Skaters Use ISP Points Challenge as Opportunity to Prepare for the Season

Mariah Bell was having new tires put on her car when she learned she won a figure skating competition. Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue had forgotten for a couple days that they were awaiting scores. Pairs skaters Jessica Calalang and Brian Johnson were feverishly refreshing a web page for their placement. And, for the first time, Nathan Chen saw fan reactions about his programs on social media before speaking to judges.
 
It was unconventional, but in a year like 2020, it is only fitting that this was the new reality for the senior winners of U.S. Figure Skating's International Selection Pool (ISP) Points Challenge.
 
"Our perspective going into it was appreciation for the federation for creating it, because we know how hard it is to be out of the nervous, competitive energy for so long," Hubbell, a two-time U.S. ice dance champion and two-time World medalist, said. "I think it was a big step for it to be the first competition that has navigated how to make a virtual event work, and certainly after the event there was some relief that we had taken that first step of the season."
 
The ISP Points Challenge was a virtual opportunity for both junior- and senior-level ISP athletes in the four disciplines to compete head to head. It was a welcome idea for the 100-plus skaters, who will have a very different season than they are used to after U.S. Figure Skating Champs Camp, the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series and the ISU Challenger Series were all canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Senior skaters will have the opportunity to compete at only one ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series assignment as opposed to the typical two for top qualifiers.
 
"It was definitely exciting," Bell said. "These were great opportunities for us, and we were so fortunate to have them. In a normal year, we would have had Champs Camp, where it would be behind closed doors and no one would see; it would be your opportunity to get your program out. This year we were given these opportunities, which is awesome. I felt like it's a Champs Camp that was shared."
 
Athletes skated their short program/rhythm dance and free skate/dance on consecutive days at their home rinks with an impartial person of authority proctoring each performance, then submitted the videos to a panel of judges. In addition to pride and the chance to compete on the line, results determined some senior byes to the 2021 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships and played a role in some of the spots for Skate America®. Prize money was also awarded, with senior singles ranging from $15,000 for each winner to $2,000 for fifth place, and $20,000 to the top pairs/ice dance teams through $3,000 for fifth. Junior winners earned $3,000, while second and third claimed $2,000 and $1,000, respectively.
 
"We don't have as many opportunities to compete this year, whether it be nationally or internationally, so it was really nice to get everyone together, have that event, have something to look forward to, and then the prize money is a really nice bonus," Johnson said. "We really thank U.S. Figure Skating for doing that."
 
The junior winners included 2020 U.S. junior silver medalist Isabeau Levito (161.91), Daniel Martynov (169.28), 2020 U.S. pairs silver medalists Anastasiia Smirnova and Danil Siianytsia (154.47), and 2020 Youth Olympic bronze medalist ice dancers Katarina Wolfkostin and Jeffrey Chen (159.85).
 
In a talented ladies field that included the top eight skaters from the 2020 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Bell earned her first victory at a domestic competition. Her score of 202.78 topped 2018 U.S. champion Bradie Tennell (196.99), Amber Glenn (191.20) and two-time reigning U.S. champion Alysa Liu (183.64).
 
"It feels, honestly, very different," Bell said. "The buildup to it was very different. Usually with a competition you plan out what the week leading up to it looks like – this day I'll be flying, I'll have this one practice day. It was definitely a different experience."
 
Nathan Chen, the two-time reigning World champion who trains at the same rink as Bell in Irvine, California, noted that it felt more like an exhibition or Champs Camp, but was still a great experience.
 
He topped the men's field with a 315.32 total, followed by five-time U.S. medalist Jason Brown (268.31), 2020 U.S. bronze medalist Tomoki Hiwatashi (244.76) and Alex Krasnozhon (219.46).
 
"Given that it's so early in the season and given that we won't have many competition opportunities, this is a great idea from U.S. Figure Skating, and they implemented it quite well," Chen said. "I don't think anyone had any issues with how it was set up or the proctors or recording or anything, so it was a pretty trustworthy event."
 
All skaters had two opportunities to skate both of their programs, and their top-scoring total from either the first or second opportunity counted as their final overall score. While some chose to only compete once, Chen felt it was a no-brainer to enter both times. His first opportunity ended up being his winning score.
 
Skating his short program to "Asturia" by Frida Lopez and "Cancion del Mariachi" by Los Lobos, and his free skate to a medley by Philip Glass, the 2018 Olympian is used to announcing his program music before his first competition, but without a Champs Camp this year to solicit feedback from U.S. Figure Skating and judges, he chose not to say anything until judges saw it through the Points Challenge, which meant fans found out at the same time.
 
"I saw comments before I even talked to the judges, which was weird," he said. "But I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. At the end of the day I want to be aware of what people are saying, what fans are saying, but the decision still remains within my coaching team. … Overall there's positives and negatives. I think the negative comments that I have received are actually quite helpful because they're much more quantifiable and I can actually apply them to my skating."
 
Like Chen, Calalang and Johnson also competed both opportunities because it was "good physical practice and good mental practice," according to Calalang.
 
"We could feel our patterns were better, the way that we moved together was a little more flowy than our first opportunity, so for the second one our skating skills got better," she said.
 
It showed in the scores as well, as their total went from 207.27 to 215.66. Behind them were training mates Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier –who teamed up in the offseason after decorated careers with past partners – scoring 200.75, 2019 U.S. champions Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy LeDuc earning 189.98, and 2016 U.S. champions Tarah Kayne and Danny O'Shea with183.52.
 
Hubbell and Donohue won the senior ice dance competition with a 206.51 total points, followed by two-time U.S. bronze medalists Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker (195.70), 2020 U.S. pewter medalists Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko (190.16), and Caroline Green and Michael Parsons (179.41).
 
Hubbell noted the Points Challenge served as a test run before Skate America®, which will be held Oct. 23-24 in Las Vegas.
 
"The feedback will be invaluable going forward, and just to kind of remind ourselves that we know how to do it," she said. "It took us by surprise actually how nervous we were, even though we were just doing another run-through in our own skating rink. But it was the first time in almost eight months that we had something that would count for a score, so it's been a long time."
 
It also marked the unveiling of their free dance to "Hallelujah" after intentionally keeping the creative process private. Hubbell and Donohue skated to the k.d. lang version of the Leonard Cohen song for their 2015-16 short dance and both felt this is the only song they would ever want to repeat. Eager to perform to the Jeff Buckley version this time, with lang's incorporated, their free dance was choreographed by two-time Olympic ice dance champion Scott Moir and coach Marie-France Dubreuil, and is almost entirely different from their first "Hallelujah" program.
 
"The song in a weird way is kind of like a home for Zach and I," Hubbell said. "It's been with us throughout the whole partnership and so to come to this familiar place that just feels good to skate, it has been really nice because definitely the days have been a little bit crazy. …
 
"We don't know what the rest of the season will look like, but skating to something like 'Hallelujah' every day gives us our own little world to be in and it's really comforting."
 
The Road to San Jose
 
For many senior skaters, the ISP Points Challenge was an opportunity to secure their spot at the 2021 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships, which are scheduled to take place in San Jose, California, from Jan. 11-17.
 
The top five skaters or teams from each discipline at the 2020 U.S. Championships already have their tickets punched to next year's event.
 
The four best skaters/teams from the Points Challenge who were not yet qualified earned byes to San Jose, including:
 
Ladies: Audrey Shin (6th, 179.78), Starr Andrews (7th, 162.81), Pooja Kalyan (8th, 157.06), Lindsay Thorngren (9th, 155.40)
 
Men: Alex Krasnozhon (4th, 219.46), Camden Pulkinen (5th, 212.19), Jimmy Ma (6th, 210.17), Joseph Kang (7th, 203.10)
 
Pairs: Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier (2nd, 200.75), Audrey Lu and Misha Mitrofanov (5th, 176.10), Olivia Serafini and Mervin Tran (6th, 167.75), Katie McBeath and Nathan Bartholomay (7th, 155.36)
 
Ice Dance: Molly Cesanek and Yehor Yehorov (5th, 167.16), Lorraine McNamara and Anton Spiridonov (6th, 151.49), Eva Pate and Logan Bye (7th, 148.33)
 
Check out competition central to watch the ISP Points Challenge!