{"id":13816,"date":"2017-10-05T20:51:57","date_gmt":"2017-10-06T00:51:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/?p=13816"},"modified":"2020-02-16T11:47:21","modified_gmt":"2020-02-16T16:47:21","slug":"us-figure-skating-fosters-development-at-challenge-skate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/us-figure-skating-fosters-development-at-challenge-skate\/","title":{"rendered":"US Figure Skating Fosters Development at Challenge Skate"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Anne Calder | photos by Robin Ritoss<\/em>\n <\/p>\n

Watch and Learn<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

US Figure Skating hosted the Sixth Annual Novice & Junior Challenge Skate September 13-17, held in conjunction with the 2017 U.S. International Figure Skating Classic.<\/span><\/p>\n

Both events were held at the Salt Lake City Sports Complex, the official figure skating training center for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games.<\/span><\/p>\n

The goals of the Challenge Skate were for the novices and juniors to be part of an international setting, observe a senior competition, and to have fun. Invitations are usually given to high-level teams that had not yet been assigned to Junior Grand Prix competitions. The exception at this competition was Isabella Amoia & Luca Becker, who had just come back from their first JGP event in Austria. Amoia & Becker won the Challenge skate junior title, while Gianna Buckley & Jeffrey Chen led the novice field.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/b>\u201c2-4-6-8, Who Do We Appreciate?\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The team leader for the Challenge Skate was Colin McManus, 2016 U.S. ice dance pewter medalist and former international competitor.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prior to the senior short dance, McManus corralled the novice group to watch the event together. Several dressed in red, white, and blue as they cheered for all the teams, but a bit more enthusiastically for the USA. <\/span><\/p>\n

Anna Nicklas enjoyed their camaraderie. \u201cThe most fun I had was when we got together as a group to cheer for the seniors,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was really fun because we had these pom poms and things.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Jordan Lin added, \u201cIt was fun to cheer the seniors on \u2013 GO USA!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Caroline Liu was excited about the skaters watching the event together. \u201cWe decorated one of our friends in all the USA colors. It was really fun.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Senior Surveillance <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The youngsters tried to pick up tips by watching the seniors that have made it to international competition.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI get confidence watching the seniors,\u201d Morgan Sletten said, \u201cnot just cheering them on, but really watching them. It gives me more confidence in myself.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey really use their hips and upper body,\u201d Anna Pettersson said. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI like their connection with one another – the way they skate together with confidence,\u201d Buckley said. Chen added to his partner, \u201cI like the way they attack everything.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

T.J. Carey is a novice-level dancer who loves to keep up with the top competitors around the world. <\/span>\u201cWatching the live skating instead of from my computer gives me even more love of the sport,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou see them all online, and you watch their videos, but when you see them skate in person it\u2019s totally different,\u201d Ryan O\u2019Donnell added. \u201cThis is what you should be aspiring to be.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

They were lucky to see Madison Hubbell & Zachary Donohue, top-ten in the world and Grand Prix Finalists, well known in the U.S. for their interpretative abilities. Hubbell & Donohue won the senior short dance with a score of 71.15. Five other teams score between 50 and 60 points, so the novice and junior teams had a lot of quality skating to admire.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI really like all the sharp moves and their interpretation,\u201d junior skater Alexander Petrov said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI liked how they expressed the music,\u201d Lin said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI learned that Instead of everybody doing the same, monotonous happy and pretty,\u201d Max Ryan said, \u201cthere are so many different facets you can choose to show. There are so many different emotions and styles of skating.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Molly Cesanek was impressed with how \u201cin the rhumba dance, they each had their own unique version of the dance.\u201d Her partner, Nikolay Usanov, added, \u201cwhat\u2019s amazing is how they glide across the ice.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was like watching a ballet,\u201d Katarina DelCamp said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAll the emotion they showed to each other you really don\u2019t see on TV,\u201d Alina Efimova noted. \u201cWhen you see it live, there\u2019s a real connection.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Katarina Wolfkostin and her partner Howard Zhao train with some international teams at the Detroit Skating Club, including U.S. Classic silver medalists Kaitlin Hawayek & Jean-Luc Backer, but they were still able to pick up a new perspective over the week. \u201cOnce you think you\u2019ve made it a step up, there are even more steps to move up,\u201d they said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Oona Brown and her brother Gage watched the seniors and came up with a new strategy: \u201cExpress yourself \u2013 show the judges that you\u2019re a good team.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey [the seniors] make their performance an entire thought-out process,\u201d Kenan Slevira said. \u201cIt flows throughout really nicely.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Proving that the seniors really were on display the entire time they were at the competition, Susan Talbot noted, \u201cIt was very interesting the way they warmed up.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Fun is Good<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

A few of the skaters shared their fun experiences at Challenge Skate.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOne of my favorite restaurants is here in Salt Lake City\u2014The Paris Bistro,\u201d Max Gart said. \u201cIt\u2019s a really quaint restaurant with French food.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Anna Pettersson confessed fun for her was, \u201cJust hanging out with the other competitors.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Becker took a busman\u2019s holiday for his fun. He watched skating! \u201cFor me what\u2019s really interesting is there are lots of high-level skaters here,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not such a huge competition, so it\u2019s been fun to sit in the stands close up and watch the top teams in the world competing at such a high level.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Amoia, his partner, said that she had fun attending the classes that the younger skaters were offered.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Katarina DelCamp went shopping. \u201cWe went to this gorgeous mall \u2013 so big,\u201d she said. “People are so nice here.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Howard Zhao enjoyed watching his mother, who rented a Tesla while in Salt Lake City. \u201cIt was so much fun watching my mom for 10 minutes as she tried to start the car before she realized there was no engine to turn on.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But for the whole group, it seems that US Figure Skating\u2019s goals were met. The younger dancers learned a lot from watching the senior teams and enjoyed their experience.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was fun to not only have the competition, but the camaraderie of all being friends,\u201d Cesanek concluded.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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