A discipline-by-discipline look at U.S. figure skaters’ best season scores with no more top-level events until the U.S. Championships from Jan. 24-27 in Detroit ...
Men
1. Nathan Chen -- 282.42
2. Chen -- 280.57
3. Chen -- 271.58
4. Jason Brown -- 263.42
5. Brown -- 256.33
6. Brown -- 234.97
7. Vincent Zhou -- 234.25
8. Brown -- 233.23
9. Zhou -- 225.75
10. Camden Pulkinen -- 223.95
Chen is on his way to a third straight national title, while Brown has been a pleasant surprise this fall after changing coaches in the offseason. The Sochi Olympian and 2015 U.S. champion even beat Chen in one program on the Grand Prix Series. Zhou, after placing sixth in PyeongChang, has struggled with under-rotations on jumps but is still in the driver’s seat for one of three world championships spots.
Women
1. Bradie Tennell -- 206.41
2. Tennell -- 202.41
3. Ting Cui -- 199.79
4. Mariah Bell -- 198.96
5. Tennell -- 197.78
6. Bell -- 196.60
7. Tennell -- 192.89
8. Bell -- 190.25
9. Bell -- 188.97
10. Ashley Lin -- 181.21
Two world team spots for the women. Tennell and Bell are the top returning veterans this season, but remember that 2017 U.S. champion Karen Chen has yet to compete with a foot injury. Then there are Ting, 16, and Alysa Liu, a 13-year-old who isn’t age eligible for junior or senior worlds but can compete in the senior division at nationals. Liu landed triple Axels in both programs at sectionals last month, scoring 212.97 points (though domestic scores are often inflated and not comparable with international scores).
Ice Dance
1. Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue -- 205. 35
2. Hubbell/Donohue -- 200.82
3. Hubbell/Donohue -- 200.76
4. Hubbell/Donohue -- 197.42
5. Kaitlin Hawayek/Jean-Luc Baker -- 184.63
6. Hawayek/Baker -- 184.04
7. Hawayek/Baker -- 181.47
8. Rachel Parsons/Michael Parsons -- 180.95
9. Lorraine McNamara/Quinn Carpenter -- 180.57
10. Christina Carreira/Anthony Ponomarenko -- 180.22
The only active U.S. couple to beat Hubbell and Donohue in direct competition is Madison Chock and Evan Bates, but the two-time world medalists missed the entire fall season due to Chock’s ankle surgery. With Olympic bronze medalists Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani sitting out this season and maybe done competing altogether, Hubbell and Donohue will be clear favorites to repeat as national champions.
Three U.S. couples will go to worlds. Hawayek and Baker, after qualifying for their first Grand Prix Final, are primed to go back after placing 10th last season. The status of Chock and Bates will largely determine who rounds out the world team.
Pairs
1. Tarah Kayne/Danny O’Shea -- 191.43
2. Alexa Scimeca Knierim/Chris Knierim -- 190.49
3. Knierim/Knierim -- 182.84
4. Ashley Cain/Timothy LeDuc -- 181.56
5. Kayne/O’Shea -- 177.69
6. Knierim/Knierim -- 177.22
7. Deanna Stellato/Nathan Bartholomay -- 176.44
8. Cain/LeDuc -- 175.06
9. Stellato/Bartholomay -- 174.91
10. Stellato/Bartholomay -- 174.78
Kayne and O’Shea, who likely would have made the Olympic team if the U.S. qualified more than one pair for PyeongChang, surprised by posting that 191 at the last event of the Grand Prix Series three weeks ago. The U.S. has just one pair at worlds this season for the first time since 1984 and last earned a medal in 2002. Kayne and O’Shea and the Knierims are ranked Nos. 9 and 10 in the world this season. Cain is recovering after falling head-first on the ice from a botched lift on Friday night.
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