St. Viator grad among suburban skaters dominating U.S. pairs competition
The suburbs scored a one-two punch Saturday at the pairs competition of the U.S. Figure Skating Association's national championships in Minnesota.
Danny O'Shea formerly of Gurnee and his partner Tarah Kayne won the gold medal with a record score, unseating the defending champions and heavy favorites, Alexa Scimeca of Addison and Chris Knierim, who took second.
"It felt really, really good," said O'Shea, a 2009 graduate of St. Viator High School in Arlington Heights who now lives in Ellenton, Florida. "There's not much more that we could have done better."
O'Shea and Kayne sent a clear message after the first day of competition, when they skated a clean short program - designed just one month ago - around the music, "Take Me to Church."
Scimeca, however, fell during their short program, set to Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters," during a critical triple Salchow jump, leaving them in a disappointing second place to O'Shea and Kayne, who were the bronze medal winners last year.
"My partner and I have been working really hard," O'Shea said in a phone interview Saturday afternoon. "Going into nationals, we were counted out and that we'd be fighting for second.
"It was a great feeling to show everyone that they were wrong," he added, "and setting records doing it."
In the free skate competition, they followed Scimeca - who graduated in 2009 from Addison Trail High School - and Knierim on the ice, after watching the favorites take another fall during their program, during their side-by-side triple Salchows
With the door open for a national title and the pressure mounting, O'Shea and Kane delivered an electric performance to the "Music of the Night" from "Phantom of the Opera" that audience members sensed was a gold medal performance.
"We have a throw quad Salchow combination in our arsenal, but we went for a clean program," O'Shea said. "We had a lot of fun doing our strongest elements."
Their performance earned them a combined total score of 211.65, which is the highest score recorded in pairs since the USFSA began the current scoring system. A detailed look at their results indicated they received their highest score for performance/execution.
"Everything went right," O'Shea said. "It felt great."
Immediately after their performance, the pair began fielding congratulations from fans far and wide.
O'Shea's former guidance counselor at St. Viator, Eileen Manno, who helped pave the way for his adjusted schedule and ability to practice at nearby Twin Rinks Ice Arena in Buffalo Grove after school, was among those who sent her congratulations.
"Danny was a terrific young man, whose work ethic certainly predicted the possibility of a national championship," Manno said Saturday.
The competition continues for the two U.S. pairs. By virtue of winning the top two spots at nationals, both teams will advance to the ISU World Figure Skating Championships, opening March 28 in Boston.
Another skater with suburban ties, Gracie Gold - who once lived in Elk Grove Village - bounced back from a shaky short program with a flawless free skate to win her second U.S. title. Gold trailed Polina Edmunds by 7.69 points coming into Saturday's long program, but she landed seven triple jumps cleanly and earned high artistic marks to overtake the teenager.
Gold scored 147.96 points for a total of 210.46. The 17-year-old Edmunds had 137.32 points in her free skate for 207.51 total.
While skating to "The Firebird" Saturday, she attacked each jump. When the final note had played, she threw her arms out and head back in triumph.