Road to Worlds starts at AT&T US Figure Skating Championships

CLEVELAND (Jan. 21, 2009) - The road to March's World Figure Skating Championships starts today at the 2009 AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Cleveland, Ohio, when America's champions seek qualification on the ice.

Twelve national titles will be decided at the U.S. Championships in the novice, junior and senior levels. Also at stake are the United States' 10 spots on the Worlds Team, which include three spots in the men's and ice dance competitions, and two spots in the ladies' and pairs events.

Ladies

Two California teenagers are favored to win the ladies' competition. Neither of the front runners are reigning U.S. Champion Mirai Nagasu (Arcadia, Calif.), who is trying to defend her national title in the midst of an injury-plagued season. Last year she finished fifth at Skate America and eighth at the NHK Trophy.

Reigning World Junior Champion Rachael Flatt (Del Mar, Calif.) and 2007 World Junior Champion Caroline Zhang (Brea, Calif.) enter the U.S. Championships after successful campaigns on the Grand Prix series. Both Flatt and Zhang, who were too young to compete at Worlds last season (they did not turn 16 years old before July 1), are favorites to win in Cleveland.

Flatt finished fourth at Skate America and second at Cup of Russia. Recently named a spokesperson for Reading is Fundamental and MAC Cosmetics, her résumé also includes a silver medal at the 2007 Junior Grand Prix Final.

Zhang, who has worked with five-time World Champion Michelle Kwan, placed fifth at 2008 Skate Canada before winning the bronze at Trophee Eric Bompard. She was fourth at the 2007 Grand Prix Final and second at the 2008 World Junior Championships.

Other skaters in the hunt for the title include last year's bronze medalist Ashley Wagner (Alexandria, Va.) and 2007 bronze medalist Alissa Czisny (Bowling Green, Ohio). Wagner finished fourth at both the Cup of China and the NHK Trophy while Czisny, a student at Bowling Green State University, was third at Skate Canada and fourth at Cup of Russia.

Former World and U.S. Champion Kimmie Meissner (Bel Air, Md.) and 2007 U.S. silver medalist Emily Hughes (Great Neck, N.Y.) withdrew from the competition because of injuries. Both were members of the 2006 Olympic team, finishing sixth and seventh respectively.

The ladies' championship short program is Thursday with the championship free skate Saturday.

Men

Two-time World Championship bronze medalist Evan Lysacek (Naperville, Ill.) is eyeing a third consecutive U.S. Championship in Cleveland. But with strong performances from Jeremy Abbott (Aspen, Colo.) and Johnny Weir (Quarryville, Pa.) on the fall Grand Prix series, Lysacek's battle for a third title could be his toughest yet.

After missing the 2008 Worlds because of injury, Lysacek returned to competition in the fall, winning bronze medals at Skate America and Skate Canada. His back-to-back third place finishes did not advance him to the Grand Prix Final, where he won a bronze medal in 2007.

Two-time U.S. Championships pewter medalist Abbott won the Grand Prix Final while three-time U.S. Champion Weir finished third. En route to becoming the first American man ever to win the Final, Abbott also set the highest score ever recorded by a U.S. man in an international event. He previously set the record with a gold medal performance at Cup of China.

Weir, who lost the 2008 U.S. Championships to Lysacek in a tiebreaker and was third the year before, finished second at Skate America and the NHK Trophy. He is the reigning Worlds bronze medalist.

Also contending for medals are last year's national bronze medalist Stephen Carriere (Wakefield, Mass.), who was second at Cup of China and sixth at NHK Trophy, and 2007 silver medalist Ryan Bradley (St. Joseph, Mo.), who was second at Skate Canada and seventh at Trophee Eric Bompard.

The men's championship competition starts Friday with the short program. On Sunday, the men wrap up the action at the U.S. Championships with their free skate.

Pairs

The current U.S. Champions Keauna McLaughlin (Los Angeles) and Rockne Brubaker (Algonquin, Ill.) missed their chance to compete at the World Championships last season because McLaughlin was too young. But McLaughlin saw the upside of sitting out the 2008 Worlds-a chance to make her Worlds debut before a hometown crowd.

McLaughlin and Brubaker, a University of Colorado at Colorado Springs student, are the favorites not only to win a second consecutive U.S. Championship but also to medal at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. No American pair has won an Olympic medal since 1988.

The team has never finished off the podium in their three-season partnership. Among the highlights are winning gold at the 2006 Junior Grand Prix Final and the 2007 World Junior Championships; silver at the 2007 Cup of China, the 2007 NHK Trophy and the 2008 Skate America; and bronze at 2008 Skate Canada.

To become two-time U.S. Champions, McLaughlin and Brubaker have to contend with two-time U.S. Champions Rena Inoue (Santa Monica, Calif.) and John Baldwin (Santa Monica, Calif.), and 2007 gold medalists Brooke Castile (Grosse Point Woods, Mich.) and Ben Okolski (Ann Arbor, Mich.). At the 2008 Worlds, the pairs finished 10th and 11th respectively.

Inoue and Baldwin won silver at the last two U.S. Championships. On this season's Grand Prix circuit, they finished fifth at Skate America and second at the NHK Trophy while Castile and Okolski, the current Four Continents bronze medalists, sat out because of an injury.

Other pairs vying for the medals are last year's pewter medalists Tiffany Vise (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Derek Trent (Colorado Springs, Colo.), who were fifth at Skate Canada and Trophee Eric Bompard; 2007 pewter medalists Amanda Evora (Bradenton, Fla.) and Mark Ladwig (Moorhead, Minn.), who were seventh at Skate Canada and fourth at Cup of China; and last year's sixth place finishers Caitlin Yankowskas (Pelham, N.H.) and John Coughlin (Kansas City, Mo.), who were sixth at Skate America.

The pairs skate Thursday and Saturday.

Ice Dance

For the first time since the 2003 U.S. Championships, the ice dancing champions will not be 2006 Olympic silver medalists Tanith Belbin (Aston, Pa.) and Ben Agosto (Chicago). Their quest for a sixth straight national championship ended because of Agosto's back injury.

The favorites are Meryl Davis (West Bloomfield, Mich.) and Charlie White (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.), who have experienced unprecedented success since their sixth place finish at the 2008 Worlds. At Skate Canada, their first Grand Prix event of the season, the University of Michigan students took the gold medal in a convincing fashion. They followed that performance with bronze medals at the Cup of China and the Grand Prix Final.

Reigning World Junior Champions Emily Samuelson (Novi, Mich.) and Evan Bates (Ann Arbor, Mich.), who were fourth at the national championships last season, are also contending for the championship. Samuelson and Bates finished first at the fall's Nebelhorn Trophy, fourth at Skate America and third at NHK Trophy, giving them a successful senior international debut.

Other teams in the hunt for a medal include reigning bronze medalists Kim Navarro (Santa Rosa, Calif.) and Brent Bommentre (Horsham, Pa.), who finished fifth at Skate Canada and sixth at the NHK Trophy; last year's fifth-place finishers Jennifer Wester (Dallas) and Daniil Barantsev (Ekaterinburg, Russia), who finished seventh at Skate Canada and eighth at Trophee Eric Bompard; and last year's sixth place finishers Jane Summersett (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Todd Gilles (Colorado Springs, Colo.), who were seventh in their Grand Prix debut at Skate America.

The original dance is Thursday with the free dance Saturday.

Although they are not skating, Belbin and Agosto have petitioned for a spot on the Worlds team despite missing nationals and withdrawing from December's Grand Prix Final after the original dance. The most successful team in U.S. dance history, Belbin and Agosto are three-time Worlds medalists.

Jamie Blanchard is a freelance contributor for teamusa.org. This story was not subject to the approval of the United States Olympic Committee or any National Governing Bodies.

Tags: Alissa Czisny, Benjamin Agosto, Caroline Zhang, Charlie White, Evan Lysacek, Jeremy Abbott, John Baldwin, Johnny Weir, Keauna McLaughlin, Meryl Davis, Mirai Nagasu, Rachel Flatt, Rena Inoue, Rockne Brubaker, Tanith Belbin