by Anne Calder | Photos by Daphne Backman

The 2026 U.S. Figure Skating Championships were held in greater St. Louis, MO January 4-11. The main event, which included the selection of the 2026 Olympic Team was held at the downtown Enterprise Center.

Earlier in the week, twelve Junior teams competed at the Centene Community Ice Center in the Maryland Heights suburb. Hana Marie Aboian & Daniil Veselukin and Jasmine Robertson & Chase Rohner earned byes by qualifying for the Junior Grand Prix Final in Nagoya, Japan. Ten teams qualified at the Ice Dance Final.

RHYTHM DANCE

The 2025-2026 ISU Junior / Senior Rhythm Dance theme is “The Music, Dance Styles, and Feeling of the 1990s,” requiring high-energy music from that decade (Pop, Hip-Hop, Grunge, etc.) with crowd-pleasing energy, not classical styles. Skaters must embody the 90s vibe through movement and holds, with no aggressive lyrics allowed.

After the Rhythm Dance, the leaderboard showed: (1) Hana Marie Aboian & Daniil Veselukhin, (2) Jasmine Robertson & Chase Rohner, (3) Anaelle Kouevi & Yann Homawooo, (4) Jane Calhoun & Mark Zheltyshev, and (5) Aneta Vaclavikova & William Lissauer.

Aboian & Veselukhin had an eight point lead with a 71.68 score for their dance to “Vogue” by Madonna. The team trains in Newington, CT with Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov.

Jasmine Robertson and Chase Rohner scored 63.56 with their music to “Groove Is in the Heart” by Deer-Lite and “100% Pure Love” by Crystal Waters. The duo trains with Igor Shpilband’s team in Novi, MI.

Anaelle Kouevi & Yann Homawoo used the music of “Jump” by Kriss Kross and “Motownphilly” by Boyz II Men to score 58.81. The cousins train in Leesburg, VA with Alexei Kiliakov, Elena Novak, Pierre Souquet-Basiege.

Jane Calhoun & Mark Zheltyshev earned a 58.61 for their dance to “Ice Ice Baby” by Vanilla Ice, “Black Coffee” by Heavy D & the Boyz, and “U Can’t Touch This” by MC Hammer. Elena Dostatni and Logan Giulietti-Schmitt coach the team in Colorado Springs, CO.

Aneta Vaclavikova & William Lissauer scored 56.17 dancing to “If You Could Read My Mind” by Ultra Nate, Amber & Jocelyn Enriquez and “Free” by Ultra Nate. The team is coached by Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov in Newington, CT.

FREE DANCE

Meet the 2026 Junior Ice Dance Podium: Hana Marie Aboian & Daniil Veselukhin (gold), Jasmine Robertson & Chase Rohner (silver), Jane Calhoun & Mark Zheltyshev (bronze), and Aneta Vaclavikova & William Lissauer (pewter)

Aboian & Veselukhin’s mesmerizing interpretation of “Hymnus Orbis,” “Salvation For a Proud Nation” and “Surrender to Hope” by Trailerhead scored 102.79. The dancers found each other on Partner Search in December 2023. Now they are two-time U.S National Champions.

“The free dance was wonderful – exactly what we were hoping for,” Aboian said after their skate. “We delivered everything we wanted here, and we left everything on the ice.”

Veselukhin continued, “It was really great. I can’t process it fully now. I’m really tired. All the hard work for the season is showing the results. We’re really grateful for everything we’ve got. Just really thankful.”

Aboian spoke about being back to back champions. “The fact that we qualified for nationals last year was insane for me, Winning the title was like years and years of effort finally paid off. Coming back and doing it again is a surreal feeling that makes me so proud.”

“Before last season started, we couldn’t imagine that we were going to win our first title together in our first season,” Veselukhin added. “Now it’s our second season together, and we’ve already gone everywhere, and it feels really surreal, really memorable. I couldn’t imagine myself when I was younger, just a kid, that I was going to do this.”

The newly crowned 2025 Junior Grand Prix Final gold medalists scored a total 174.47 points.

Robertson & Rohner danced to “Le Temps des Cathédrales” and “La Fête des Fous” from the musical “Notre Dame de Paris” by Richard Cocciante and Luc Plamondon. The team scored 94.60 for the program and a total 158.16 points.

“The program felt really good – like we were portraying the story that we’re trying to tell of Esmeralda and Quasimodo,”  Robertson explained.

The team reflected on the Championships as a whole. “It was super awesome. It went by really fast, which is unfortunate. I wish I could savor it a bit more, but I enjoyed performing both programs. I’m really proud of what we put out there,” Robertson said.

“It’s been amazing. it’s been very fun,” Rohner added.

Calhoun & Zheltyshev chose music from the Hunger Games series for their Free Dance presentation and scored 88.14 and totaled 146.75.

The partnership came about because the dancers mother knew each other back in Russia. After tryouts with different skaters, Calhoun and Zheltyshev gave it a try. It was a success. .

Zheltyshev ended the program with a strong fist pump. “This is my first national championship in all my life,” he laughed. “I’m very happy! The free dance was very emotional … after the twizzles.”

“It was much easier than our first competition [Lake Placid International] * which was only seven weeks after our tryout,” Calhoun added.

*Calhoun & Zheltyshev placed fifth out of 14 teams, with a third place rhythm dance at the Lake Placid Ice Dance International.

Vaclavikova & Lissauer danced to “Moonlight Sonata” performed by Sandra Kissy and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, with the original composer being L. V. Beethoven. The team moved from fifth to fourth place with an 83.74 score and 139.91 total that delivered a pewter medal.

“I thought the skate was really nice,” Lissauer said. “We ended it off on a high note, which is all we were hoping to do. We put everything out there that we could. I think we’re both happy with how the performance went.”

“It was clean. I’m happy to end the season on a clean program,” Vaclavikova added.

Kouevi & Homawoo danced to The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi and earned a sixth place 80.82 score. After a disappointing rotational lift, the cousins unfortunately slipped from third to fifth place.

“Some things could have been better, but for the most part, we really improved” Kouevi said. “That was our goal to kind of have an important feel-good feeling with ourselves.”

“There was only one mistake that happened, and it kind of cost a lot,” Homawoo added. “Overall the skate was not that bad. The score was actually better than the 2026 Ice Dance Final that had no mistakes. Mentally and physically, I think, is where our training got us to the point where I was able to peek at this competition, so it definitely felt really good, one of the best competitions this season.”

JUNIOR ICE CHIPS

The second, third and fourth place podium teams have been partners for less than a year: Robertson & Rohner (January 2025), Vaclavikova & Lissauer. (March 2025) Calhoun & Zheltyshev (June 2025). All three teams made their U.S. Championships debut.
After the dancers partnered, Daniil Veselukhin and Coach Denis Petukhov discovered they were from the same Russian city. Now the relatives often watch competitions together at their countryside home.
Hana Marie Aboian & Daniil Veselukhin are the ninth U.S. Ice Dance team to win the ISU JGPF.
The Fugate farm in Michigan raises many kinds of animals. As a hobby outside of skating, Warren runs a small business, WCF Poultry, that sells chicks and hatching eggs of the turkeys, ducks, geese, pheasants, peacocks, etc. “I had a turkey that I sold this year that was being shown on the national circuit, and he won APA National Champion. That was pretty cool to see.”

WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS TEAM SELECTION
The ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2026 will take place at the Tondiraba Ice Hall in Tallinn, Estonia, from March 3-8. The team includes the following:

Hana Maria Aboian and Daniil Veselukhin
Jane Calhoun and Mark Zheltyshev
Jasmine Robertson and Chase Rohner

Alternate 1: Michelle Deych and Ryan Hu
Alternate 2: Annelise Stapert and Maxim Korotcov
Alternate 3: Grace Fischer and Luke Fischer