Alysa Liu landed a triple Axel late this summer at the Asian Open, becoming the youngest skater in the world, at age 12, to land the jump in competition.
Liu's extraordinary talent - and her 2018 U.S. junior title - identified her as one of 11 athletes in U.S. Figure Skating's Emerging Athletes Program, which debuted just prior to Champs Camp in late August in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The Emerging Athletes Program provides these elite junior-level athletes access to performance services and athlete testing with the United States Olympic Committee, opportunities that they didn't have in previous years.
While this current group of skaters will most likely advance to Champs Camp in the next year or two, the Emerging Athletes Program is expected to grow in quality and depth.
Joining the Bay Area sensation Liu in the program are her podium mates at the U.S. Championships in San Jose, California:
Pooja Kalyan,
Ting Cui and
Hanna Harrell. All four ladies will compete at the 2019 U.S. Championships in Detroit as senior ladies, though Liu won't be eligible for the Junior Grand Prix Series until next year because of her age (she turned 13 in August, with the deadline being 13 by July 1).Â
Three veteran men of the junior ranks -
Camden Pulkinen,
Andrew Torgashev and
Tomoki Hiwatashi - were identified for the program for their strong international records. Each member of the trio - they train together at the World Arena Ice Hall in Colorado Springs - won or placed second in this season's Junior Grand Prix Series, and all qualified for the Junior Grand Prix Final. All three will compete as seniors at the U.S. Championships.
The ice dance team of Caroline and Gordon Green was identified as being the top-seeded couple based on their World Junior placement, but couldn't attend because of illness.
Rounding out this elite group is the pairs team of
Sarah Feng and TJ Nyman, who finished eighth at the World Junior Championships last year. They were selected for being the top scoring pairs team from World Juniors that was still age eligible for the junior ranks internationally.
U.S. Figure Skating's Mitch Moyer and Justin Dillon assessed the strengths of these select athletes.
Ting Cui
Cui was the country's highest finisher at the 2018 World Junior Championships (7th). The 2018 U.S. bronze medalist posted a score of 186.80 at the summertime Glacier Falls Summer Classic.
"I think she can have a really strong debut at seniors," Dillon said.
Hanna Harrell
Moyer calls Harrell an exciting skater.
"She's extremely fast and aggressive," Moyer said of the 2018 U.S. pewter medalist. "She skates with this fearless abandon."
"Hanna is working on her consistency at competitions. Recently, she was one of only four athletes who was nine for nine on her jumping passes during a consistency drill at the high performance singles camp."
Pooja Kalyan
Kalyan, the 2018 U.S. junior silver medalist, had posted one of the highest U.S. scores halfway through the Junior Grand Prix series, with 160.60 points.
"Time and time again, she puts out solid programs with minimal mistakes," Dillon said. "She recently got a new long program and she's age eligible to get some World Standings points as a senior athlete, so hopefully she'll be competing internationally this year as a senior."
Alysa Liu
Liu posted scores of nearly 200 at summertime domestic events this year, which is a significant accomplishment as there are only a handful of U.S. senior ladies who have achieved similar results.
"She's extremely consistent and makes minimal errors," Dillon said.
"She's a competitor who loves to compete," Moyer added. "She relishes the opportunity to compete against the best in the world, and has a bring-it-on attitude that I like to see."
Tomoki Hiwatashi
Hiwatashi won the bronze medal at the 2016 World Junior Championships. He faced a variety of hurdles in 2017. They included coaching changes and injuries, but he came on strong to qualify for the 2018 World Junior Championships. Hiwatashi, the 2016 U.S. junior champion, has competed as a senior domestically the last two seasons. He earned silver medals at both of his Junior Grand Prix events this season.
"He performed a beautiful quad at his Junior Grand Prix in Canada," Dillon said.
Camden Pulkinen
"There's a really good performance quality to his skating," Dillon said of the 2018 U.S. junior champion. "His jumping is strong, he has a good run to his blade, he has good programs and his interpretation has improved so much over last year."
"He has a lot of qualities of being a total package," Moyer added.
Andrew Torgashev
Torgashev won the Philadelphia Summer International Competition with a score of 206.41, beating a quality group of athletes. He also won one of his two Junior Grand Prix events this season.
"What's really striking when you watch him skate is how much he gives to the performance," Dillon said. "He just committed to it regardless if the program has errors in it. He's always committed to the choreography, interpretation and composition.
"He has exceptional footwork. If you are looking at his step sequences, he's getting Level 4s at these Junior Grand Prixs, with +4s and even had a +5. He's got good spins and he's capable of getting that quad out there, which he stood up on in competition this season."
Torgashev qualified for the Junior Grand Prix Final last year but finished a disappointing sixth.
"I think he would like redemption because the Final didn't go the way he wanted it to," Dillon said. "I think he wants to prove that he belongs. He's someone who could get big scores at nationals."
Sarah Feng and TJ Nyman
Feng and Nyman, the 2018 U.S. junior silver medalists, started their skating careers as established singles skaters.
"They have shown strong side-by-side elements from the beginning. In addition, they are coming along in their pairs elements. Attention to detail in developing their artistic quality will take this team to another level," Moyer said.
This story was first published in the November issue of SKATING magazine. Read the latest issue for the more news from U.S. Figure Skating.
