Grand Prix series continues this week with 2009 Cancer.net Skate America in Lake Placid, N.Y.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (November 10, 2009) - The 2009 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series continues this week with 2009 Cancer.Net Skate America in Lake Placid, N.Y.

Athletes from the United States will compete against skaters from 18 other countries, all vying for points and prize money in this fifth of six events in the series. Cancer.Net Skate America will take place at the 1980 Rink-Herb Brooks Arena and begin Friday, Nov. 13 with the compulsory dance and the pairs and men's short programs.

Icenetwork.com will provide live and on-demand coverage of the event for "Season Pass" subscribers within the contiguous United States. U.S. Figure Skating, via a joint partnership with MLB Advanced Media, has secured the exclusive U.S. broadband rights for the 2009 ISU Grand Prix Series. Visit icenetwork.com for the complete broadcast schedule.

The ladies free skate at 2009 Cancer.Net Skate America will be broadcast live on NBC on Sunday, Nov. 15 from 2-4 p.m. (EST).

In addition, NBC Sports and Universal Sports will provide same-day coverage of select events (all times ET).

 

Event	Broadcast Date	Network	Discipline	Broadcast Time
Cancer.Net Skate America Lake Placid, N.Y.	Friday, Nov. 13	Universal Sports	Pairs short program	7:30-9 p.m. ET (LIVE)
	Friday, Nov. 13	Universal Sports	Men's short program	9-11 p.m. ET (LIVE)
	Saturday, Nov. 14	Universal Sports	Original dance	2-3:30 p.m. ET (LIVE)
	Saturday, Nov. 14	Universal Sports	Pairs free skate	4-5:30 p.m. ET (LIVE)
	Saturday, Nov. 14	Universal Sports	Ladies short program	7-9 p.m. ET (LIVE)
	Saturday, Nov. 14	Universal Sports	Men's free skate	9-11 p.m. ET (LIVE)
	Sunday, Nov. 15	NBC Sports	Ladies free skate	2-4 p.m. ET (LIVE)
	Sunday, Nov. 15	Universal Sports	Free dance	4:30-6 p.m. ET (LIVE)

 

The Grand Prix Series, now in its 15th season, consists of six international events in a cumulative point-scoring format. Approximately 300 athletes from 30 countries are expected to participate in the series. Each athlete is eligible to score points in two of the six scheduled events. The top six point-earners in each of the disciplines then qualify for the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Tokyo, Japan, Dec. 3-6. Athletes will be vying for a total of more than $1.35 million in prize money throughout the series.

LADIES

Rachael Flatt, the 2008 World Junior champion and two-time U.S. silver medalist, will compete in Lake Placid alongside 2008 U.S. junior champion Alexe Gilles and 2007 U.S. silver medalist Emily Hughes. Flatt finished fourth at last year's Skate America in Everett, Wash. Gilles, who is making her debut on the Grand Prix circuit this season, finished fifth at Trophée Eric Bompard in October. This is the fourth appearance at Skate America for Hughes, who came in fourth at this event in 2007. Hughes stepped in as a last-minute replacement for the injured Sasha Cohen.

MEN

Two-time U.S. and reigning World champion Evan Lysacek will look to claim the top spot after his bronze medal at last year's event. Lysacek, who took home silver from the Cup of China three weeks ago, will be joined by 2007 U.S. silver medalist and Ryan Bradley. This is the third appearance at Skate America for Bradley, who finished sixth at the event in 2007. The 2009 U.S. silver medalist, Brandon Mroz, will make his first-ever appearance at Skate America with an aim to improve on his seventh-place finish at the Rostelecom Cup in Moscow, Russia, last month. Mroz made his Grand Prix Series debut last season, finishing seventh at Skate Canada and fifth at Trophée Eric Bompard.

PAIRS

Reigning two-time U.S. champions Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker have medaled at every Junior Grand Prix and Grand Prix event they have entered, including a bronze-medal finish at this year's Rostelecom Cup, and will look to continue the trend at Skate America, where they won silver last year. Brooke Castile and Ben Okolski, the 2007 U.S. champions and 2008 U.S. bronze medalists, return to the Grand Prix Series for the first time since 2005 after injury forced the pair to sit out the 2007 and 2008 Grand Prix seasons. Also competing in Lake Placid will be 2009 U.S. pewter medalists Amanda Evora and Mark Ladwig, who finished fourth at their first Skate America appearance in 2007. The team will look to improve on its seventh-place finish at the Cup of China last month.

ICE DANCING

Five-time U.S. champions and reigning World silver medalists Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto will look to claim their fourth Skate America victory in Lake Placid. At last year's event, the duo finished runner-up to France's Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder and ultimately advanced to the 2008 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final after a second silver at the Cup of China. Competing alongside Belbin and Agosto will be 2009 U.S. bronze medalists Kim Navarro and Brent Bommentre, and Madison Chock and Greg Zuerlein, the 2009 World Junior, U.S. junior and Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final champions. Navarro and Bommentre will make their third appearance at Skate America, having finished sixth in 2006 and 2007. The team was also sixth at Trophée Eric Bompard in October. Chock and Zuerlein finished eighth in their senior debut last month at the Cup of China.

 

In addition to the NHK Trophy, the Grand Prix Series consists of the remaining events:

 

• Skate Canada: Kitchener, Ontario, Canada - Nov. 19-22
• Grand Prix Final: Tokyo, Japan - Dec. 3-6

 

U.S. ENTRIES AT CANCER.NET SKATE AMERICA

 

DISCIPLINE	NAME	HOMETOWN	TRAINING TOWN
Ladies	Rachael Flatt Alexe Gilles Emily Hughes	Del Mar, Calif Colorado Springs, Colo. Great Neck, N.Y.	Colorado Springs, Colo. Colorado Springs, Colo. Great Neck, N.Y.
Men's	Ryan Bradley Evan Lysacek Brandon Mroz	St. Joseph, Mo. Naperville, Ill. St. Louis, Mo.	Colorado Springs, Colo. El Segundo, Calif. Colorado Springs, Colo.
Pairs	Brooke Castile Ben Okolski	Grosse Pt. Woods, Mich. Ann Arbor, Mich.	Canton, Mich.
	Amanda Evora Mark Ladwig	Bradenton, Fla. Fargo, N.D./Moorhead, Minn.	Ellenton, Fla.
	Keauna McLaughlin Rockne Brubaker	Los Angeles, Calif. Algonquin, Ill.	Los Angeles, Calif.
Ice Dancing	Tanith Belbin Ben Agosto	Kirkland, Quebec, Canada Chicago, Ill.	Aston, Pa.
	Madison Chock Greg Zuerlein	Redondo Beach, Calif. Northville, Mich.	Canton, Mich.
	Kim Navarro Brent Bommentre	Santa Rosa, Calif. Philadelphia, Pa.	Ardmore and Aston, Pa.

 

2009 MERANO CUP

Tommy Steenberg will represent the United States this week in the senior men's event at the 2009 Merano Cup in Italy. The event, which is in its 12th year, will be held at the Ice Rink Meranarena. Senior competition begins Saturday, Nov. 14 with the men's and ladies short programs.

- 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 Cancer.Net Skate America , Alexe Gilles , Amanda Evora, Ben Agosto, Ben Okolski, Brandon Mroz, Brent Bommentre, Brooke Castile, Emily Hughes , Evan Lysacek, Greg Zuerlein, Keauna McLaughlin, Kim Navarro, Madison Chock, Mark Ladwig, Rachel Flatt, Rockne Brubaker, Ryan Bradley, Sasha Cohen, Tanith Belbin