by Anne Calder | Photo by Daphne Backman

The 2025 National Figure Skating Championships were held from January 20-26 at the INTRUST Bank Arena in Wichita, Kansas. Fifteen senior teams competed. Nine earned byes; six qualified at the Ice Dance Final.

RHYTHM DANCE

The Friday Championship competitions opened with the Rhythm Dance. The teams skated to “Social Dances and Styles of the 1950’s, 1960’s and 1970’s.”

The skating order for the Rhythm Dance was determined by World ranking. There was no draw.

The leaderboard at the end of the session showed Madison Chock & Evan Bates with a nine point lead over Christina Carreira & Anthony Ponomarenko, Emilea Zingas & Vadim Kolesnik and Caroline Green & Michael Parsons. Teams two – four were separated by only .70. Teams three and four were in a virtual tie.*

Madison Chock & Evan Bates scored 92.16 for their dance to a potpourri of classics from the fifties, sixties and seventies. The twizzles, pattern step sequence and lift earned level 4; the midline step sequences were level 3. Their music and dance selections (swing, twist, nitty gritty, disco) reflected the evolution of dance through the chosen decades.

Christina Carreira & Anthony Ponomarenko danced to “Rip It Up” and “Long Tall Sally” by Little Richard and “I Just Want to Make Love to You” by Etta James. The program scored 82.86. The twizzles and lift earned level 4; the midline step sequences were level 3. The team trains in London, Ontario Canada with Scott Moir, Madison Hubbell and Adrian Diaz.

Emilea Zingas & Vadim Kolesnik danced a Bee Gees medley, “Jive Talkin’ and “Stayin’ Alive, for an 82.13 score. The pattern step sequence, lift and Zingas’ twizzle earned level 4; the midline step sequences and Kolesnik’s twizzle were level 3. The team trains in Novi, MI with Igor Shpilband’s team.

Caroline Green & Michael Parsons scored 82.13 for their dance to “These Boots Are Made for Walking”, (SILO x Martin Wave Remix) by the Supremes and Martin Wave and “Soul Bossa Love” by Quincy Jones. The twizzles and lift earned level 4; the midline and pattern step sequences were level 3. The team trains in Canton, MI with MIDA.

Zingas & Kolesnik and Green & Parsons received the same Rhythm Dance segment score (82.13), but Zingas & Kolesnik had a higher element score (47.84) than Green & Parsons (47.65) so they finished third – ahead of Green & Parsons.*

FREE DANCE

On Saturday morning, the skating order for the Men and Ice Dance was staggered. Men (SP) Groups 1 and 2, Free Dance Groups 1 and 2, Men (SP) Group 3, Free Dance Group 3.

The Free Dance skating order was determined by the reverse finish of the Rhythm Dance competition.

Free Dance Group 3 included: Chock & Bates, Carreira & Ponomarenko, Zingas & Kolesnik, Green & Parsons and Brown & Brown.

At the press conference, the medalists spoke about what it meant to stand on the podium.

Evan Bates: “It means the world. The U.S. Championships is an event we hold near and dear to our hearts. I think it’s because it’s the competition we grew up coming to every January and watching as kids. It’s why we grew up loving the sport. There’s something magical about this event. We hold it in very high regard.” 

Christina Carreira: “This is such a special event, and it’s always fun to perform at home. This dance field is so strong, and we are proud to be on the podium and to be part of the competition.” 

Michael Parsons: “This national championships is the culmination of a huge amount of work that Caroline and I and our entire team have put in. It was a really hard year last year and this year has been difficult as well. This is confirmation that the work we put in, and the dedication we have to ourselves and to each other, is paying off.” 

Pewter medalist, Emilea Zingas also shared her thoughts on their skate: “I think we did the best we could. It was a challenging season overall, and we’ve been dealing with some things on and off the ice, and I’m really proud of how we handled ourselves. I think we’ve shown a lot of growth, a lot of maturity from last year to this year, and I’m especially proud of Vadym. He’s a very strong person, and I’m really happy to skate with him.”  

Chock & Bates chose the most quintessential jazz songs of all time, ”Take Five” by Dave Brubeck and added Juju’s cover of the same piece for their musical selection. The program scored 131.36 and an overall 223.52. The gold medalists won their first U.S. title 10 years ago (2015) in Greensboro, NC. Their scores: SD (73.95) FD (111.11) Total (185.06).

Carreira & Ponomarenko set a new personal best score for their free dance to music from Carmen Suite by Schedrin (127.93) and overall score (210.79). They are now four-time U.S. medalists (two silver, one bronze, one pewter).   

Green & Parsons won their fifth career U.S. medal (one silver, one bronze, three pewter) dancing to ”Spiegel im Spiegel” by Arvo Pärt performed by Angele Dubeau and La Pietà + “Dance Me to the End of Love” by Douglas Dare. The dance scored 123.24 and a total 205.37.

Zingas & Kolesnik danced to “Epilogue” by Olafur Arnalds and “Lost It to Trying” by Son Lux choreographed by Benoit Richaud. The program set new free dance personal best (122.04) and overall scores (204.17) that eclipsed the 200-point mark for the first time. Zingas and Kolesnik won their second U.S. Championships medal (pewter in 2023).   

ICE CHIPS:

Madison Chock and Evan Bates tied Meryl Davis and Charlie White for the most U.S. ice dance titles with six (2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2020, 2015). 

Bates commented on the suggestion that he and Chock could become the winningest U.S. Ice Dance team: “It’s hard to compare. Meryl and Charlie won the Olympics when they were 25 years old and sailed off into the sunset. They really knocked the doors down and set the path for us as the next generation to show us what’s possible. We were able to train alongside them. I was able to live with Charlie for a couple of years in college. They were the ones who showed us what it takes to become the best team in the world – how hard they trained on the ice and how dedicated they were off the ice – how graceful they were whether they won or lost – every time they were so classy.”

“It’s hard not to understand the gravity of ‘Yes we won our sixth one today,’ and it’s incredible to tie their record and to  know the legacy of U.S. ice dance. What this group of skaters has accomplished over the last 25 years is crazy. Looking  at the field now, ice dance is in great hands. I think when we decide to evolve away from competitive skating, these teams are going to take the helm and continue on. “So for us, it’s about being part of the legacy of teams. When we leave, if we have the most titles, it’s icing on the cake.”

Senior ISU Championships Assignments

The teams were selected following the 2025 Prevagen U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas.

2025 World Championships

Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko
Madison Chock and Evan Bates
Caroline Green and Michael Parsons

Alternate 1: Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik
Alternate 2: Emily Bratti and Ian Somerville 
Alternate 3: Oona Brown and Gage Brown

2025 Four Continents Championships

Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko
Madison Chock and Evan Bates
Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik

Alternate 1: Caroline Green and Michael Parsons
Alternate 2: Emily Bratti and Ian Somerville 
Alternate 3: Oona Brown and Gage Brown