ActionPhotos by Marianne
Keegan Messing,17, performs a Russian Split at Skatefest in Seattle last June. Messing competed in the U.S. Figure Skating Championships Jan. 16 and 17, finishing in the top ten, placing ninth.
By Ken Smith
Turnagain Times
Girdwood's Keegan Messing entered the U.S. Figure Skating Championships Jan. 16 and 17 with a simple goal—have fun and skate his best.
In the end, Messing did both, breaking into the top ten out of 23 skaters, placing ninth, while skating one of his strongest performances in his young career.
Messing, 17, was in twelfth place after the short program. He stepped onto the ice for the free skate with a full arena cheering every jump he made.
When the four-and-a-half minute long program was over, the crowd was on its feet, and Messing had pulled off a performance good enough to place him among the top ten skaters in the nation.
“It was a blast,” he said two days after the nationally televised competition in Spokane, Wash. “It was so much fun. The stadium was packed. It was so much fun skating in front of everyone.”
Messing said he was a little nervous before his final program, but the nerves quickly gave way to excitement and an eagerness to perform.
“I was a little nervous, but once I got out there in front of the crowd, it pretty much went all away,” he said. “I was the only one besides the top four to raise the crowd to its feet and that was my main goal—was to win over the crowds.”
And that he did, receiving a standing ovation from the more than 20,000 spectators.
Messing finished with a score of 193.23. The winner of the competition, Jeremy Abbott, had a score of 263.66, 25 points more than the second place finisher, Evan Lysacek. Johnny Weir placed third.
The top three skaters at Spokane will represent the U.S. at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, B.C. next month.
Messing, meanwhile, is waiting to see if he'll be invited to join the U.S. team in the World Junior Figure Skating Championships, which is also next month in the Netherlands.
“I'm the first alternate for the Junior World's,” he said.
Messing's invitation hinges on the outcome of another skater, who sprained his ankle. If he can't skate then Messing is next in line.
So, all Messing can do now is wait for the call, which he said could come at anytime, even as late as two days before the competition begins.
In the meantime, he will continue to practice, already hitting the ice at the Subway Sports Center in Anchorage, only four days after he competed in the National Championships.
As for his experience skating for the first time in senior level competition with the best men's figure skaters in the nation, Messing said he was happy with the technical side of his performance but still has to conquer the most difficult move—the quadruple toe loop.
“I've landed a couple of quads,” he said. “I'm going to start working on the quad toe loop pretty soon. It's in the quad and presentation mark-up to get to the next level.”
Looking back at his performance at the National Championships, Messing was pleased but admits that he missed one of his jumps.
“I didn't fall in my program, but I popped my second axel,” he said. “I singled it.”
As he looks back on his performance, the one thing Messing said he learned from watching the top skaters was their focus and “polish.”
“I learned that I can't leave the door open,” he said. “I have to start skating clean programs on a regular basis and just getting that extra polish on the skating.”
But the overall experience at this year's National Championships was nothing but a positive experience for him, and one Messing looks to build upon.
“Actually, I'm pretty pumped with what I did,” he said. “Just because of the amount of fun I had out there. I think that's its own reward.”
One thing Messing also took from the experience was the amount of work and endurance a long program at the senior level requires—even the top skaters fought for air and had burning leg muscles by the end of their programs.
“It felt like I was coughing up blood,” Messing said,. “The competition makes it easier to get through it, but as soon as you come down from your adrenalin high, you start feeling it more. It takes quite a lot to get through the long program. You have foot work sequences that range from 45 to one minute long and five pairs of jumps all crammed into it. It's almost like a four-and-a-half minute sprint.”
If Messing doesn't get invited to the Junior World Championships then he said the next competition he will participate in will be the Liberty Skate in Philadelphia the weekend of July 4.
Beyond that, he said his big goal will be to go back to Nationals and make it into the Senior Worlds.
There are three competitions leading up to the Nationals on the Grand Prix Circuit and if he does well enough he'll qualify for the National Championships this year.
Messing turns 18 on Saturday, Jan. 23, so he's got plenty of time and confidence to vie for another shot at making the Olympic team for the 2014 Winter Games.
“I think I can,” he said. “If I keep working hard at it, I think I have a good shot at making the next Olympics.”