Developmental Team Skaters Head to Canada for Three Competitions
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| Lauri Bonacorsi and Travis Mager compete at the 2009 AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Photo by Paul Harvath |
(8/6/2009) - Fifty-nine U.S. skaters will take part in three competitions over the next two weeks in Canada as part of U.S. Figure Skating's Developmental International program. Twenty athletes head to Boucherville, Quebec, this week for the Quebec Summer Championships. Next week, 17 U.S. skaters will take the ice at the Central Ontario Summer Skate in Thornhill, Ontario, while 22 others will compete at the BC/YT Section Summerskate in Burnaby, British Columbia.
The Developmental International program was created by the Athlete Development Committee in 2007 as a way to replace the North American Challenge Skate. The purpose is to provide up-and-coming skaters with an opportunity to gain international experience and exposure. Skaters are responsible for paying their own expenses for the competition. Competitors at the 2009 AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships at the novice level and medalists at the 2009 U.S. Junior Figure Skating Championships at the intermediate level are invited to participate. In addition, junior- and senior-level competitors at the 2009 U.S. Championships and 2009 sectional championships identified by the International Committee are also invited to participate.
Past participants in the Developmental International program include World Junior ice dancing champions Madison Chock & Greg Zuerlein, World Junior pairs bronze medalists Marissa Castelli & Simon Shnapir, and U.S. junior champion DeeDee Leng.
Read more about the Developmental Team here and the Developmental International program here.
Christina Gao, Samantha Cesario
Junior Ladies
Haley Dunne, Mary Beth Marley, Christine Mozer, Kendall Wyckoff
Novice Ladies
Courtney Hicks, Katarina Kulgeyko
Junior Men
Allen Gaghinjian
Novice Men
Timothy Dolensky
Junior Pairs
Olivia Gibbons & Tyler Harris
Novice Pairs
Kaitlin Budd & Matthew Blackmer, Meredith Pipkin & Brett Dunie-Neustadt, Marissa Spector & Christopher Nolan
Novice Dance
Danvi Pham & Vu Pham
Kristiene Gong
Junior Men
Christopher Fernandes, Colin Grafton, Ryan Hartley, Jay Yostanto
Junior Pairs
Kylie Duarte & Colin Grafton
Novice Pairs
Olivia Oltmanns & Tyler Broderick
Junior Dance
Lauri Bonacorsi & Travis Mager, Charlotte Lichtman & Dean Copely, Anastasia Olson & Jordan Cowan
Novice Dance
Danielle Gamelin & Alexander Gamelin
Vanessa Lam, Katlynn McNab, Keli Zhou, Joanna Nishimoto
Novice Ladies
Carol Lin, Allison Timlen
Junior Men
Scott Dyer, John Lomazzi, Joshua Santillan
Novice Men
Nathan Chen, Shotaro Omori, Austin Wagner
Novice Pairs
Stefanie Griffin & Jordan Griffin
Senior Dance
Stephanie Zastrow & Michael Lueck
Junior Dance
Gabrielle Friedenberg & Benjamin Nykiel, Natalie Wojton & Michael Soyfer
Novice Dance
Joylyn Yang & Jean Luc Baker
