Laiken Lockley and Keenan Prochnow came to the
2019 GEICO U.S. Figure Skating Championships with one goal: to win.
"We podiumed last year, we got third," Prochnow said. "We weren't really going to be satisfied with anything [other than gold]."
That drive led the duo to its first national title on the ice at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
Lockley and Prochnow, representing the DuPage Figure Skating Club, earned 101.83 points for their free skate to music from the
Cloud Atlas soundtrack and 163.35 points overall, besting the field by more than 13 points.
"We definitely left some points out in our skate, but compared to what our free skates have been all year, I definitely think it was an improvement," Prochnow said. "We've been working really hard in practice to improve on our free skate, so I was happy with that, for sure. I thought she did a great job on those throws and it was just a team effort out there."
The 16- and 21-year-olds spent the season focusing on improving their components and skating skills, gaining more consistency with their jumps and being more connected as a team. Lockley broke a bone in her foot in April, and the pair spent five weeks unable to train their jumps and throws. It was a setback that makes their victory even sweeter.
"It's an awesome feeling," Lockley said. "I think we really earned it, and we worked so hard. I think we're getting what we worked for."
Moving forward, the pair has their eye on even bigger things at, hopefully, the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships. The team for pairs and ice dance will be named at the conclusion of junior competition at the
2019 GEICO U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
"Worlds is definitely our overall goal this season, and to be top five or higher at Worlds, so this was just a stepping stone to that place," Prochnow said. "We want to keep striving more and more and keep achieving more as a team."
Kate Finster (Northern Kentucky SC) and Balazs Nagy (Broadmoor SC) finished with the silver medal at their first U.S. Championships as a team. Skating to "Hollywood Wiz" from the
Cirque du Soleil soundtrack, they earned 89.83 points for their free skate and 149.48 points in total.
"We were kind of hoping for a clean skate," Finster said. "But overall, we're still happy with what we've got and what we accomplished this season."
The 15- and 20-year olds missed their side-by-side triple Salchow; normally a struggle for Finster to land in competition, this time it was Nagy that fell. When asked about goals for the future, they had a laugh at their own expense.
"To land the Sal together at a competition," he joked.
The two have been skating together for just over a year, and Nagy had never skated pairs before deciding to move on from singles. While they've gone through growing pains getting to know each other – and, for Nagy, learning an entirely new discipline – they're enjoying their new training base in Colorado Springs and improving quickly.
"He's a quick learner and I couldn't ask for a better partner," Finster said.
Isabelle Martins (Chicago FC) and Ryan Bedard (Northern Ice FC) placed third. Their free skate to music from the
La La Land soundtrack earned 89.81 points, bringing their overall score to 141.97.
They missed the lift in the second half of their program, when they were too close to the wall and missed their hand placement.
"Other than that, we were very happy with our skate," Martins said.
The medal is the pair's third at U.S. Championships. They won novice gold in 2016 and intermediate bronze in 2017. In 2018, Bedard had the flu and they struggled to an 11
th-place finish.
"Just trying to do good at all the competitions before this and trying to get confidence," Bedard said of trying to rebound.
"And nobody's sick this year, so it's an improvement," Martins chimed in with a laugh.
Maria Mokhova and Ivan Mokhov, representing the Chelsea FSC, finished fourth, earning 88.14 points for their free skate and 136.61 points overall.
The brother and sister from Mason, Michigan, an hour and a half from Detroit, completed a clean free skate to "Don Quixote" by Leon Minkus to add a third U.S. Championships medal to their collection; the duo won the intermediate title in 2017 and finished third in novice in 2018.
"We skated clean, and that was our goal," Mokhov said of their season-best score.
"And we really want to be on the podium," Mokhova said immediately after their program.
The pair followed their parents, Andrey Mokhov and Oksana Yakusheva, onto the ice. Still coached by their parents, they have ambitious goals.
"We really want to be the best American pairs team in the world," Mokhova said.
Junior competition concludes with the free dance Friday afternoon, Jan. 25.
