Triple Twist Highlights McLaughlin and Brubaker's Junior Pairs Gold
by Laura Fawcett
 (1/25/07) - Rockne Brubaker (Broadmoor SC/Colorado Springs, Colo.) became a two-time U.S. junior pairs champion Thursday, as he and new partner Keauna McLaughlin (Los Angeles FSC) ran away with the title at the 2007 State Farm U.S. Championships.
Brubaker, 20, won the U.S. junior title with Mariel Miller in 2005, but after their split shortly before the 2006 U.S. Championships, Brubaker had to watch the national event from the stands.
In February 2006, he paired up with McLaughlin, and with only a few months training, they won two Junior Grand Prix Series events and the Junior Grand Prix Final.
Now, they’re U.S. junior champions.
“This year has probably been my favorite year,” Brubaker said. “We have an awesome relationship and have so much fun.”
McLaughlin, 13, and Brubaker had the most ambitious free skate, including two throw triples for the first time in their careers. Brubaker said they wanted to try the throw triple loop because if they made the World Junior Team, they didn’t want that competition to be the first time they attempted it.
“Probably about seven months ago, Keauna hadn’t even tried a throw triple, and here we are at nationals doing two of them,” Brubaker said.
The team opened their free skate to a mix of “Romeo and Juliet” music with their magnificent triple twist – something not many of the U.S. senior pairs skaters are doing. Brubaker said they moved from double to triple twist in practice quickly because of McLaughlin’s solid technique, and because, it’s her favorite move. They received five +3 grades of execution and four +2s for the move.
Bianca Butler and Joseph Jacobsen (All Year FSC, Calif.) capped off what could have been a disappointing season with a comeback and the silver medal. In early fall, Butler suffered a concussion during the short program at Norway’s Junior Grand Prix event. They withdrew from the event and did not receive a likely second assignment.
Butler said they considered it a bump in the road, and she didn’t let it hold her back too long.
“Actually right when we got back from Norway she went out there the first day and tried it (the throw jump they fell on) again,” said Jacobsen. “I’m very proud of her. She was very brave about it.”
They also had a triple twist and landed a throw double loop and double Lutz-double flip sequence. She fell late in the program on a throw triple Salchow.
Although they finished fourth in the free skate, reigning novice champions Jessica Rose Paetsch and Jon Nuss (Broadmoor SC/Colorado Springs, Colo.) won the bronze medal by a mere .20 points. A triple twist opened their program as well, and they followed it up with a throw triple Sachow, side-by-side double Lutzes and a throw double loop. Their one major error was Nuss’ fall on the pairs combination spin.
“It wasn’t our strongest performance of the year, but overall I thought it was pretty good,” Nuss said.
Kaela Pflumm and Christopher Pottenger (University of Delaware FSC/Dallas FSC) finished fourth with 90.75 points.
Three of the top four teams (excluding Butler and Jacobsen) qualified for the Junior Grand Prix Final and will be fighting for a spot on the World Junior Team (to be announced later this week). However, two teams competing as seniors nationally, Kendra Moyle and Andy Seitz, and Bridget Namiotka and John Coughlin, are also eligible for the World Junior Championships.
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