NEU » d added five assists. Freshman Kari Jonnson

Even without the defending Olympic champions, the proof is right there on the ice: The U.S. has become the world power in ice dance.For the second straight year, three American couples have made the Grand Prix Final, which starts Friday in Marseille, France. U.S. champions and world silver medalists Maia and Alex Shibutani; 2015 national champs Madison Chock and Evan Bates, and three-time U.S. bronze medalists Madison Hubbell and Zach Donohue make up half the field -- for a second consecutive season.That sure impresses Charlie White, who with Meryl Davis became the first Americans to win ice dance gold at the Olympics, in 2014.Im not sure theres a better way to show the dominance of U.S. ice dancing better than having three teams making the Grand Prix Final two years in a row, he said. Its been amazing to see these three teams proving themselves time and time again at these stacked Grand Prix events.The experience gained, and consistency shown by this group of U.S. dance teams will certainly help their chances at giving their best showing at an event like the Olympics.Chock and Bates and the Shibutanis already have been down that road, finishing eighth and ninth in Sochi. Since then, their performances have been on a steady upward course, with the brother and sister Maia and Alex Shibutani winning nationals this year and finishing second at worlds. Chock and Bates took the U.S. title in 2015 and finished just behind the Shibutanis at this years worlds.All of todays couples owe credit to their -- uh, foreskaters? -- for taking ice dancing from the outcast stepchild in American figure skating to the top of the world. And they know it.I think it is sort of a product of the growth of the sport in our country spearheaded by Meryl and Charlie, and before them, Tanith (Belbin) and Ben (Agosto), Peter (Tchernyshev) and Naomi (Lang), and back to Liz (Punsalan) and Jerod (Swallow), said Bates, who teamed with Chock in 2011. We have been working on this for a long time, the last few decades, really. Now, in the world of ice dancing we are recognized as the top country.Added the Shibutanis: Earlier in our career, we trained with both Meryl and Charlie, and Tanith and Ben. Their accomplishments have been inspiring and have done a lot to improve the visibility of ice dance in the U.S. They are our friends and they have always been very supportive and encouraging. We are working to continue to build on what they started.For decades, Russians dominated ice dance, in part because of the coaching available in the Soviet Union and then in Russia. Other than the brilliant Britons Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean and their mesmerizing performances in the 1980s, it was rare for anyone else to make frequent visits to the medals podium.Today, it is rare when an American couple does not win a gold, silver or bronze.I think that the U.S. has a particularly great developmental program that has created an abundance of talented athletes representing Team USA on the international circuit, Hubbell said. For ice dance in particular, U.S. Figure Skating has made huge strides in becoming one of the most competitive federations. I have had the support of U.S. Figure Skating for over 10 years now, and I grew up training and competing with Chock and Bates, and the Shibutanis. I believe it is the supportive, competitive environment that we have grown up with that has pushed us to have three teams in the Grand Prix Final for the second season consecutively.Also pushing are the coaches, some of which were trained in the Russian systems. Igor Shpilband, then Natalia Linichuk and Gennadi Karponosov, worked with Belbin and Agosto. Marina Zoueva guided Davis and Whites careers.Shpilband works with Chock and Bates, and the Shibutanis work with Zoueva.No. 1, you have to credit the coaching, said White, who also won Olympic silver in 2010 and took six straight U.S. championships with Davis. Skaters can work themselves into the ground all day every day, but unless they have the choreography and expertise of top-level coaches, that work will not pay off.But theres more to it than that, Davis insisted. When the three U.S. duos compete in the Grand Prix Final against 2010 Olympic champions and 2014 runners-up Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada -- the other surpassing ice dance couple of the last decade -- plus Frances Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron, the two-time defending world champs, the Americans will bring something else to the rink.No. 2 is the incredible hard work and dedication to the sport by the U.S. ice dance teams, White says. Coming from the history that we have in the sport internationally, I think U.S. ice dancers always feel they have something to prove. And right now they are proving themselves time and time again. John Smoltz Jersey . How great will be revealed in the next couple of days at the board of governors meeting in Pebble Beach, Calif. Chipper Jones Jersey . The Vancouver coach and an announced sellout crowd of 18,910 watched in dismay as the Canucks lost 7-4 to the New York Islanders on Monday night by squandering a 3-0 lead in the third period. http://www.baseballbravesproshop.com/nick-markakis-braves-jersey/ .J. Ellis hit two-run homers and the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the San Diego Padres 4-0 Saturday night. Bobby Cox Jersey . The Brazilian goalkeeper signed a loan deal with the Major League Soccer club on Friday as he looks to get playing time ahead of this summers World Cup in his home country. Babe Ruth Braves Jersey . Defenceman Yannick Weber scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and the Canucks breathed a sigh of relief with a 2-1 win on Saturday night. PHILADELPHIA -- Austin Williams and Sammy Mojica combined for 32 points as Drexel defeated Division III Kean College 84-44 on Sunday night.Williams was a near-perfect 8 of 9 from the field for a career-high 16 points, and grabbed 11 rebounds for the first double-double of his career. Mojica came one shy of his career scoring mark with 16 points and added five assists. Freshman Kari Jonnson scored 11 points with three 3-pointers and fellow frosh Kurk Lee dished a career-bestt 10 assists to go with eight points.ddddddddddddMike Summerer scored 11 points and Micah Kerr 10 for the Cougars (0-10), who shot 32 percent from the field (19 of 59) and had just 11 assists.Eleven of 12 players scored for Drexel (5-6), which also owned a 54-27 advantage on rebounds, and shot 44 percent from the floor (32-72) with 12 3-pointers. d added five assists. Freshman Kari Jonnson rl] ' ' '