Eighteen U.S. Athletes to Compete at 2015 Progressive Skate America this Weekend

Eighteen U.S. athletes will compete at 2015 Progressive Skate America, the first event of the 2015 International Skating Union (ISU) Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series, Oct. 23-25, at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena in Milwaukee.

In conjunction with Skate America, U.S. Figure Skating will host the inaugural Skate America Tailgate Party on Friday, Oct. 23. From 5-8 p.m., Kilbourn Avenue, which runs parallel to the front entrance of Panther Arena, will be closed and transformed into a tailgate party featuring live music by Milwaukee's Alter Ego, local food and beverage offerings from Major Goolsby's and activities for the whole family, including skating demonstrations on a plastic ice surface. The party, which falls between the afternoon and evening sessions of the event, is free and open to the public.

NBC will air live coverage of the ladies free skate at 5 p.m. (ET) Saturday, Oct. 24. Terry Gannon will call the action alongside Tara Lipinski, Johnny Weir, Tracy Wilson and Andrea Joyce. NBCSN will also provide coverage of Skate America from 10-11:30 p.m. (ET) on Sunday, Oct. 25.

Icenetwork Season Pass subscribers will have access to live video from both days of competition. Icenetwork's broadcast team includes Mike Mancuso, who will handle the play-by-play duties, and analysts Tonia Kwiatkowski (1996 U.S. silver medalist), Ryan Bradley (2011 U.S. champion) and Tanith Belbin (2006 Olympic ice dance silver medalist). For more information, visit www.icenetwork.com.

As part of its renewed partnership with U.S. Figure Skating for the 2015-16 season, Progressive will serve as the title sponsor for Skate America for the first time after supporting U.S. Figure Skating as a TV advertiser since 2008.

Tickets, starting at $20, are available by visiting www.2015skateamerica.com or the Panther Arena box office.

Gracie Gold, the 2014 U.S. champion and 2014 Skate America bronze medalist, and Jason Brown, reigning U.S champion and Skate America silver medalist, are set to compete. Team USA will also feature U.S. pairs champions Alexa Scimeca and Chris Knierim and U.S. ice dance and 2014 Skate America titlists Madison Chock and Evan Bates.

The international field boasts Olympic and World medalists. Kazakhstan's Denis Ten is the 2014 Olympic bronze medalist while Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov are the 2014 Olympic and World pairs silver medalists. Japan's Satoko Miyahara is the 2015 World silver medalist.

Team USA
Ladies
Gold will compete at Skate America for the second straight year. She most recently finished fourth at the World Championships and first at World Team Trophy. Karen Chen, the 2015 U.S. bronze medalist, made her senior international debut at the 2015 U.S. International Classic, placing fourth. Mariah Bell also competed at the U.S. International Classic and Nepela Trophy.

Men 
For the third time, Brown will begin his Grand Prix season at Skate America. Brown, who finished fourth at the 2015 World Championships, began his season with a first place finish at Nepela Trophy earlier this month.Max Aaron, who finished fourth at the 2015 U.S. Championships, returns to Skate America for the first time since winning bronze in 2013. Ross Miner, a six-year Grand Prix Series veteran, will make his Skate America debut. He finished third at the 2015 U.S. International Classic. 

Pairs
Scimeca and Knierim are the 2015 U.S. champions. They will make their second consecutive Skate America appearance. Tarah Kayne and Daniel O'Shea, the 2015 U.S. bronze medalists, will make their Grand Prix debut. Gold medalists at the U.S. International Classic, the team missed the 2014 Grand Prix Series due to injury. Gretchen Donlan and Nathan Bartholomay opened the season at the U.S. International Classic, placing fifth, and Nepela Trophy, placing sixth. Skate America will represent their Grand Prix debut.

Ice dance
Chock and Bates are 2015 U.S. and 2014 Skate America champions and 2015 World silver medalists. Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker, entering their second Grand Prix season, finished fourth at the 2015 U.S. Championships. Anastasia Cannuscio and Colin McManus began the season with a bronze-medal win at Nebelhorn Trophy. They will make their third Skate America appearance.

The Grand Prix Series, now in its 21st 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 2015 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, set for Dec. 10-13, in Barcelona, Spain.
U.S. ENTRIES AT 2015 PROGRESSIVE SKATE AMERICA