SPOKANE, Wash. — They needed the performance of their lives Saturday after the performance of their lives Friday. Caitlin Yankowskas and John Coughlin got it — and it still wasn’t enough for the young Colorado Springs pairs team to make the Olympics.
They scored a personal-best 104.79 in Saturday’s long program, but higher-ranked teams swept them all the way from second place down to sixth.
Their 164.83, also a personal best, fell way behind winners Caydee Denney, 16, and Jeremy Barrett’s 190.30 and the 173.70 of runners-up Amanda Evora and Mark Ladwig. Those two teams earned the United States’ Olympic berths for Vancouver, edging 2006 Olympians Rena Inoue and John Baldwin, who scored 173.18.
“I’d be lying if I said we weren’t disappointed,” said Coughlin, who is originally from Kansas City, Mo. “But I think we’ve definitely broken through from the ranks of the unseen to be taken seriously.”
While Yankowskas fell on a throw triple loop and two-footed a triple salchow, the top three teams performed nearly spotless programs. Baldwin, however, felt their extremely difficult triple-axel throw was underscored.
“Our skate was one of the best programs we’ve ever done,” Denney said. “We’re extremely happy with it.”
John Henderson, The Denver Post
