2025 Prevagen U.S. Figure Skating Championships: Pairs

The Pairs’ event at the 2025 Prevagen US Figure Skating Championships ended in a dramatic fashion in Wichita, Kan., on Saturday night. Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov delivered an unforgettable finish to claim their first national title with a stunning free skate, solidifying their rise to the top. Katie McBeath and Daniil Parkman soared from fourth place to a silver medal, while Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea settled for the bronze medal after some uncharacteristic mistakes. Emily Chan and Spencer Akira Howe, second after the short program, finished fourth overall for the pewter after struggling to maintain their momentum.

Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov

Leading up to the short program, Mitrofanov recalled feeling quite nervous. They were nevertheless “confident in [their] training” to “get the job done.” The team performed a fierce skate to “Ameksa” and “Uccen” by the Taalbi Brothers, which earned 69.03 points. While triple toes were underrotated, they nailed the throw triple loop. Additionally, they earned a level four for the death spiral, step sequence and lift, placing third with 69.03 points.

“We felt really good!” said Efimova. “The atmosphere at the rink was amazing!”

Efimova felt that the short program choreography needed “something with character.” She had never performed a Spanish program, and there began the process of selecting music. When she came across “Ameksa” and “Uccen”, she felt it was unique.

“It was very fast, though,” she said. “So, when I brought this music and showed Misha and the coaches, they said, ‘Okay, this is a fast tempo, but we will survive.’ We listened to it a few more times, and just really liked it.”

Coming into the competition as last year’s silver medalists, Efimova and Mitrofanov emphasized the importance of not dwelling on their past results as they approached the event.

“What happened that day and what that event was like, that’s how it stays,” said Mitrofanov. “It definitely gives us confidence going into future events, but at the same time, we are very aware of how we are feeling the day of the competition and how we’ve been training up to it. That’s more of the factors that we look into.”

Their exquisite free skate was set to the powerful music of “Je Suis Malade” by Forestella. The pair delivered a near-perfect performance that showcased their technical prowess and versatility in musical interpretation. The music vastly contrasted the genre of their short program music. Efimova underrotated the last jump in a triple Salchow-double-Axel-double Axel sequence, but the team executed an impressive throw triple loop and throw triple Salchow. They also produced a level four triple twist, triple toes, and earned a level four on all other elements. The 2024 Skate America bronze medalists dominated the free skating event, earning 142.87 in the segment and 211.90 overall.

Efimova exclaimed that their victory was a testament that their “hard work paid off.” Mitrofanov echoed his partner’s excitement, dubbing it a “surreal” experience. The team credited their coaching team and family with tonight’s success.

“It was always a dream of mine to be able to stand on the podium,” said Mitrofanov. “I definitely want to thank my coaches, the club, and our family. It wasn’t just us winning tonight, it was a whole community.”

Katie McBeath and Daniil Parkman

McBeath and Parkman leapt to second place after placing fourth in the short program segment. While the team was never fully satisfied with either of their performances, they were ecstatic about the outcome of the competition.

Their short program was set to Requiem for A Dream, where they performed side-by-side triple toes, but McBeath stepped out of the throw triple Lutz. However, the lift, spin and steps were graded a level four and the team scored 62.92 points.

Parkman regretted that they were unable to show their best performance.

“Especially for me,” said McBeath regarding the mistakes. “It was very tight, so everything was a little bit more of a fight than what we’ve been used to lately. It’s just been really hard, physically and mentally. I think in some instances, I could have fallen apart, but I really fought.”

However, she was still optimistic about certain elements in the program. Particularly the step sequence, “which took a lot of time and a lot of hours.”

There were numerous challenges that hindered their progress leading up to the event.

“The whole team got sick, like maybe about a week before we left,” said Parkman. “I’m still skating with a little bit of a cough.”

The team executed a moving free skate to Josh Groban’s “Per Te,” placing second (127.65 points) in the segment and overall (190.57). They produced a side-by-side triple toe-double Axel-double Axel sequence, but then McBeath stepped out the triple flips while Parkman fell on his. The only other error came when McBeath put a hand down on a throw triple Lutz. All lifts, the twist, pairs spin and death spiral were graded a level four.

Parkman expressed some frustrations about his fall, but noted it was “progression.”

“The flip is a good jump,” stated McBeath. “It’s just hard. It’ll come, but overall, it’s a new personal best for us, which is really good, and just another step forward!”

McBeath was relieved to not have repeated the equipment malfunction which occurred at the previous Nationals.

“So, one thing that was very comforting today was I told myself, ‘I have both my feet,'” she said. “What I mean by that is, last year when my blade broke, I was on two different blades, and it felt like I didn’t have a foot. It was just so foreign. So, this brought me some comfort. I had much more confidence today going into the program as a whole.”

Overall, the pair was stoked about their final placement.

“It feels absolutely amazing!” McBeath exclaimed. “It has been a dream to be on a national podium, and it came through today, so I’m very happy about that for us.”

Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea

The defending champions delivered an impressive and dynamic short program to “Rain, In Your Black Eyes” by Ezio Bosso. They executed a throw triple loop, side-by-side triple Salchows, and multiple level four elements, including the triple twist. They earned 77.19 points and sat in first place with an eight-point margin going into the free skate.

“We’re pretty happy with the skate overall,” said O’Shea. “It was a great crowd, great energy, and a good experience out there today. Definitely another program we’re proud to put out. We still got things to grow with. ”

He then added: “We are very proud to go out there and put out strong performances like how we train at home, a lot of pressure coming back in after winning last year, and I think I was pretty happy with how we handled that as a team today. It was good.”

Kam reflected on the growth of their partnership through choreography and growing their components since the beginning of the season.

“That’s why we went to train with Marie-France (Dubreuil) in Montreal and get these really unique, special programs for us,” she said. “I think that that was the steppingstone for us to begin to start skating together more as a team. I wouldn’t say that we’ve intensified our training, but I think we’ve made it more focused. We’ve been really narrowing down our thoughts and our corrections so that we are more together, and so that we just become more one. Instead of just ‘Ellie’ and ‘Danny’, we are ‘Ellie and Danny.'”

Their free skate, on the other hand, was marred by several unfortunate and uncharacteristic falls. After a successful triple twist, O’Shea put his hand down on the triple toe. Kam stepped out of both throw jumps and fell on the triple Salchows, and they both took a fall on the final lift. While they had the second highest component scores, the mistakes were costly, and they placed fifth in this segment with 112.38 points. With a total score of 189.57, the 2024 Four Continents bronze medalists slipped to third place overall.

“Even though we didn’t have the best performance that we wanted to tonight, we still definitely feel so blessed to be up on a podium with these amazing athletes,” O’Shea reflected. “And the athletes we got to compete with are also amazing. We are just very blessed to still be up here. Sometimes the ice is slippery. Unfortunately, it was for us tonight.”

“Thankfully we are safe,” he added, as he described the team’s collapse from the final lift. “There’s times when you are out there, and despite being fully prepared and completely trained and ready, things just don’t seem to go your way, no matter how hard you’re trying. I think we fought really hard tonight and that last lift ended up being of no value at all. So that’s a hard one, but we are going to use it as motivation. I’m extremely pissed at myself. I know I’m far better than that, and I will do better next time.”

Emily Chan and Spencer Akira Howe

The 2023 U.S. National silver medalists performed a stunning short program to “Give Me Love” by Ed Sheeran. Their program highlights included side-by-side triple toes, a level-four triple twist and throw triple flip. The lift and steps were graded a level four, and they earned 69.10 points for second place.

“We had some struggles early on in the season, which I think is not unusual for this caliber skating,” noted Howe. “That goes for all the teams, but we’re really happy that these last few weeks we were really able to come back home from the previous competition. Just buckle down and thankfully, thank God, we stayed healthy. And now here we are, and we feel like we’re the best we’ve been trained this season, and we’re just ready to continue into the free skate.”

However, the two-time Four Continents silver medalists had several mistakes in their performance. The triple twist was clean, but Chan underrotated the first jump in the triple-toe-double Axel-double Axel sequence, falling at the end. She later doubled the Salchows and put a hand down on the throw triple flip and fell on the throw triple loop. They finished fourth in the free skate and overall (114.85/183.95).

“I was actually feeling pretty good going into today,” said Chan. “The warmup and everything felt good. The first Axel, I usually never make that mistake. I was really off my axis and it was a pretty big shock to me. I think that with the next element coming up so quickly, I was still a little bit shaken going into the next jump. Then from there, I just tried to regain my focus, but I still felt a little bit shaky after. I tried to work together with Spencer and try to sell the program as much as I could. I was really proud of Spencer. He really was a stable base for me throughout the whole program, so we were able to make it through safely.”

“Yeah, I think we are definitely disappointed just because we worked so hard for this,” said Howe. “I felt like where we came into this competition was a lot different from the other competitions this season. I mean, I guess it’s humbling. Sometimes, you can be as trained as you want, but it goes down to that moment. I will say that this year, we were really fighting for that second world spot, especially after the short.”

Howe also congratulated his training mates, Efimova and Mitrofanov.

“I think it was definitely a unique experience to be in such a tight position after the short,” he said. “I think that can definitely play into these things. But I also thought it was really cool to be able to try to live up to that challenge, even though we didn’t. I thought that we really, you know, we changed, we showed up as ready as we could be. And unfortunately, it wasn’t our day.”

Audrey Shin and Balazs Nagy

The newly formed pair of Audrey Shin and Balazs Nagy took fifth place (182.67), an impressive feat, as Shin only recently transitioned to pairs skating.

“It’s not even been a year since I started pairs and since I first got lifted off the ice,” said Shin. “It’s crazy to think that I’m here right now, and that we performed this well. We have put in a lot of good work and training, and today I just kept reminding myself to trust our training, and that helped a lot. But yeah, I feel so sick. I was so sick earlier and I was freaking out because I don’t know how I’m going to get through this right now, but I just trusted our training!”

When discussing whether or not their performances this weekend met their expectations, Nagy responded: “Yes, and no. We have been training fairly well, and I definitely feel confident in our training. But nationals are nationals. There’s always more pressure, more everything. We haven’t had the best practices here this week, but I think we, well, I think she maximized everything.”

Naomi Williams and Lachlan Lewer placed sixth (166.08) followed by Ellie Korytek and Timmy Chapman (165.85).

Efimova/Mitrofanov, Kam/O’Shea and Shin/Nagy were selected to the 2025 Four Continents team, while Efimova/Mitrofanov and Kam/O’Shea got a ticket to the 2025 World Championships.

Related Info:

• Official Results
• Competition Threads

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