Twin Rinks sends three male skaters to nationals

Excitement always runs high at area ice rinks when one of their skaters advances to the U.S. Figure Skating Association's national championships.

This year, officials at Twin Rinks Ice Arena in Buffalo Grove have even more reasons to celebrate: three of their skaters earned a berth to the big show, opening Jan. 18 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.

What makes it even more exciting, is that all three are young men. They include Daniel O'Shea of Gurnee, a senior at St. Viator High School; Jason Thomas, also of Gurnee and a senior at Carmel High School in Mundelein; and Jason Brown, an eighth-grader at Northwood Junior High School in Highland Park.

"We're so excited," says Laura Kaplan, figure skating director at Twin Rinks. "It's the first time we've had three boys advance."

All three qualified by placing in the top four in their respective divisions, earlier this month at the U.S. Figure Skating Association's Midwestern Sectional champion ships, held in Sugar Land, Texas.

O'Shea placed fourth in juniors, after winning the novice division last year. This will be his second trip to nationals, and with a good showing, he could move up to the senior division next year.

Joining him will be Brown, who finished second in the novice division, and Thomas, who placed fourth among novice level skaters. Both will be making their first appearance at nationals.

They will find themselves among 250 skaters from across the country competing for national titles in the senior, junior and novice divisions, during the eight-day, Olympic-style competition.

"It's great that all three advanced," Kaplan adds. "They're really motivating each other."

All three perform multiple triple jumps in their short and freestyle programs, making them not that much different from the senior skaters, and the likes of Evan Lysacek of Naperville, who won the men's title last year.

However, the stakes in men's figure skating have risen. Ever since Rolling Meadows native Timothy Goebel landed the first quad jump in competition, landing triple jumps are not enough.

"There's not much that divides us," O'Shea said in an interview earlier this year, "except that the senior men land their triples a lot more consistently, and just look more confident doing it."

Denise Myers, who coaches Thomas, says he has all the triples in his programs, but his favorite is the difficult triple Lutz.

"He's really strong at jumping and with his spins," Myers says, "but we're working on trying to develop his artistic side."

With both his parents being born in India, Thomas is one of the few Indian skaters at the national level. However his focus now is on pulling off a clean program, in what will probably be his last competition in the novice division.

"A top four finish would be good for him," Myers says, adding that he will move up to juniors next year.

As an eighth-grader, Brown will find himself up against seniors in high school in the novice division, like Thomas. But the young skater is not intimidated.

"He's fearless," says his mother, Marla.

And up-and-coming. Two years ago, Brown placed second among intermediate skaters and last year he won the juvenile division at Junior Nationals.

All of which leads to a busy Thanksgiving break for these figure skaters. While their classmates will be enjoying the long holiday break, they will be working hard, on and off the rink.

And presumably, loving every minute of it.