Jessica Calalang


Jessica Noelle Calalang is an American pair skater. With her current partner Brian Johnson, she is the 2020 U.S. national silver medalist and a two-time Challenger series medalist, including gold at the 2019 CS Warsaw Cup. Earlier in her career, she skated with Zack Sidhu, winning three medals on the ISU Challenger Series.

Personal life

Jessica Noelle Calalang was born on February 24, 1995 in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. After graduating in 2013 from Glenbrook South High School in Glenview, Illinois, she enrolled at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, California.

Career

In the 2009–10 season, Calalang competed with Daniel O'Shea on the novice level.

Partnership with Sidhu

Calalang teamed up with Zack Sidhu in August 2010. They made their ISU Junior Grand Prix debut at the 2010 JGP event in Ostrava, Czech Republic. The following season, they won a bronze medal at the 2011 JGP competition in Tallinn, Estonia. After winning the junior silver medal at the 2013 U.S. Championships, they were assigned to the 2013 World Junior Championships in Milan, Italy, where they finished ninth.
Calalang/Sidhu moved up to the senior level in the 2013–14 season. They won silver at the 2013 International Cup of Nice but finished 11th at the 2014 U.S. Championships. The pair began the following season on the ISU Challenger Series, winning silver at the 2014 U.S. International Classic and bronze at the 2014 Skate Canada Autumn Classic, before making their Grand Prix debut at the 2014 Cup of China.

Partnership with Johnson

2018–19 season

Calalang partnered with Brian Johnson in early April 2018. They debuted internationally on the Challenger series at the 2018 CS Autumn Classic International, where they placed fourth. In November, they won bronze at the 2018 CS Tallinn Trophy.
Debuting at senior Nationals at the 2019 U.S. Championships, they placed fifth.

2019–20 season

After placing sixth at the 2019 CS U.S. Classic, Calalang/Johnson were selected to make their Grand Prix debut, placing fourth at the 2019 Skate America and sixth at 2019 Skate Canada International. At Skate America, they placed ahead of reigning U.S. national champions Cain/LeDuc.
After competing at a second Challenger event, the 2019 CS Warsaw Cup, where they won the gold medal, Calalang/Johnson competed at the 2020 U.S. Championships. They were fourth in the short program after Johnson fell on a downgraded triple Salchow attempt. Skating cleanly in the free skate, they won that segment, receiving an ovation from the audience, and rose to the silver medal place. Johnson remarked that "the amount of audience support at the end of that program was overwhelming. It’s the most amazing thing I have felt on the ice."
Despite being national silver medalists, Calalang/Johnson were not assigned to one of the United States' two pairs berths at the 2020 World Championships in Montreal. Instead, they were sent to the 2020 Four Continents Championships in Seoul, where they placed fourth in the short program after Calalang stepped out of their side-by-side jump attempt. In the free skate, their sole error was Johnson singling a planned triple Salchow, and they placed third in the segment, winning a small bronze medal to finish in fourth place overall. Johnson commented afterward that they had "been together less than two years, but already we are in the last group at the Four Continents with Olympians. I have nothing but hope for the future."
After the split of National Champs Knierim and Knierim, Calalang and Johnson were added to the world team. The event was later canceled due to COVID-19.

Programs

With Johnson

With Sidhu

Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

With Johnson

With Sidhu

With O'Shea