SAN JOSE, Calif. —
She came from Cheyenne Mountain High School to set the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on fire, and she did that Thursday night.
However, it wasn’t the Cheyenne Mountain icon, Rachael Flatt, the 2010 U.S. champion and Olympian now at Stanford. It was Agnes Zawadzki, the Cheyenne Mountain senior who came out of nowhere to lead after the short program with three women left at press time in.
Zawadzki scored a season-best 66.24 for first place and led defending champion Alissa Czisny’s 63.14, with Ashley Wagner third at 63.06. Flatt singled a double axel and was ninth at 52.71.
“I’m really excited,” Zawadzki said. “Things have finally clicked.”
Last winter, Zawadzki nearly clicked off. Frustrated with the lack of fun she found in skating, she nearly quit even after finishing a strong fourth at last year’s nationals.
Instead, she switched coaches, dropping Tom Zakrajsek for her old coach, David Santee, back in Des Plaines, Ill.
However, she liked the World Arena skating facility and used Christy Krall as her coach in town, with Santee making three trips to Colorado.
“He gives me that sense of fun,” Zawadzki said. “He’s always been a pretty silly guy and keeps it nice and light before I compete.”
She is a long program Saturday from nailing one of two berths and going to her first World Championships, in Nice, France, in March.
“She’s been through a lot this last year, and we’ve been building toward this,” Santee said. “She may be the most fit skater in this event.”
Flatt drew a huge roar from a strong contingent from up the road at Stanford. However, her disappointing season continued. She landed her first three jumps, but the single axel and slow rotations killed her score.
In pairs, Colorado Springs’ John Coughlin and Candee Denney represent the last two national championships – but did so with different partners. Coughlin had retired after a 2011 national title with partner Caitlin Yankowskas.
Almost 2,000 miles away in Ellenton, Fla., Denney’s partner, Jeremy Barrett, retired at 26. Denney nearly quit but her little sister, Haven, moved to Colorado Springs to skate with Brandon Frazier with whom she won the junior title Wednesday. cq
Denney called Dalilah Sappenfield, Coughlin’s old coach, about a possible partner. She called Coughlin and they hit it off.
“She’s easy to be on the ice with,” Coughlin said after the pair survived Denney’s fall on a throw triple flip to place third after the short program with 60.88 points. “She’s a good friend. I enjoy every day. It doesn’t feel like work.”
But for one of the two World berths, they trail Mary Beth Marley and former Springs skater Rockne Brubaker of Aliso Viejo, Calif., who lead with 65.80 points. Amanda Evora and Mark Ladwig, 2010 Olympians, are second with 61.27.
The other Colorado Springs skater, McKinzie Daniels, scored 49.96 and was in 12th.
John Henderson: 303-954-1299, jhenderson@denverpost.com or
