Skate Canada international assignments updated

[tulip]

http://www.skatecanada.ca/english/teams/assignments/index.html

JGP assignments of note:

Karam & McGrath get JPG Germany and Slovakia. So basically all the dance assignments have been filled as we know that Piperno & Dougherty will get the last assignment to Italy.

Chantal Poirier & Jesse Sturdy have been assigned to Slovakia. I didn't even know she was skating pairs this year! I thought blades or someone said she was taking the year off just to do singles?


Finlandia:

Michelle Currie
Fedor Andreev
Bergeron & Davison

Karl Schafer:

Nicole Watt
Hugh Yik
Longpre & Zukiwsky
Pairs TBD (Purdy & Maguire perhaps? Or maybe not after the way they skated at JW)

Golden Spin:
Marianne Dubuc
Nic Young
Putnam & Wirtz
MacDonald & Bradshaw

[roogu]

Yet another mix n match in the wirtz camp .. surprise surprise surprise. :roll:

A bit surprised SC didn't wait for JGP Phoenix to see how Senft and Hallam do, perhaps earning a second assignment.

Ha ha, looks like Shawn Sawyer will have to skate twice in Montreal ;) heheh.

[NAdancefan]

Congrats to Karam & McGrath on their assignments! I knew they'd eventually receive one, but now they have two... I'm thrilled, as I think this is a team with loads of potential. :D

[Erynne]

I hope Hugh Yik can do well, does anyone know who else would be competing at the Karl Scharfer Memorial?
Thanks
Erin

[Erin F]

I think it's interesting that Karam & McGrath got two assignments all of a sudden, without having proven themselves in their first event...I wonder if there's any possibility that it's a typo (like two Shawn Sawyers at the Montreal event :P ) I'm disappointed that Girard and Yaeger haven't received any assignments, especially since they did place fairly well in at least one of the summer competitions (Thornhill maybe??)

I still think Purdy and Maguire could get the Karl Schafer spot--reports were that they skated fairly well at Thornhill and beat Roth & McPherson of the US in the free skate.

Even though I too am rolling my eyes over yet another Wirtz camp mix & match, I'm happy to see that Chantal has found a partner and one young enough to do juniors. She's still only 16 or 17 and I think she still belongs in Juniors internationally. I saw at 2001 Nationals and 2001 Skate Canada that she is capable of doing the jumps, so now she has to work on consistency and doing them (without a cheat) when it counts.

And nice to see Hugh Yik get an assignment, although I was really hoping that Blair Smith would get one. Sounds like Blair had a really strong free skate at Thornhill...but I guess that Hugh could probably use the international experience more. Blair has had quite a few years on the JGP and he's been to Nebelhorn before, whereas I'm not sure if Hugh has much international experience at all (and definitely not in the past 4 years!)

[Sylvia]

Originally posted by Erynne
I hope Hugh Yik can do well, does anyone know who else would be competing at the Karl Scharfer Memorial?

Team USA for Vienna Cup currently consists of: Ryan Bradley and Rohene Ward (both have landed 3axels in competition this summer), Ann Patrice McDonough and Sara Wheat, and the relatively new dance teams of Emilie Nussear/ Mathew Gates and Christy Moxley/ Alexander Kirsanov (who both had good showings at Lake Placid). No US pairs team has been assigned to this event... not sure if one will be because there's a "N/A" in that spot.

Edited to add: There is no pairs event, according to the preliminary schedule at:
http://www.engelmann.co.at/ksm/2002/index.html

[Francis71]

Erin - I am also disappointed that Blair Smith wasn't on the revised list. I have always enjoyed his skating and hope that he does well at Canadians this year.

Obviously monitoring played an important role in these decisions as several of these teams did not participate in any summer competitions. Seems to have paid off in the Marcoux /Buntin scenerio. Putnam/Wirtz must be looking better in monitoring that Purdy/Maquire did at Thornhill.

[Dragonlady]

Hugh Yik's assignment probably has a lot to do with his strong showing at Thornhill a few weeks ago. This was the first time I've seen Hugh skate and I was very impressed with his performance. I guess Skate Canada was too.

[deanna]

Wow, am really happy to see Eriq Lyons from B.C. got an international to Slovakia. I must say I am pretty surprised that Mira Leung got an assignment. By my calculations, Mira is 14 but the jumps are so badly cheated with almost one full rotation on the ice. At summerskate in Burnaby, B.C. she landed a badly cheated triple lutz in addition to cheated landings on all the triples. She is young, however, and perhaps Skate Canada wants to promote her because of her age. I know last year at B.C. Sectionals, Mira competed in Junior ladies and placed either 8th or 9th and the feedback was at that time that she would have done well at the Novice level.

[Erin F]

I'm surprised Leung got an assignment, too, with so many talented junior ladies. I can't believe that Krysta Pouliot hasn't received anything yet. I've never seen her skate, but she's been novice champion, a respectable sixth in juniors (ahead of Billings, Boucher, and Tessier who all got assignments) and she's put in a good performance at the NAC's for the past two years. I suppose there's still two open spots (since I'm assuming Ronka should get one of the Milan spots), so I'm hoping Pouliot and Jessica Dube get the remaining ones.

I don't want to be too quick to criticize, though--in general, I think that the assignments work out to be pretty fair. I remember there was a lot of flak about Ronka, Phaneuf, and Wilson getting assignments last year and they sure silenced the critics :D

And Dragonlady - I agree that Hugh probably got the assignment because of Thornhill and I don't really disagree with it. I'd just been hoping that Blair could get something...Too bad Canada's not sending anyone to the Ondrej Nepela (and why not anyways???)

Edited to add - I'm happy to see that Billings got an assignment, too. I was worried after her showing at BC Summer Skate she might not get one, but I guess SC took into account that she's been injured and that she's landing a triple lutz. Hope she does well and can't wait to see her skate again at Nationals.

[Tony Wheeler]

Erin- you are correct, Ronka has been assigned to Milan for her second JGP event.

[Big Guy]

I think it's interesting that Karam & McGrath got two assignments all of a sudden, without having proven themselves in their first event...I wonder if there's any possibility that it's a typo (like two Shawn Sawyers at the Montreal event ) I'm disappointed that Girard and Yaeger haven't received any assignments, especially since they did place fairly well in at least one of the summer competitions (Thornhill maybe??)

Karam & McGrath won the Huntiville Nac comp. I would think that is proof enough. They have proven themselves as a team that stays together, young with years left to compete in JGP's. This is not the case for G&Y or S&H. I think Skate Canada is putting some stock in the future with K&M not to mention N&P, G&NA, C&P . I think Skate Canada made some wise selections for the future.
Good luck to all the Jr. Canadian Dance teams.

[tulip]

Well, results over the last two weeks have definitely proven that it was a wise decision by Skate Canada to automatically give K&M two assignments. They are obviously developing a nice reputation internationally and their results on the JGP this year will really set them up nicely for next year and potentially JW.

And the more time they spend with Shpilband/Zueva, the better too.