ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Tarah Kayne and Danny O’Shea lead the pairs competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships with a short program that’s just a month old.
Thursday was the first time they’d performed to “Take Me to Church,” and they had the only clean program among the contenders on a day full of falls and flubs.
Kayne and O’Shea, who finished third last year to miss out on a trip to the world championships, skated last and scored 69.61 points. The defending champs, Alexa Scimeca and Christopher Knierim, were second with 67.35 points after Knierim tumbled on their side-by-side triple salchows.
Marissa Castelli, who won two national titles with former partner Simon Shnapir, is in third with Mervin Tran at 64.12 points after she doubled their side-by-side triple salchows.