Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue haven't finished lower than the top step of the podium in nearly a year.
It's an unprecedented streak of momentum for the team, and it carried through to their rhythm dance at the 2019 GEICO U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Detroit. They scored 84.56 to take the lead going into the free dance, outpacing Madison Chock and Evan Bates by just over two points.
The last time Hubbell and Donohue finished worse than first, it was the 2018 ISU World Figure Skating Championships, where they earned silver.
Prior to that, they won their first national title at the 2018 U.S. Championships, made their first Olympic Team and finished an agonizing fourth at the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018.
They've gone undefeated in the 2018-19 season, winning both of their Grand Prix assignments – Skate America and Skate Canada – in consecutive weekends, as well as the Grand Prix Final.
"Ice skating is something that, yes, I want to win, but in order to win I have to beat my last performance," Hubbell said. "We don't compare ourselves to the other teams in the arena."
Skating to "Maria de Buenos Aires" by Astor Piazzolla, the reigning champions brought the crowd to its feet with their smoldering performance.
"It's a beautiful facility and a good home crowd," Hubbell said. "A lot of our family was in the audience today."
Hubbell and Donohue haven't missed the podium at the U.S. Championships since teaming up in 2011. Prior to their 2018 U.S. title, they placed third in 2015-17 and 2011 and fourth in 2013 and 2014.
Making the moment more special, the pair is competing in their former home city – they moved from Detroit to Montreal in 2015 – and shared the top three in the rhythm dance with their training mates, Chock and Bates and Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker.
"We're pretty lucky that we get to train with the best in the world," Donohue said. "We're all pushing each other, really. We've got such a unique, incredible atmosphere. We all love each other. We all want to beat each other. It's really inspiring to watch all the teams we have surrounding us put out their best on a daily basis and having to step up our own game."
Returning to elite ice for the first time in 10 months, Chock and Bates sit in second place with 82.33 points.
Following their second Olympic Games, where they placed ninth, and the 2018 ISU World Championships, where they finished fifth, Chock had surgery on a lingering ankle injury. While the long layoff wasn't ideal, she's now skating pain-free for the first time in 18 months.
"It's a lot more stress-free," Chock said with a laugh. "Pain-free and stress-free."
"I'm so happy to see this person thriving, this person healthy," Bates said while giving Chock a hug after their skate. "In the last four weeks, finally we've resumed full training for the first time in 18 months, without having to limit the number of hours or the number of sessions that we do. We're back. Fully back."
Chock and Bates made the move to Montreal at the beginning of August, when she was confident with her ankle's progress.
"We wanted to take our time and make sure that I was on the right path and feeling the best I could possibly feel before we moved out," Chock said. "And when we moved out, the welcome was so warm and so gracious from all of our teammates there. We're so fortunate and so grateful to be where we are."
They missed the entire Grand Prix season while Chock rehabbed, but returned to debut their programs at the Mentor Torun Cup in Poland early January. They won that event, and their rhythm dance to music from Mr. and Mrs. Smith soundtrack earned a rousing ovation in Detroit as well.
"I think Poland helped a lot," Bates said. "There's still the same kind of jitters. I think being home there was a little extra pressure that we put on ourselves to perform for all of our loved ones who are here. But I think the happiness that we're experiencing in life and off ice is showing in our skating, and we're really excited about the path we're on right now."
Chock and Bates are the 2015 U.S. champions, finished second in 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, and third in 2018.
Hawayek and Baker, the third member of the American Montreal contingent, made the move over the summer as well. They earned 76.77 points for their rhythm dance to "Vuelvo Al Sur" by Juan Carlos Cecares and "A Los Amigos" by Forever Tango.
"We all used to train here in Detroit so it's very nostalgic to be able to come back and see so many familiar faces in the audience with us today when we performed, which made it feel very comfortable and exciting," Hawayek said.
Hawayek and Baker are making a strong push to move up a step or two on the podium. They placed fourth in 2015 and 2018, and fifth in 2016 and 2017 after winning the junior title in 2014.
In 2018, they won NHK Trophy, finished fourth at Internationaux de France and qualified for their first Grand Prix Final, finishing sixth.
Making their first appearance at the senior level at a U.S. Championships, Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko finished fourth with 75.23 points. Skating last, their program to "Maria de Buenos Aires" by Astor Piazzolla and "Jealousy Tango" by Katica Illeny ended the competition with a bang.
"It felt amazing," Carreira said. "It definitely felt like the best performance this season. That was the goal coming into this event, so we're really, really pleased with how today went."
With the U.S. ice dance field the deepest in the world, the self-proclaimed youngsters are flying under the radar and pressure-free as the new kids on the block.
"We've been working on improving the entire program so we could come here and show that we can compete with the older teams and be part of the competition," Carreira said. "We have nothing to lose."
Carreira and Ponomarenko are the 2018 U.S. junior champions and won silver at the 2018 ISU Junior World Championships. In their first senior-level Grand Prix assignments, they placed fifth at the Grand Prix of Helsinki and third at Rostelecom Cup, giving the United States its fifth ice dance medal during one circuit - the most by any nation and a first for the States.
The ice dance competition concludes on Saturday, Jan. 26, with the free dance at Little Caesars Arena.
