Reigning US champions Madison Chock/Evan Bates are back again this season after a successful Olympic season, and the road to their fourth US title looks very clear. Without their primary challengers, Kaitlin Hawayek/Jean-Luc Baker, here after withdrawing for mental health reasons, the podium gets another spot for teams to vie for.
2023 US Nationals dance predictions
Official hashtag: #ToyotaUSChamps
GOLD Madison Chock/Evan Bates - It was a slow start to their season, but Chock/Bates have found their groove a bit more over the past few months, coming in after a silver at Grand Prix Final in what was the best that they’ve looked so far. Their first Nationals together was 11 years ago in San Jose, and they were third here five years ago when Nationals was in San Jose again. It’s time for a win, but more importantly, their sharpness this week will say a lot about how they will enter Worlds in March.
SILVER Caroline Green/Michael Parsons - Just missing out on the top three last year, Green/Parsons have been waiting for the rematch against Hawayek/Baker, but that will have to wait. They are very much the next in line, not only for silver this week, but also for the future of US ice dance. The beginning of their season, with their adjustment to the new coaching team, was a bit dicey, but they’ve really ramped up over the past few months.
BRONZE Christina Carreira/Anthony Ponomarenko - Seventh last season was really not anywhere near what they were hoping for during the Olympic year, but they have persevered and are back much stronger this season. They were fourth at both of their Grand Prix events, and won Golden Spin coming into Nationals.
4. Emilea Zingas/Vadym Kolesnik - Who knew Emilea Zingas was born to ice dance? After a couple years internationally skating singles for Cyprus, Zingas made the switch to dance and has not looked back. It helps that her partner is a former World junior champion. Zingas/Kolesnik made their international debut in December, taking third at Golden Spin and making their presence very well known.
5. Emily Bratti/Ian Somerville - The surprise of last season, Bratti/Somerville took fifth at Nationals and then fifth at a very competitive Four Continents. In their second season together, they won Ice Challenge and took sixth at Skate Canada. They have an opportunity to move up a spot from last season, but they will have to be stronger than they have been so far this season.
6. Eva Pate/Logan Bye - Fifth at Grand Prix France, Pate/Bye had a busy fall season. They were eighth last year at Nationals and want to move up here in San Jose.
7. Katarina Wolfkostin/Jeffrey Chen - After taking fourth a Junior Worlds last season, the 2021 junior champs make their second trip to senior Nationals. It hasn’t been smooth sailing for them so far in their freshman senior season, but they’ve had some promising results, including a bronze at Budapest Trophy.
8. Lorraine McNamara/Anton Spiridonov - Ninth at Nationals last year, McNamara/Spiridonov have had the strongest results of their partnership so far this season, taking bronze at US Classic earlier in the season.
9. Isabelle Flores/Ivan Desyatov - After a confusing last season for Flores, when she reported her former partner missing just weeks before US Nationals (the full story behind that is still not publicly known), she returns with Desyatov and have lit up the domestic competitions already. They are still untested with this caliber of a field, but look for them to be dark horses.
10. Oona Brown/Gage Brown - The reigning World junior champs are at senior Nationals for the firs time in their career. They were in the top eight at both of their Grand Prix events in the fall.