Sixth Junior Grand Prix event this week in Zagreb, Croatia

Colorado Springs, Colo. (October 6, 2009) - The United States will send eight skaters to the sixth event of the 2009 International Skating Union (ISU) Junior Grand Prix (JGP) of Figure Skating Series Oct. 7-11 in Zagreb, Croatia.

The Junior Grand Prix event, which will be held at the Dom sportova Arena, begins Thursday, Oct. 8 with the compulsory dance and the ladies and men's short programs. Official practice will take place Wednesday. Eight athletes will represent the United States at the event in three disciplines - ladies, men's and ice dancing - with the three U.S. gold medalists from the JGP event in Lake Placid, N.Y., among them.

The JGP Series, now in its 13^th season, consists of eight international events in a cumulative point-scoring format. Approximately 400 athletes representing more than 35 countries are expected to participate in the series. Each athlete is eligible to score points in two of the eight scheduled events (pairs can compete in two of four designated events). The top eight point-earners in each of the disciplines qualify for the Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, Dec. 3-6 in Tokyo, Japan.

LADIES

Kristine Musademba won gold last month in Lake Placid, her seventh JGP event. In 2008, Musademba took home gold from her JGP events in France and Spain, and placed sixth at the Junior Grand Prix Final in Goyang City, Republic of Korea. This is the second JGP Series event for Ellie Kawamura, who won the junior silver medal at the 2009 AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships. In August, she placed fourth at her first-ever JGP event, in Hungary.

MEN

Reigning U.S. junior champion Ross Miner earned his first JGP Series victory last month in Lake Placid. He will be joined by Steven Evans, the 2009 U.S. novice silver medalist, who will make his JGP debut at this event.

ICE DANCING

Reigning U.S. junior and World Junior silver medalists Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani are in their second season in the JGP Series. They started strong this year by winning gold last month at JGP Lake Placid. The team placed fourth at the 2008 JGP Final after qualifying for the event with a first-place finish at JGP France and a second-place finish at JGP Spain. Charlotte Lichtman and Dean Copely appeared in their first JGP Series event in August in Hungary, placing eighth.

In addition to Zagreb, Croatia, the Junior Grand Prix Series consists of the following events:

• JGP Turkey: Istanbul, Turkey - Oct. 14-18
• JGP Final: Tokyo, Japan - Dec. 3-6

U.S. ENTRIES AT JGP CROATIA

 

DISCIPLINE	NAME	HOMETOWN	TRAINING TOWN
Ladies	Ellie Kawamura Kristine Musademba	Hacienda Heights, Calif. Silver Spring, Md.	Riverside, Calif. Rockville, Md.
Men	Steven Evans Ross Miner	Keller, Texas Watertown, Mass.	Grapevine, Texas Boston, Mass.
Ice Dancing	Charlotte Lichtman Dean Copely	Northville, Mich. Newark, Del.	Canton, Mich.
	Maia Shibutani Alex Shibutani	Ann Arbor, Mich.	Canton, Mich.

- U.S. Figure Skating - 

U.S. Figure Skating is the national governing body for the sport of figure skating in the United States as recognized by the United States Olympic Committee and the International Skating Union. U.S. Figure Skating is comprised of more than 700 member clubs, collegiate clubs, and school-affiliated clubs and over 900 registered Basic Skills skating schools representing approximately 170,000 members. U.S. Figure Skating is charged with the development of the sport on all levels within the United States  including athletes, officials, sanctioning of events and exhibitions, and establishing the rules and guidelines by which the sport is governed.

 

Tags: 2009 ISU Junior Grand Prix, Alex Shibutani, Charlotte Lichtman, Dean Copely, Ellie Kawamura, Kristine Musademba, Maia Shibutani , Ross Miner, Steven Evans, U.S. Figure Skating