The Eastern Sectional Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by U.S. Figure Skating, which has been held since 1938. It is one of three sectional competitions, alongside the Midwestern Sectional Figure Skating Championships and Pacific Coast Sectional Figure Skating Championships.
Skaters compete in five levels: Senior, Junior, Novice, Intermediate, and Juvenile. Medals are given out in four colors: gold (first), silver (second), bronze (third), and pewter (fourth). Stand-alone sectional competitions are held for men's singles and women's singles, but as of the 2022-23 season, not for ice dance or pairs. Per 2022 Governing Council approval, the pathway for advancement in the two partnered disciplines has changed to: National Qualifying Series directly to U.S. Ice Dance Final and U.S. Pairs Final (both for entries from all sections), and then to U.S. Figure Skating Championships.[1][2]
Modifications began in the 2019-20 season to the conventional structure that skaters who place in the top four at the Eastern Sectional advance to U.S. Figure Skating Championships. As of the 2019-20 season, the top two Novice skaters per sectional in men's singles and in women's singles advance to Junior-level competition at U.S. Figure Skating Championships[3][4] -- which no longer hold singles competition at the level of Novice, Intermediate, or Juvenile. Starting with the 2022-23 season, only the top two Senior skaters per sectional in men's singles and in women's singles have been guaranteed to advance to U.S. Figure Skating Championships; next-best sectional scores nationwide (across all sections, in other words) have become necessary for other Senior singles competitors to advance.[5][6]
For ice dance and pairs, U.S. Figure Skating Championships discontinued Novice, Intermediate and Juvenile competition starting in the 2019-20 season,[3][7] but brought back Novice ice dance and Novice pairs for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons.[8][9]
Starting in the 2019-20 season, top Novice, Intermediate, and Juvenile skaters from Sectional Singles Finals (as they now are named), U.S. Ice Dance Final, and U.S. Pairs Final qualify for National High Performance Development Team camp.[10]
Notable skaters who have competed at Easterns over the years include Olympic gold medalists Dick Button, Tenley Albright, Carol Heiss, Dorothy Hamill, Scott Hamilton and Nancy Kerrigan.
- ^ "2022 Governing Council Concludes".
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:4was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b "2019-20 U.S. Figure Skating Rulebook, pp. 132-133".
- ^ "Selections from 2020 U.S. Championships Program" (PDF).
- ^ "2023 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in San Jose – Initial Information" (PDF).
- ^ "2024 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Columbus – Initial Information" (PDF).
- ^ "2020 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships".
- ^ "2024 Prevagen U.S. Figure Skating Championships".
- ^ "U.S. Figure Skating Announces 2024-25 U.S. Qualifying Season and International Events Schedule".
- ^ "2020 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships Begin Tuesday".