are competing senior domestically. A suggestion: Encourage the heck out of them, U.S. Figure Skating. They could be special.
Women
A few options exist for the TBD at Skate America, and I could see this being the last spot determined, with early Senior B events being the determining factor.
The easy option: send Gabriella Izzo, who trains in Norwood. She only has been assigned to one Senior Grand Prix. So far, no Skating Club of Boston skater has been assigned to Skate America. Or send Starr Andrews, who also only has one Senior Grand Prix, but a fair amount of international experience.
The future option: Kate Wang, seventh in the nation last year (and I think she was underscored there), should be the front-runner for the spot, though she recently changed coaches and hasn’t been seen on the summer circuit yet.
The wildcards: If she wins Glacier Falls on Saturday (she’s in first after the short program), does U.S. Figure Skating take a chance on Alena Budko? She didn’t do well at the Junior Grand Prix selection competition, but has done well elsewhere and is old enough to compete senior internationally. She does get called on underrotations, however, and could be in for some lower scoring internationally. Or could this be a spot for the re-emergence of Hanna Harrell, who did get team funding this season and is now training permanently on the West Coast?
As you eagerly await Cranberry Cup in a few weeks, play your own game of To Be Determined and let me know who you think will get those Skate America spots.
If I am incorrect in any of these rule interpretations, just give me a friendly shout at katcornetta@gmail.com and let me know.
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Want to be featured?
Are you a skater, a coach, or connected to the world of figure skating in some way? Would you be open to an email or phone interview for this newsletter? Send me a note: katcornetta@gmail.com. I would love to get more editions out before the season gets fully underway, and would love to feature you!
I point out this competition because I somehow still have not been to Lake Placid. (This is incredible given that I lived in New York State for my first 22 years.) However, this sports year, there are three events I have circled to finally remedy this, and the U.S. International Classic is one of them. The other two: the women’s hockey IceBreaker in October and the World University Games in January.