SKATE AMERICA 2014: Ice Dance Preview

Ice Dance is my favorite of all the disciplines, but this year we will be without the two teams that ran the table for the past five years. There are about 5 teams that seem poised to be perennial world medalists throughout the next cycle, and one happens to be here at Skate America.

Podium Predictions:
Gold: Chock & Bates (USA)
Silver: Shibutani & Shibutani (USA)
Bronze: Stepanova & Bukin (RUS)

Madison Chock & Evan Bates emerged as the solid number two team in the US last season and just barely missed a world medal. With Davis & White temporarily retired, they are the top team in the US. Madison Chock was anointed by Tara Lipinski as one of the next great divas in ice dance, and we all know Evan Bates has some of the best technique in the sport, so they should have a nice run over the next four year.

Maia & Alex Shibutani are a classic example of what happens when you fall out of favor with ice dance judges. They were the young phenoms in the post-Vancouver season and have been dropping steadily ever since. This year is key for them. I personally think they should've left Marina, but that's neither here nor there. That Michael Jackson program was a hot mess last year, but the Strauss should be a move back toward the classics that helped them start off so strong on the senior circuit four years ago.

Alexandra Stepanova & Ivan Bukin are one of those throwback Russian teams. They bring the drama, the pain, and anguish, and the garish costumes. I can only hope she will grow into one of those grand Russian divas who conveniently forgets to take her mood stabilizers. They won junior worlds last year and with the recent split of Ilinykh and Katasalapov, the top Russian spots are up for grabs.

The Rest of the Field:
Orford & Williams (CAN)-5th at 2014 Four Continents, 2nd at 2014 US International Classic, 6th at 2014 Autumn Classic
Paradis & Oullette (CAN)-5th at 2014 Nebelhorn Trophy
Guignard & Fabbri (FRA)-8th at 2014 Europeans, 14th at 2014 Olympics, 2014 at 2014 Worlds, 2nd at 2014 O. Nepela Trophy
Testa & Csolley (SVK)-12th at 2014 Europeans, 23rd at 2014 Worlds, 3rd at 2014 O. Nepela
Cannuscio & McManus (USA)-3rd at 2014 US International Classic, 3rd at 2014 Finlandia Trophy

2013 Skate Canada: Ice Dance Preview

I mean, is there even a question here? No, but we'll talk about it anyway. Virtue & Moir have owned this event forever and nothing will change here, but the other medals are up for grabs so let's get started!

Much like their American training mates, Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir (CAN) have tried many different styles this quad and now they are back to old faithful for this Olympic season. The Ella Fitzgerald/Louis Armstrong short should show off that Old Hollywood glam that they showed us in Funny Face and then we have the Glazunov free which should be a bit of a throwback to the Mahler program that won them Olympic Gold in 2010. I feel that Davis & White have grown more during this quad, but so much can happen before February! 

Canada's other top team, Kaitlyn Weaver & Andrew Poje (CAN) will also be here and they are a

near lock for silver. This is a huge season for them because they are one of about five teams fighting for bronze in Sochi. I can't wait to see that Latin free dance, I can only imagine how steamy it is! I, personally, prefer their more lyrical programs but I won't judge this piece until I see it.

This is a golden opportunity for Hubbell & Donohue (USA) to win a Grand Prix medal and prove to US Figure Skating that they are the real deal. I have talked a lot of crap about Madison Hubbell looking clunky and tacky, but I'm taking all of that back after Skate America. Their free is so gorgeous, lyrical, and soothing. I'm happy to stare at Zach all day, of course, but Madison is styled so well and I'm actually pulling for them over the Shibutanis for the Olympic team. They need to make that statement here at this event. If they can't medal, I think they're done.

Riazanova & Tkachenko (RUS) are the team that could play spoiler for Hubbell & Donohue. They have won Grand Prix medals before, and they could do it again, though they've never really stood out to me. I can only imagine how garish that Godfather free skate is going to be.

Stepanova & Bukin (RUS) are a dark horse to medal here, coming in as the reigning World junior champions. However, ice dance is so difficult to break into at the senior ranks and I don't think that it will happen here. Maybe it will happen in Russia

Podium Predictions:
Gold: Virtue & Moir (CAN)
Silver: Weaver & Poje (CAN)
Bronze: Hubbell & Donohue (USA)

The Rest of the Field:
Paul & Islam (CAN)
Zhiganshina & Gazsi (GER)
Guignard & Fabri (ITA)
Riazanova & Tkachenko (RUS)
Stepanova & Bukin (RUS)

2012 ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships: Short Dance Results

Pl.	Name	Nation	Points	SD	FD
1	Victoria SINITSINA / Ruslan ZHIGANSHIN	RUS	63.78	1
2	Alexandra STEPANOVA / Ivan BUKIN	RUS	62.68	2
3	Anna YANOVSKAYA / Sergey MOZGOV	RUS	58.89	3
4	Gabriella PAPADAKIS / Guillaume CIZERON	FRA	58.09	4
5	Alexandra ALDRIDGE / Daniel EATON	USA	57.76	5
6	Nicole ORFORD / Thomas WILLIAMS	CAN	55.86	6
7	Maria NOSULIA / Evgeni KHOLONIUK	UKR	54.91	7
8	Lauri BONACORSI / Travis MAGER	USA	54.53	8
9	Shari KOCH / Christian NÜCHTERN	GER	51.68	9
10	Sofia SFORZA / Francesco FIORETTI	ITA	51.06	10
11	Irina SHTORK / Taavi RAND	EST	50.75	11
12	Sara AGHAI / Jussiville PARTANEN	FIN	47.15	12
13	Yiyi ZHANG / Nan WU	CHN	46.35	13
14	Ksenia PECHERKINA / Aleksandrs JAKUSHIN	LAT	45.84	14
15	Anna NAGORNYUK / Viktor KOVALENKO	UZB	45.82	15
16	Rachel PARSONS / Michael PARSONS	USA	45.37	16
17	Olivia SMART / Joseph BUCKLAND	GBR	45.00	17
18	Andreanne POULIN / Marc-Andre SERVANT	CAN	43.81	18
19	Cagla DEMIRSAL / Berk AKALIN	TUR	43.08	19
20	Viktoria KAVALIOVA / Yurii BIELIAIEV	BLR	42.04	20
21	Karolina PROCHAZKOVA / Michal CESKA	CZE	41.84	21
22	Karina UZUROVA / Ilias ALI	KAZ	40.09	22
23	Elektra HETMAN / Benjamin ALLAIN	FRA	39.22	23
24	Celia ROBLEDO / Luis FENERO	ESP	38.23	24
25	Victoria BAUSBACK / Demid ROKACHEV	SUI	35.27	25

Pl.	Qual.	Name	Nation	TSS =	TES +		PCS +	SS	TR	PE	CC	IT	Ded. -	StN.
1	Q	Victoria SINITSINA / Ruslan ZHIGANSHIN	RUS	63.78	34.29		29.49	7.46	7.18	7.43	7.46	7.32	0.00	#17
2	Q	Alexandra STEPANOVA / Ivan BUKIN	RUS	62.68	34.28		28.40	7.14	6.93	7.18	7.04	7.18	0.00	#20
3	Q	Anna YANOVSKAYA / Sergey MOZGOV	RUS	58.89	31.93		26.96	6.89	6.54	6.82	6.82	6.64	0.00	#13
4	Q	Gabriella PAPADAKIS / Guillaume CIZERON	FRA	58.09	33.14		24.95	6.29	6.00	6.29	6.29	6.29	0.00	#25
5	Q	Alexandra ALDRIDGE / Daniel EATON	USA	57.76	31.21		26.55	6.61	6.39	6.64	6.79	6.71	0.00	#16
6	Q	Nicole ORFORD / Thomas WILLIAMS	CAN	55.86	30.64		25.22	6.39	6.14	6.29	6.36	6.32	0.00	#18
7	Q	Maria NOSULIA / Evgeni KHOLONIUK	UKR	54.91	30.57		24.34	6.18	5.93	6.11	6.07	6.11	0.00	#23
8	Q	Lauri BONACORSI / Travis MAGER	USA	54.53	30.42		24.11	6.07	5.79	6.04	6.07	6.11	0.00	#24
9	Q	Shari KOCH / Christian NÜCHTERN	GER	51.68	28.86		22.82	5.96	5.50	5.71	5.61	5.71	0.00	#3
10	Q	Sofia SFORZA / Francesco FIORETTI	ITA	51.06	28.93		22.13	5.64	5.32	5.68	5.57	5.46	0.00	#19
11	Q	Irina SHTORK / Taavi RAND	EST	50.75	27.50		23.25	5.96	5.71	5.82	5.82	5.75	0.00	#21
12	Q	Sara AGHAI / Jussiville PARTANEN	FIN	47.15	27.72		19.43	5.00	4.68	4.89	4.93	4.79	0.00	#5
13	Q	Yiyi ZHANG / Nan WU	CHN	46.35	26.99		20.36	5.46	5.11	5.29	5.04	4.68	1.00	#14
14	Q	Ksenia PECHERKINA / Aleksandrs JAKUSHIN	LAT	45.84	25.64		20.20	5.25	4.86	5.04	5.14	4.96	0.00	#10
15	Q	Anna NAGORNYUK / Viktor KOVALENKO	UZB	45.82	25.00		20.82	5.46	5.18	5.39	5.29	4.82	0.00	#22
16	Q	Rachel PARSONS / Michael PARSONS	USA	45.37	27.43		18.94	4.89	4.57	4.75	4.82	4.64	1.00	#6
17	Q	Olivia SMART / Joseph BUCKLAND	GBR	45.00	24.57		20.43	5.18	4.89	5.14	5.25	5.07	0.00	#2
18	Q	Andreanne POULIN / Marc-Andre SERVANT	CAN	43.81	23.67		20.14	5.29	4.96	4.89	5.07	4.96	0.00	#8
19	Q	Cagla DEMIRSAL / Berk AKALIN	TUR	43.08	25.29		17.79	4.57	4.29	4.54	4.54	4.32	0.00	#11
20	Q	Viktoria KAVALIOVA / Yurii BIELIAIEV	BLR	42.04	23.43		18.61	4.86	4.50	4.71	4.57	4.61	0.00	#4
21		Karolina PROCHAZKOVA / Michal CESKA	CZE	41.84	21.71		21.13	5.36	5.21	5.25	5.32	5.25	1.00	#15
22		Karina UZUROVA / Ilias ALI	KAZ	40.09	23.15		16.94	4.36	4.11	4.32	4.39	4.04	0.00	#9
23		Elektra HETMAN / Benjamin ALLAIN	FRA	39.22	21.85		18.37	4.75	4.50	4.54	4.68	4.50	1.00	#12
24		Celia ROBLEDO / Luis FENERO	ESP	38.23	20.86		17.37	4.50	4.18	4.43	4.36	4.25	0.00	#1
25		Victoria BAUSBACK / Demid ROKACHEV	SUI	35.27	20.22		15.05	3.96	3.57	3.79	3.86	3.64	0.00	#7

2011 Junior Grand Prix of Italy: Ice Dance Final Results & Free Dance Videos

Final Results

Pl.	Name	Nation	Points	SD	FD
1	Alexandra STEPANOVA / Ivan BUKIN	RUS	149.98	1	1
2	Valeria ZENKOVA / Valerie SINITSIN	RUS	130.58	2	2
3	Lauri BONACORSI / Travis MAGER	USA	129.63	3	3
4	Shari KOCH / Christian NUECHTERN	GER	124.35	4	4
5	Victoria HASEGAWA / Connor HASEGAWA	CAN	118.45	5	5
6	Lolita YERMAK / Alexander LIUBCHENKO	UKR	110.75	6	9
7	Sofia SFORZA / Francesco FIORETTI	ITA	107.73	7	8
8	Estelle ELIZABETH / Romain LE GAC	FRA	103.28	12	6
9	Caelen DALMER / Shane FIRUS	CAN	102.38	8	10
10	Yiyi ZHANG / Nan WU	CHN	100.96	11	7
11	Lindsay POUSSET / Louis THAURON	FRA	97.46	13	11
12	Alessia BUSI / Andrea FABBRI	ITA	95.03	9	13
13	Sarah COWARD / Avidan BROWN	GBR	94.58	10	12
14	Cortney MANSOUR / Daryn ZHUNUSSOV	KAZ	81.69	14	15
15	Jasmine TESSARI / Stefano COLAFATO	ITA	76.99	16	14
16	Laura ABTS / Maarten BUCKENS	BEL	70.08	15	16

Free Dance Results

Pl.   Name Nation TSS = TES + PCS + SS TR PE CC IT Ded. - StN. 1 Alexandra STEPANOVA / Ivan BUKIN RUS 87.12 41.22 45.90 7.79 7.46 7.71 7.68 7.71 0.00 #16 2 Valeria ZENKOVA / Valerie SINITSIN RUS 76.74 35.64 41.10 6.89 6.71 6.89 6.93 6.93 0.00 #14 3 Lauri BONACORSI / Travis MAGER USA 75.96 36.28 39.68 6.61 6.43 6.75 6.71 6.71 0.00 #15 4 Shari KOCH / Christian NUECHTERN GER 72.46 35.51 36.95 6.25 5.96 6.18 6.32 6.21 0.00 #13 5 Victoria HASEGAWA / Connor HASEGAWA CAN 66.92 32.94 33.98 5.79 5.54 5.68 5.79 5.57 0.00 #11 6 Estelle ELIZABETH / Romain LE GAC FRA 63.22 31.50 31.72 5.39 5.11 5.36 5.36 5.32 0.00 #6 7 Yiyi ZHANG / Nan WU CHN 60.74 33.22 31.52 5.39 5.04 5.32 5.32 5.32 4.00 #8 8 Sofia SFORZA / Francesco FIORETTI ITA 60.42 27.08 33.34 5.57 5.32 5.75 5.68 5.64 0.00 #10 9 Lolita YERMAK / Alexander LIUBCHENKO UKR 59.34 25.64 33.70 5.79 5.43 5.57 5.68 5.71 0.00 #9 10 Caelen DALMER / Shane FIRUS CAN 59.24 29.36 29.88 4.93 4.82 5.07 5.07 5.14 0.00 #12 11 Lindsay POUSSET / Louis THAURON FRA 57.64 30.57 27.07 4.61 4.32 4.61 4.64 4.50 0.00 #4 12 Sarah COWARD / Avidan BROWN GBR 53.21 24.98 29.23 4.93 4.71 4.79 5.04 5.00 1.00 #7 13 Alessia BUSI / Andrea FABBRI ITA 53.11 25.79 27.32 4.61 4.46 4.61 4.64 4.50 0.00 #5 14 Jasmine TESSARI / Stefano COLAFATO ITA 49.75 28.15 21.60 3.79 3.39 3.61 3.71 3.61 0.00 #2 15 Cortney MANSOUR / Daryn ZHUNUSSOV KAZ 48.62 26.00 22.62 3.96 3.61 3.82 3.89 3.64 0.00 #3 16 Laura ABTS / Maarten BUCKENS BEL 41.58 21.95 19.63 3.39 3.18 3.29 3.39 3.14 0.00 #1

Alexandra Stepanova & Ivan Bukin (RUS) 149.98





Valeria Zenkoa & Valerie Sinitisin (RUS) 130.58

Lauri Bonacorsi & Travis Mager (USA) 129.63

2011 Junior Grand Prix of Italy: Short Dance Results & Videos

Pl.	Name	Nation	TSS =	TES +		PCS +	SS	TR	PE	CC	IT	Ded. -	StN.
1	Alexandra STEPANOVA / Ivan BUKIN	RUS	62.86	33.43		29.43	7.39	7.18	7.36	7.39	7.43	0.00	#14
2	Valeria ZENKOVA / Valerie SINITSIN	RUS	53.84	27.85		25.99	6.61	6.25	6.57	6.57	6.46	0.00	#4
3	Lauri BONACORSI / Travis MAGER	USA	53.67	28.78		24.89	6.29	5.96	6.25	6.32	6.25	0.00	#12
4	Shari KOCH / Christian NUECHTERN	GER	51.89	28.57		23.32	5.96	5.61	5.71	6.00	5.82	0.00	#15
5	Victoria HASEGAWA / Connor HASEGAWA	CAN	51.53	29.57		21.96	5.50	5.36	5.50	5.57	5.50	0.00	#2
6	Lolita YERMAK / Alexander LIUBCHENKO	UKR	51.41	28.14		23.27	5.89	5.54	5.86	5.86	5.89	0.00	#10
7	Sofia SFORZA / Francesco FIORETTI	ITA	47.31	26.29		22.02	5.50	5.32	5.43	5.61	5.61	1.00	#16
8	Caelen DALMER / Shane FIRUS	CAN	43.14	24.93		18.21	4.46	4.39	4.71	4.71	4.50	0.00	#6
9	Alessia BUSI / Andrea FABBRI	ITA	41.92	23.79		18.13	4.64	4.25	4.68	4.57	4.50	0.00	#3
10	Sarah COWARD / Avidan BROWN	GBR	41.37	22.29		19.08	4.96	4.43	4.82	4.86	4.75	0.00	#5
11	Yiyi ZHANG / Nan WU	CHN	40.22	22.43		18.79	4.79	4.57	4.68	4.75	4.68	1.00	#7
12	Estelle ELIZABETH / Romain LE GAC	FRA	40.06	19.00		21.06	5.32	5.07	5.21	5.39	5.29	0.00	#11
13	Lindsay POUSSET / Louis THAURON	FRA	39.82	21.72		18.10	4.68	4.39	4.68	4.61	4.32	0.00	#9
14	Cortney MANSOUR / Daryn ZHUNUSSOV	KAZ	33.07	18.79		14.28	3.71	3.39	3.50	3.82	3.43	0.00	#13
15	Laura ABTS / Maarten BUCKENS	BEL	28.50	15.64		12.86	3.29	3.07	3.29	3.39	3.07	0.00	#1
16	Jasmine TESSARI / Stefano COLAFATO	ITA	27.24	16.92		13.32	3.46	3.21	3.21	3.64	3.14	3.00	#8

Alexandra Stepanova & Ivan Bukin (RUS) 62.86





Victoria Zenkova & Valerie Sinitsin (RUS) 53.84





Lauri Bonacorsi & Travis Mager (USA) 53.67

2011 Junior Grand Prix of Romania: Event Schedule & Start Orders

The ISU's 2011 Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating makes its 4th stop this week in Romania for the Brasov Cup. We won't see pairs here so the schedule is not as jam-packed as usual, which is great considering the Nebelhorn Trophy takes place the same weekend for the senior skaters. The event schedule (Eastern Standard Time) for the Brasov Cup is as follows:

Thursday                                 Friday                                 Saturday
7:40am Ladies Short                8:00am Short Dance            5:00am Men's Free
12:30 Men's Short                   11:00am Ladies Free            9:15am Free Dance

StN.	Name	Nation
	Warm-Up Group 1
1	Denisa SANDU	ROU
2	Alexandra KAMIENIECKI	POL
3	Micol CRISTINI	ITA
4	Amanda SUNYOTO-YANG	TPE
5	Diana ZANTA	SUI
	Warm-Up Group 2
6	Chelcie Jo MAHINAY	PHI
7	Melisa Sema ATIK	TUR
8	Sabrina SCHULZ	AUT
9	Margot KRISBERG	ISR
10	McKinzie DANIELS	USA
	Warm-Up Group 3
11	Ashley CAIN	USA
12	Raisa RJENOVSCHI	ROU
13	Angelika DUBINSKI	GER
14	Natalia POPOVA	UKR
15	Polina SHELEPEN	RUS
	Warm-Up Group 4
16	Pernille SORENSEN	DEN
17	Lenaelle GILLERON-GORRY	FRA
18	Dimitra KORRI	GRE
19	Erika VITEKOVA	SVK
20	Nika CERIC	SLO
21	Sandra RISTIVOJEVIC	SRB
	Warm-Up Group 5
22	Hae-Jin KIM	KOR
23	Yuki NISHINO	JPN
24	Yukiko FUJISAWA	JPN
25	Polina KOROBEYNIKOVA	RUS
26	Marta GARCIA	ESP
27	Melanie SWANG	THA

StN.	Name	Nation
	Warm-Up Group 1
1	Maxim KOVTUN	RUS
2	Nam NGUYEN	CAN
3	Harrison CHOATE	USA
4	Ondrej SPIEGL	SWE
5	Dmitri KAGIROV	BLR
	Warm-Up Group 2
6	Yakov GODOROZHA	UKR
7	Slavik HAYRAPETYAN	ARM
8	Dong-Won LEE	KOR
9	Catalin DIMITRESCU	ROU
10	Engin Ali ARTAN	TUR
	Warm-Up Group 3
11	Tomi PULKKINEN	SUI
12	Peter O BRIEN	CAN
13	Ryuju HINO	JPN
14	Thomas SOSNIAK	FRA
15	Jun SUZUKI	JPN
	Warm-Up Group 4
16	Paul FENTZ	GER
17	Sinthawachiwa PHIRIYIPHON	THA
18	Shotaro OMORI	USA
19	Clint Maverick EGUIA	PHI
20	Zsolt KOSZ	ROU
21	Vlad IONESCU	ROU

StN.	Name	Nation
	Warm-Up Group 1
1	Alexandra STEPANOVA / Ivan BUKIN	RUS
2	Katerina KONICKOVA / Matej LANG	CZE
3	Irina SHTORK / Taavi RAND	EST
4	Anastasia GALYETA / Alexei SHUMSKI	UKR
	Warm-Up Group 2
5	Jessica FLEMIN / Jeremy FLEMIN	FRA
6	Marina SIMONOVA / Dmitri DRAGUN	RUS
7	Sofia SFORZA / Francesco FIORETTI	ITA
8	Elektra HETMAN / Benjamin ALLAIN	FRA
9	Kaitlin HAWAYEK / Michael BRAMANTE	USA
	Warm-Up Group 3
10	Ekaterina BUGROV / Vasili ROGOV	ISR
11	Anna NAGORNYUK / Viktor KOVALENKO	UZB
12	Kathrin HAEUSER / Sevan LERCHE	GER
13	Laurence FOURNIER BEAUDRY / Yoan BRETON	CAN
14	Mackenzie BENT / Garrett MACKEEN	CAN