by Anne Calder

The 2025 Lake Placid Ice Dance Championships, in conjunction with the USFS National Qualifying Series (NQS) plus the Lake Placid International (LPIDI) were competed at the Lake Placid Olympic Center from July 27-31. Seventy couples from fifteen countries completed.

The NQS, or National Qualifying Series, is the first stage of the U.S. Figure Skating qualifying structure for singles, pairs and ice dance competitions. The Series is held mid-July to early October for skaters to earn points to advance to the NQS Finals, and ultimately, the US Figure Skating Championships  (junior and senior) or the National High Performance Development Team  (juvenile-novice). 

The 2025-2026 NQS ice dance qualifying competitions include: Dallas Classic, Lake Placid Ice Dance Championships, Skate Detroit, and Challenge Cup. The total points earned will determine a team’s eligibility for participation at the Ice Dance Final in Henderson, Nevada, November 3-9.

The Juvenile and Intermediate teams competed in the 1932 Arena, named for speed skater, Jack Shea, the first American to win multiple gold medals at a single Olympic Winter Game.

The Novice, Junior and Senior teams competed on the Herb Brooks Arena ice. In 2005, at the 25th anniversary celebration of the of “Miracle on Ice”, the arena was named after the late American 1980 Olympic team coach.

For the Rhythm Dance the 2025-2026 theme is “The Music, Dance Styles and Feeling of the 1990s”. This theme allows for a wide range of musical styles and dance interpretations as long as they reflect the essence of the 1990s and are high-energy and crowd-pleasing. The Juvenile, Intermediate and Novice (JINs) dance teams skated two patterns followed by a Free Dance.

SENIOR
Six senior teams competed at the 2025 Lake Placid Championships Dance division.

Rhythm Dance

Amy Cui, Skating Club of Boston & Jonathan Rogers, Texas Gulf Coast FSC (67.60)
“C+C Music Factory TV Melody” by C+C Music Factory; “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now) [Feat. Freedom Williams] by C+C Music Factory
Isabella Flores, Thunderbirds FSC & Linus Colmor Jepsen, French Ice Sports Federation (60.06)
“Intergalactic” by Beastie Boys; “Firestarter” by The Prodigy
Grace Yi & Danila Savelev, SC of New York (55.89)
“Bombastic” by Shaggy; “You Don’t Love Me” (No No No) by Dawn Penn
Addison Pehl, Skate Canada & Daniel Yu (Skate Canada) (48.50)
Michael Jackson Medley: “They Don’t Care About Us”, “This Time Around (DM Radio Mix), “Jam”
Klara Kowar, Aspen SC & Thomas Schwappach, Denver Colorado FSC (42.48)
“Jock Jams”, “Strike it Up” by Black Box
Marin Hessel, Pavilion SC of Cleveland Heights, Daniel Klaber, Pavilion SC of Cleveland Heights (28.09)

Free Dance
The Senior Combined teams with the four highest total scores were awarded medals at the on-ice ceremony in the 1980 Olympic Arena.

Amy Cui, Skating Club of Boston & Jonathan Rogers, Texas Gulf Coast FSC (T-170.32) (gold)
Nureyev by Lisa Batiashvili & Dudana Mazmanishvili
Isabella Flores, Thunderbirds FSC & Linus Colmor Jepsen, French Ice Sports (T-143.55) (silver)
“Mi Refugio” by Eufonia; “Movies” by Weyes Blood
Grace Yi, SC of New York & Danila Savelev, SC of New York (T-139.31) (bronze)
“Triangle tango” by Cirque du Soleil; “A Evaristo Carriego” by Forever Tango
Addison Pehl, Skate Canada & Daniel Yu, Skate Canada (T-119.09) (pewter)

JUNIOR
Eleven junior teams competed at the 2025 Lake Placid Championships Dance division. The roster included three new teams, seven teams from novice and one team who competed in Juniors last season.

Rhythm Dance

Jasmine Robinson, (Scott Hamilton SC / Chase Rohner, All Year FSC (58.24)
“Groove is in the Heart” (Meeting the Minds Mix) by Deee-Lite; “100% Pure Love” by Crystal Waters
Anaelle Kouevi, Shenandoah FSC / Yann Homawoo, Shenandoah FSC (55.83)
“Jump” by Kris Kross
Aneta Vaclavikova, SC of New York / William Lissauer, All Year FSC (51.74)
“If You Could Read My Mind“ by Ultra Nate, Amber & Jocelyn Enriques; “Free (Do What You Want to Do)” by Pete Tong, Ultra Nate, LP Giobbi and Jules Buckley
Grace Fischer, Broadmoor SC / Luke Fischer, Broadmoor SC (50.80)
“Cantaloop” (Flip Fantasia) by Us3
Sophia Feig, Panthers FSC / Wiles Middlekauff, Arctic FSC (50.05)
“Cosmic Girl” and “Cosmic Heat” by Jamiroquai
Clara Fugate, Arctic FSC / Warren Fugate, Arctic FSC (49.86)
“Cotton Eye Joe” by Rednex; “Cotton Eye Joe” (Bump Remix) by DJ Pini Beat
Marian Carhart, SC of New York / Denis Bledsoe, Florida Everblades FSC (45.79)
“My Oh My” and “Barbie Girl” by Aqua
Nicole Kirsanov, University of Delaware / Kejin Peng, All Year FSC (42.24)
“Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It” by Will Smith; “Man! I Feel Like a Woman” by Shania Twain; “Macarena” by Los del Rio.
Annie Huang, SC of Boston / Simon Mintz, Colonial FSC (41.48)
“Little Bird” and “Walking on Broken Glass” by Annie Lennox.
Mia Aisin, Connecticut Skating Academy / Steven Moore, Connecticut Skating Academy (37.29)
“Everybody (Backstreet’s Back”, “Larger than Life” and “We’ve Got It Goin’ On” by Backstreet Boys
Lillian Wheelahan, Washington FSC / Wolfe Jin, Washington FSC (29.64)
“Spice Up Your Life” by Spice Girls; “Who Do You Think You Are” by Spice Girls

Free Dance
The Junior teams with the four highest total scores were awarded medals at the on-ice ceremony in the 1980 Olympic Arena.

Jasmine Robinson, Scott Hamilton SC / Chase Rohner, All Year FSC. 141.30 (gold)
Anaelle Kouevi, Shenandoah FSC / Yann Homawoo, Shenandoah FSC 134.00 (silver)
Aneta Vaclavikova, SC of New York / William Lissauer, All Year FSC. 128.86 (bronze)
Grace Fischer, Broadmoor SC / Luke Fischer, Broadmoor SC 128.30 (pewter)

NOVICE

Patterns: Starlight Waltz / Quickstep

Medals were awarded to the teams with the four highest total scores:

Karen Li & James Zhu moved into first place with their free dance to the music from the Dr. Who Television Series. The program scored all positive GOE’s with Level 3 twizzles, Level 4 lifts and dance spin. It scored 67.21 points. The115.56 total earned the Ice Works SC team the gold medal.
Rylen Lukanin & Patrick O’Brien free danced to music from Wicked: The Soundtrack that scored 65.93 points. The NJ based team earned Level 4 twizzles, lifts, and dance spin.The pattern dances top scorers earned a total 114.35 for the silver medal.
Sophia Kartashov & Nicholas Kartashov earned 61.53 points for their performance to the Rogers and Hammerstein’s musical, Oklahoma. The Florida Everblades FSC team received a total 103.87 bronze medal score.
Natalie Leitan & Nathan Leitan scored 58.20 for their dance to “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” by Taron Egerton & Jamie Bell. The total 99.45 earned the Rockville, MD based team the pewter medal.
Campbell Urban & Daniel Dehart in their Lake Placid debut, earned 52.00 free dance points for their selection by Berlin from (Love Theme – Top Gun). The team earned a total 92.92 points.
Isabella Chang & Ken Chen danced their free dance to selections from Eiffel 65 and earned 55.84 points. The Connecticut based team scored a total 89.58 points.
Anna Waugh & Matthew Jacoby earned 48.40 points for their free dance to music by Dave Floyd and Ray Charles.(with the Blues Brothers). The Philadelphia based team made their new team Lake Placid debut with an 84.87 total points score. Matthew Jacoby and Grace Wang are the 2024 Intermediate bronze medalists.
Maggie Blackstone & Tait Light scored 53.50 points for their free dance to music by M83 and Junkie XL (feat. Ellie Goulding). The Nashville based team scored a total 83.98 points.
Zoe Stone & Jerry Stone scored 47.52 for the free dance and a total 76.52. The team trains at the University of Delaware with Colin McManus. The Stones are the 2024 Intermediate pewter medalists.
Megan Ashcroft & Adam Ashcroft scored 44.45 for the free dance and a total 67.77. The Ashcroft siblings represent the Los Angeles FSC.
Vanessa Hollis & Evan Hollis scored 38.56 for the free dance and a total 62.00. The team trains at the Skokie Valley SC.

INTERMEDIATE

Patterns: European Waltz / Rocker Foxtrot

Emily Zhou, University of DE & Kenneth Running, Washington FSC.           (Total 77.24)  
Ava Reinkensmeyer, New Edge FSC & Aiden Shen, Onyx-SSA.                  (Total 75.05)   
Lucy Brooks, Rye FSC & Jeffrey Li, Rye FSC                                               (Total 74.84)    
Suri Lue, Philadelphia SC & HS & Justin Lue, Philadelphia SC & HS           (Total 59.40) 
Hilda Qin, All Year FSC & George Qin, All Year FSC                                     (Total 54.60)

JUVENILE

Patterns: Fourteenth Step / U.S. Willow Waltz

Sophia Zhou, University of DE FSC & Skyler Kay, University of DE FSC    (Total 81.99)  
Ariel Running, Washington FSC & Gunnar Gates, Patriot FSC                    (Total 59.27)