Eighteen U.S. figure skaters heading to Kent for Skate America

Eighteen U.S. athletes will compete at 2012 Hilton HHonors Skate America, the first event of the 2012 International Skating Union (ISU) Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series, Oct. 19-21, at the ShoWare Center in Kent.

NBC will air live coverage of Skate America from 1-3 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 21. Mike “Doc” Emrick will call the action alongside Scott Hamilton, Sandra Bezic, Tracy Wilson and Andrea Joyce. Fifty-two skaters from around the world are scheduled to compete.

In conjunction with NBC’s coverage, icenetwork.com will stream live backstage coverage hosted by 2006 Olympic ice dancing silver medalist Tanith Belbin. The backstage stream will be available free to all icenetwork.com registered users. Universal Sports will re-air NBC’s coverage on Sunday from 5-7 p.m.

Icenetwork.com will offer free live streaming coverage of Saturday’s competition for all registered users. Icenetwork.com Season Pass subscribers will have access to live and on-demand video all three days of Skate America. Icenetwork.com’s broadcast team includes Mike Mancuso, Tonia Kwiatkowski and Belbin. Icenetwork.com will also provide news, features, blogs and photo galleries to all users. To become a registered user, please visit icenetwork.com.

All-event and single-session tickets are still available by visiting www.2012skateamerica.com or the ShoWare Center box office.

All four reigning U.S champions are set to compete in Kent, including Meryl Davis and Charlie White, the 2010 Olympic ice dancing silver medalists who look for their third straight Skate America title.

The international field boasts Olympic and World medalists. Russia’s Alena Leonova is the 2012 World silver medalist, while Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan is the 2012 World bronze medalist. Qing Pang and Jian Tong are three-time Olympians, having won the 2010 Olympic silver medal in pairs. Also competing in the pairs event are Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov, who have medaled in each of their 11 competitions together.

Team USA lineup

Ladies

Ashley Wagner begins the season as the reigning U.S. and Four Continents champion. She will make her Skate America debut. Last fall, prior to winning her first U.S. title, Wagner placed third and fourth, respectively at Skate Canada and NHK Trophy. Rachael Flatt, the 2010 U.S. champion, makes her fourth Skate America appearance. She won silver medals in 2009 and ’10. Christina Gao starts her second senior international season in Kent.

Men

Like Wagner, Jeremy Abbott will compete at Skate America for the first time. Abbott is a three-time U.S. champion who owns the 2012 title. He is also a 2010 Olympian and a seven-time Grand Prix Series medalist. Armin Mahbanoozadeh won his first career Grand Prix medal, bronze, at 2010 Skate America. He began the season with a silver-medal finish at the 2012 U.S. International Figure Skating Classic last month. Douglas Razzano made his Grand Prix Series debut at 2011 Hilton HHonors Skate America. Razzano most recently finished fifth at the 2012 U.S. Championships.

Pairs

Caydee Denney and John Coughlin began their season by winning the silver medal at 2012 Nebelhorn Trophy last month. Denney and Coughlin made their Grand Prix debut together at this event last fall, placing fourth. They went on to win the 2012 U.S. title and 2012 Four Continents silver medal. Gretchen Donlan and Andrew Speroff, who placed fourth at the 2012 U.S. Championships, make their Grand Prix Series debut, while Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir will compete at Skate America for a second time. They finished sixth in 2010.

Ice dancing

Davis and White are four-time reigning U.S. champions. They have won nine straight Grand Prix events including the last three Grand Prix Finals. Lynn Kriengkrairut and Logan Giulietti-Schmitt earned the bronze medal earlier this season at the 2012 U.S. International Figure Skating Classic. The veteran team returns to Skate America after placing sixth in 2010. Anastasia Cannuscio and Colin McManus make their Grand Prix debut. They placed sixth at the 2012 U.S. Championships.

The Grand Prix Series, now in its 18th season, consists of six international events in a cumulative point-scoring format. Approximately 300 athletes from 30 countries are expected to participate in the series. Each athlete is eligible to score points in up to two of the six scheduled events.

The top six point-earners in each discipline qualify for the 2012 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, set for Dec. 6-9, in Sochi, Russia, home of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games. Athletes will compete for a total of more than $1.35 million in prize money throughout the series.