Here is a sampling of the many talented Junior and Novice skaters to watch for at the 2003 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Dallas, January 12-19, as selected by the staff at Unseen Skaters. Skaters/teams are listed alphabetically by name.

Erica Archambault (Junior Ladies)
At a level of competition were many skaters are focusing on developing a specific aspect of their skating, such as jumps or presentation, 14-year-old Erica Archambault is busy cultivating the total package. Archambault has been one of the most successful junior ladies in U.S. competition this season, following up her free skate win at the Liberty Open in July with victories in both the short and long programs at her regional and sectional events. It’s been an impressive junior debut for a skater who finished just tenth on the novice level at last year’s U.S. Championships. Archambault has added technical content since last season, with attempts at four triple jumps in her free skate including the triple loop, and has worked on developing her already strong extension, presentation, and basic technique. Now coached by Mark Mitchell and Peter Johansson at the Skating Club of Boston, Archambault is rapidly becoming a favorite of judges and audiences alike.

Jordan Brauninger (Junior Men)
Brauninger will turn 16 on January 19, 2003, two days after the Junior Men's Free Skate at U.S. Nationals, where he is a leading contendor for the junior title. He is the highest returning junior (fifth place) from 2002 Nationals, and he goes into Dallas with the momentum of a successful debut season on the Junior Grand Prix (third in France, fourth in Slovak Republic, sixth place in the Junior Grand Prix Final in the Netherlands) and a seven-triple, winning free skate at Midwestern Sectionals. This season he has been working with a new choreographer, Chris Conte, who has created an entertaining short program in which Brauninger portrays a skater who is continually harassed by a flying insect. He represents the Northern Kentucky SC and is coached by Stephanie Miller and Ted Masdea.

Jane Bugaeva (Junior Ladies)
Long recognized for her artistic flair, Bugaeva, 16, has shown up in competition this year with five different triple jumps in her repertoire. Qualifying for nationals as an Intermediate in the 1999-2000 season, Bugaeva failed to advance to the Novice short program round at regionals the following year. However, last season she came back and qualified through regionals to compete as a Junior at the Eastern sectional where she finished tenth. This season, she started the year with a bang, taking 2nd place at the prestigious Liberty Open summer competition, won the South Atlantic regional, and finishing 3rd at the Eastern sectional, which qualified the Russian-born North Carolinian for her first ‘big’ nationals. If Bugaeva, who is coached by Kathie Kader, can maintain her jump consistency in competition, look for her to stand out in the strong junior ladies field in Dallas.

Wesley Campbell (Junior Men)
He’ll be making his first appearance as a junior competitor at the U.S. Championships this season, but Wesley Campbell is no stranger to national competition. Along with two trips to the Junior Olympics (since renamed the U.S. Junior Championships) which included a victory at the intermediate level in 1999, Campbell has spent the last three years as a U.S. novice competitor. After recording two seventh place finishes, Campbell managed to squeeze into the top four last year despite struggling through most of the season. This year, however, the 17-year-old Nashville native finally began to make his mark. He won the junior men’s event in the North American Challenge Skate series over the summer and was rewarded with an assignment to a Junior Grand Prix competition in Yugoslavia. At that event, Campbell made a major splash when he astonishingly won the short program and finished second overall. He finished well enough in his second event to be an alternate for the Junior Grand Prix Final, and qualified for nationals in second place in a tough field at Midwestern sectionals. Campbell’s newfound confidence and consistency have, in the course of less than a year, transformed him into a major new star on the U.S. junior scene.

Carly Donowick & Leo Ungar (Junior Ice Dance)
After less than one year together, Carly Donowick, 14, & Leo Ungar, 16, won the 2003 Pacific Coast Sectionals, and placed first at the North American Challenge Skate event in Alabama, fifth at the Junior Grand Prix event in Slovakia and seventh at the Trofeo Rita Trapanese in Milan. Skating to Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” for their original dance and Bond’s “Kismet” for the free dance, Donowick & Ungar are coached by Sergei Ponomarenko and Marina Klimova in San Jose, CA. They represent the Peninsula SC.

Kristen Frisch & Brent Bommentre (Junior Ice Dance)
The exceptionally well-balanced team of Kristen Frisch and Brent Bommentre is a major threat as Nationals rolls around. Frisch and Bommentre, both 17 years old, train at the Philadelphia Skating Club, and have already made big impressions on judges and fans alike. In 2002, they placed fourth at the U.S. Nationals. More recently, Frisch and Bommentre won the 2003 Eastern Sectionals, where they demonstrated their deep edging and strong compulsory dances. As the highest returning junior team from last year’s nationals, Frisch & Bommentre are poised and ready to make a return trip to the medal podium.

Felicia Gostisbehere (Novice Ladies) At 12, Felicia Gostisbehere is the youngest novice ladies’ competitor at this year’s Nationals. She won the gold medal at the 2003 South Atlantic Regionals and placed fourth at the 2003 Eastern Sectionals. She is known as “The Florida Girl,” because she is one of the few skaters from the southern state to qualify for Nationals. Representing the Panthers SC of Florida, she is coached by Ilona Melnichenko and Artem Torgashev. Gostisbehere finished seventh last year as an intermediate girl at Junior Nationals.

Jessica Houston (Novice Ladies)
If there were a “Most Improved” award for U.S. novice ladies this season, Jessica Houston might be a leading contender. In a highly competitive field at least year’s New England Regionals, Houston finished in fifth place, just shy of a trip to Junior Nationals, for the second year in a row. Obviously something needed to change, so Houston, who had trained for several years with Evy and Mary Scotvold on Cape Cod, began working with Mark Mitchell and Peter Johansson in Boston. She also decided to move up to the Novice level, a step that would be daunting for many skaters but has worked like magic in her case. This season Houston, 13, has transformed from a regional favorite to a contender on the national level with her combination of jumping prowess and energetic performing style. After several years of disappointment, she’s proven that this year is her turn to shine.

Amy Howerton & Steven Pottenger (Junior Pairs)
Since finishing 5th at the Junior Pairs level at Nationals last year, Amy Howerton, 16, & Steven Pottenger, 17, have gained considerable international experience, finishing second at the Triglav Trophy in Slovenia, third at JGP Yugoslavia and fifth Pokal der Blauen Schwerter JGP in Germany. The 2003 Midwestern Sectional Champions, they will compete in front of a hometown crowd at Nationals this year, as Howerton is from Rockwell, TX and Pottenger lives in Coppell, TX. Howerton & Pottenger both skate for the Dallas FSC, and are coached by David Kirby. Holly Kirby choreographs their programs, which are to Neil Diamond’s “African Suite” for the short program and the “Forrest Gump” soundtrack for their long program. Pottenger’s younger brother, Christopher, will compete in the Novice Pairs competition.

Natalie Malone (Novice Ladies) At 5’7,”Natalie Malone is one of the tallest skaters in the ladies’ figure skating field in Dallas. Malone, 14, already has a silver medal from last year’s Junior Nationals at the Intermediate level, as well as some international experience (a ninth place finish at the Danish Copenhagen Trophy this past spring) under her belt. Known for her consistent jumps and good spins, Malone finished second at the 2003 Upper Great Lakes Regionals (where she moved up from fifth place), and then skated to a solid victory at the Midwestern Sectionals, where she won both programs. Currently coached by Maria Jezak-Athey in Addison, IL, she works with Susie Wynne on the choreography of her programs.

Morgan Matthews & Maxim Zavozin (Junior Ice Dance)
This duo burst onto the international scene this autumn with a medal at the Canadian Jr. Grand Prix competition. Initially not even on the Jr. Grand Prix roster, Matthews & Zavozin, danced their way to a bronze medal at the Huntsville, Alabama North American Challenge Skate in August to earn the JGP invitation. They are known for their strong free dances, and artistic flair. However their compulsory dances are their noticeable weakness, and cost them the Novice national title last year (they won the free dance, but were third overall). However, their strong international results this season indicate that they could very well contend for the title of U.S. Jr. National Champions.

Chelsea Meador & Josh Martin (Junior Pairs)
Every now and then a new pairs team comes along skating with the sureness of veterans. Such is the case with Chelsea Meador and Josh Martin, who won this year’s Pacific Coast junior title ahead of several experienced teams—including defending national bronze medalists and international team members Christie Baca and Scott Smith. Despite skating together for only a few months prior to their regional debut, Meador, 12, and Martin, 21, established themselves as immediate contenders for a medal at the national level. Coached by Peter Oppegard, who is known for his choreographic skills, both skaters have qualified for the U.S. Championships in the past with previous partners. Martin won the 2001 novice title and 2002 junior silver medal with Janice Mayne, while Meador qualified for the 2001 novice event with Manny Gardner but withdrew prior to the competition. They may not have been together as long as some of their competitors, but as they’ve already proven, even the defending champions are fair game for this team.

Kimberly Meissner (Novice Ladies)
This 13-year-old dynamo from Delaware has taken the Novice circuit on the East Coast by storm this year, with her jump packed routines, and energetic presence. Although she started this summer with a foot injury, she won the short program at the Liberty Open Summer competition, and finished second at the South Atlantic Regional in the fall. After making it to Jr. Nationals as an Intermediate in the 2000-2001 skating season, Meissner stayed Intermediate but failed to make it out of the South Atlantic Region last year. However she came back with strong routines, good consistency and a triple Lutz and capped the autumn off with a resounding victory at Eastern Sectionals.

Brianna Perry (Novice Ladies) It’s the second season in a row that Brianna Perry has looked like she might be a contender for a national novice medal, and this year she finally has a shot. A disappointing short program at last year’s New England regionals took her out of contention to advance to Easterns even with her second place free skate. Perry, 13, entered this season determined to turn things around. In March she traveled to Denmark for her international debut, winning the novice event at the Copenhagen Trophy ahead of European favorite Fleur Maxwell. After a strong showing in club competitions over the summer, Perry managed to finish fourth at New England regionals despite struggling with the jumps. She placed second in an exceptionally strong field at Easterns, establishing herself as one of the favorites for this year’s national title. A recent coaching change to veterans Evy and Mary Scotvold should also boost Perry’s chances, and her well-rounded combination of jumps and presentation make her a formidable match for any competitor.

Dennis Phan (Junior Men)
Now in his fifth consecutive year competing at the national level, 17-year-old Dennis Phan has steadily worked his way toward a position at the top. After placing eighth and ninth respectively at the junior level for the last two years, Phan enters this year’s U.S. Championships with a very real shot at the podium. Though consistency has sometimes been an issue, his experience will be a strong asset to the Southern California-based skater this season. In addition to his last two years at the junior level, Phan finished fourth in the 2000 U.S. novice event. He got his first taste of international competition earlier this year at a Junior Grand Prix event in the Slovak Republic, where he placed ahead of favored American Jordan Brauninger in the free skate and finished 6th overall. With two strong performances in Dallas, Phan could be a threat to any competitor.

Trina Pratt & Todd Gilles (Novice Dance)
Pratt and Gilles, both 16, of the Broadmoor Skating Club, followed up their summer victories at Lake Placid and the North American Challenge in Thunder Bay, Ontario, with the gold medal at the 2003 Midwestern Sectional Championships. They were the clear winners in all phases of the sectional competition, and noticeably stronger and faster than all of the other teams there. Their free dance, to a haunting cello piece, is a beautifully choreographed routine where every move melts into the next. At the 2002 U.S. Nationals, Pratt & Gilles earned a very respectable sixth place. This year, they return as prime contendors for the novice dance title.

Stephanie Rosenthal (Junior Ladies)
Rosenthal, 15, of the Utah FSC, had two “perfect” skates on her way to winning Pacific Coast sectionals in an upset and qualifying for “big” Nationals for the first time. While her technical (jump) content may not be as difficult as the rest of junior ladies in Dallas, her choreographers, Stewart Sturgeon and Stephanee Grosscup, have created two wonderful programs to Lou Harrison’s Rhymes with Silver (SP) and Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty (FS) that Rosenthal interprets with gusto and emotion. She is coached by Sturgeon, Christie Sturgeon, Grosscup and Kent Weigle.

Sydney Schmidt & Christopher Pottenger (Novice Pairs) Although they have been skating together for less than two years, Sydney Schmidt, 14, & Christopher Pottenger, 15, have already qualified for their second National Championships. Schmidt & Pottenger finished first on the Intermediate level at Junior Nationals last year, and won both Southwestern Regionals and Midwestern Sectionals to qualify for 2003 National Championships on the Novice level. They also won the North American Challenge Skate Novice Pairs competition in Dieppe, NB this past summer. The duo is coached by David Kirby and skates for the Dallas FSC. Pottenger’s elder brother, Steven, also qualified for Nationals in Junior Pairs.

Flo Steed & Augie Hill (Junior Dance) Flo Steed and Augie Hill, both 17 and based in Plano, Texas, are yet another junior dance team bound for success at this year's Nationals. The team has the experience it takes to compete at the high level of nationals, as they placed sixth in their junior debut last year and participated in the Junior Grand Prix circuit in the fall of 2002. Highlighting their win at the 2003 Midwestern Sectionals was a wonderful Original Dance routine and a fun free dance to a Ricky Martin medley, which they do a good job of selling. The team will have the crowd behind them as they are hometown favorites, which could give them the edge they need to become the next U.S. Junior Champions in Ice Dance.

Sandra Rucker (Junior Ladies)
Finally healthy after two seasons of competing with injuries, Sandra Rucker, of the Los Angeles FSC, is a well-rounded skater, and a crowd favorite. The 2003 Southwest Pacific Regional Champion, Rucker, was the only junior lady to land a triple lutz (in combination with a double toe) at Pacific Coast Sectionals, where she finished a solid third, moving up from a fifth place finish in the short program. Prior to sectionals, she had won every junior competition she entered this season, as well as the novice ladies event at the North American Challenge Skate in Thunder Bay, Ontario. This will be Rucker’s fourth trip to Nationals in as many years. (She finished twelfth and ninth at the novice level in 2002 and 2001 respectively, and was 8th at the juvenile level at 1999 US Junior Nationals.) Rucker is 15 years old, and is coached by Tammy Gambill.

David Weintraub (Novice Men)
Representing the Skating Club of New York, David Weintraub, 16, returns in his 2nd season as a Novice to make a bid for the national title. Last year Weintraub finished 10th in the Novice Men’s division, and this year he looks poised to medal. Known for his jumping skills, Weintraub lands his triple lutz with consistency and delivers solid routines. This spring Weintraub won the Copenhagen Trophy at the Novice level, soundly beating his competitors, and this fall has been 2nd in the North Atlantic regional, and convincingly won the Eastern sectional. Look for this strong competitor to continue his medal streak in Dallas, quite possibly skating right to the top of the podium.

Jenna Yount & Grant Marron (Novice Pairs)
Last year they quietly gained experience, but this year the Coyotes SC of Arizona’s Jenna Yount and Grant Marron are ready to step into the spotlight. In the second season of their partnership Yount, 14 (the daughter of baseball Hall of Famer Robin Yount), and Marron, 18, have become contenders to win the national novice title. The team already knows something about winning. Last summer they topped several favored couples to win the novice event at the first stop of the North American Challenge Skate series in Phoenix. After a rocky showing at the Southwest Pacific regionals resulted in a third place finish, they regrouped and skated to victory at the Pacific Coast sectionals. While the buzz centers around the strong contingent of teams from the Midwest, Yount and Marron have shown that they have what it takes to outshine them all.