The International Skating Union (ISU) announced today the athlete selections for the ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) of Figure Skating Lake Placid 2019, set for Aug. 29-31. The event will be held at Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, New York, and is the second stop of the 2019 ISU JGP Series.
The event is headlined by 2019 U.S. ladies champion Alysa Liu. The event marks her junior international debut. In the men’s competition, 2019 U.S. junior champion Ryan Dunk will return to the JGP circuit starting in Lake Placid. 2019 U.S. junior silver medalists Kate Finster and Balazs Nagy will compete in the pairs competition, while U.S. junior silver medalists Avonley Nguyen and Vadym Kolesnik return to the Series in ice dance after qualifying for the JGP Final in 2018.
Entering its 23rd season, the JGP Series consists of seven international events in a cumulative point-scoring format. Each athlete is eligible to score points in two of the seven scheduled events (pairs can compete in two of four designated events). The top six point-earners in each discipline qualify for the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final 2019, Dec. 5-8 in Torino, Italy.
In 2018, the United States captured nine medals on the Junior Grand Prix circuit (3 golds, 4 silvers, 2 bronzes), with seven athletes qualifying for the JGP Final in Vancouver.
The complete list of athlete selections for JGP Lake Placid is available at www.isu.org. The lists of U.S. selections for the event are listed below. (Lineups are subject to change.)
TEAM USA ASSIGNMENTS FOR ISU JUNIOR GRAND PRIX OF FIGURE SKATING SERIES LAKE PLACID 2019
Ladies: Jessica Lin*, Alysa Liu*, Emilia Murdock*
Men: Ryan Dunk, Joseph Klein*, Ilia Malinin*
Pairs: Kate Finster and Balazs Nagy, Isabelle Martins and Ryan Bedard*
Ice dance: Ella Ales and Daniel Tsarik*, Anna Lavrova and Max Gart*, Avonley Nguyen and Vadym Kolesnik
*making Junior Grand Prix Series debut