Nineteen members of Team USA will travel to two international competitions this week. The Challenger Series continues this weekend with the 2019 Nebelhorn Trophy in Oberstdorf, Germany, while the 2019 International Skating Union (ISU) Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (JGP) Series continues in Zagreb, Croatia.
Mariah Bell is the sole American competing in the ladies competition at Nebelhorn Trophy. The 2019 U.S. bronze medalist finished fourth at the event in 2018 and will kick off her season in Oberstdorf. Bell will take the ice for the short program on Thursday, Sept. 26.
In the pairs competition, Alexa Knierim and Chris Knierm will look to earn a spot on the podium for the second straight year. At the 2018 event, the California-based team earned the silver medal. The Knierims are joined by Haven Denney and Brandon Frazier in Germany. The 2019 U.S. silver medalists are making their first appearance at the event. The pairs competition also kicks off on Thursday.
The United States will send two ice dance teams to Germany. Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker will make their season debut. The 2019 U.S. bronze medalists are making their first appearance at the event since 2014. Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko will compete in their second Challenger Series event of the year, traveling to Germany from Salt Lake City where the Michigan-based duo won the silver medal at the U.S. International Figure Skating Classic. The rhythm dance is schedule for Friday, Sept. 27.
The ISU Challenger Series is a group of 10 senior-level international figure skating competitions held each year to help skaters prepare and qualify for ISU Championship events.
The United States will bring a team of 10 to the Junior Grand Prix in Zagreb. The event begins Thursday, Sept. 26, and concludes on Saturday, Sept. 28.
Reigning U.S. junior ladies champion Gabriella Izzo headlines the ladies competition in Croatia. Izzo is competing in her second JGP event of the season, finishing ninth at JGP Latvia earlier this month. 2019 U.S. junior pewter medalist Sarah Jung will make her JGP and junior international debut in Zagreb.
In the men’s competition, Andrew Torgashev makes his second JGP appearance of the season after finishing fourth at the JGP event in Riga, Latvia. This marks Torgashev’s fifth JGP season. Joining Torgashev is 2019 U.S. intermediate silver medalist Daniel Martynov. He will make his JGP and international debut in Croatia.
Isabelle Martins and Ryan Bedard are the sole pairs team representing the U.S. in Croatia. The Illinois-based duo finished 10th at their JGP debut in Lake Placid earlier this month.
Also returning for their second JGP event in ice dance, Molly Cesanek and Yehor Yehorov return to JGP ice after finishing sixth at JGP Latvia. Katarina DelCamp and Ian Somerville will make their debut as a team in Zagreb.
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. The ISU will stream the event live on its YouTube page.
