LOS ANGELES – Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker, the two-time defending U.S. pairs champions from Colorado Springs, had a fall in their short program at the World Figure Skating Championships Tuesday night at the Staples Center.
McLaughlin, 16, fell on their side-by-side triple salchow. They scored 53.62, well below their season best of 60.66. They stand ninth going into their long program tonight.
Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy, Germany’s defending champions, lead with a season-best 72.30. Russia’s Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov are second at 68.94 and China’s Dan Zhang and Hao Zhang, the Olympic silver medalists, are third at 67.42.
“Obviously we had some mistakes,” Brubaker said. “We missed some levels. Technically it kind of hurt us but it’s an experience. It’s our first Worlds.”
McLaughlin-Brubaker lost levels on the salchow, a twist and a throw triple loop. The performance comes during a season in which they dramatically increased the difficulty of their elements in preparation for next year’s Olympics.
“This year for us we look at as a season of growth, to see what’s working for us and what’s not working for us and be competitive at the same time,” Brubaker said. “Competitively we’ve probably struggled a little more in our performances but we’ve learned so much more this year.”
Despite being two-time national champion, this is their first World Championships. A year ago, McLaughlin was only 15 and too young to compete. This year, they are the youngest team in the field and came in ranked ninth.
McLaughlin, who teamed with Brubaker to win the 2007 World Junior title, skated in front of family of friends from nearby Tarzana where she was raised until moving to Colorado Springs to train.
In compulsory ice dance, America’s Olympic silver medalists, Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, were second with 39.65 points. Russia’s Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin, who have never made a Worlds or Olympics medal stand, were first at 40.77.
Today is the men’s short program.
John Henderson: 303-954-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com
