Brubaker Back on Top with New Partner

Keauna McLaughlin & Rockne Brubaker

January 3, 2007
Article & Photo © J. Barry Mittan 

Rockne Brubaker, who finished just off the podium at the World Junior Figure Skating Championships by placing fourth in 2005 with Mariel Miller, is back this season with a great chance for the gold. Brubaker teamed up with Keauna McLaughlin in May 2006 after both skaters split with their former partners. McLaughlin formerly skated with Ethan Burgess, finishing as high as fourth in junior pairs at U. S. Nationals in 2005, the same year Miller and Brubaker won the gold.

Brubaker, 20, and McLaughlin, 14, won their first ISU Junior Grand Prix Final by a scant .03 points over favorites Ksenia Krasilnikova and Konstantin Bezmaternikh, who had won the bronze at Junior Worlds the preceding year. McLaughlin and Brubaker reached the Final by winning JGP events in Budapest, Hungary and Taipei City, Taiwan.

This will be the last season that the couple competes as juniors. "Our goal is to win Nationals and go to Junior Worlds," Brubaker said. "Next season, we'll be competing as seniors. We plan to compete at least until the Olympics in 2010."

Brubaker followed his older sister on to the ice when he was six. "I was always at the rink causing trouble so my mom put me on the ice," he recalled. He continued in the Learn to Skate program only after his mother couldn't get a refund when he decided he didn't want to do it. "I did Learn to Skate, then I played hockey for fun," he continued. "I started to skate pairs at 12 because a girl at my rink wanted to do it." He competed in juvenile pairs in 2000 and intermediate pairs in 2001 at Junior Nationals with Amanda Bishop, but didn't medal.

McLaughlin started skating when she was four. Her mother, Lei Ina, competed in senior pairs, then performed with Disney on Ice and some other professional shows as well as being a cheerleader for the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. "I liked watching her and wanted to learn how to skate," McLaughlin said. "I was always asking all the pairs boys to lift me in the air at the shows." "My pairs partners were teaching her lifts when she was three, " Lei Ina said. She skated in singles until she was ten; reaching second in juvenile girls in 2005, but always preferred pairs. She skated with Burgess for two years but this season he aged out of juniors and McLaughlin wanted to do some Junior Grand Prix events.

While searching for partners for Brubaker, his coach Dalilah Sappenfield remembered McLaughlin from previous Nationals and arranged their tryout. "We always knew Mariel would outgrow Rockne, but it happened sooner rather than later," Sappenfield said. "Keauna was the first and only girl I called about a tryout. They have a very promising future. There's a lot to build on. "We have a good rapport off ice," Brubaker said. "Even if we have a rough day on the ice, it's always fun."

Dalilah Sappenfield and McLaughlin's mother, Lei Ina, coach the skaters, who train in Colorado Springs, Colorado. They work for 2-3 hours a day, six days a week on ice with another hour a day in off ice training. With each competition, the couple is gaining more experience and adding more difficulty to their program. So far, they have been doing side-by-side double axels and a double lutz-double flip sequence, but they are working on side-by-side triple salchows. They are using a throw triple salchow in both their programs, but have been landing the throw triple loop. They also do a lot of level four lifts, Brubaker's favorite pairs element. "We do a lot of special lifts with speed that kind of stand out for us," Brubaker said. McLaughlin prefers the triple twist. "I like being thrown in the air," she said.

Sappenfield choreographs the pair's programs. This season, they used music from the soundtrack of "Somewhere in Time" for their short program and "Dance of the Knights" from Sergei Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet" for the long. "We both heard the long program music at the rink and liked it," McLaughlin said. "One of the boys was using it. Then we went and found it online." "They have a classical and soft look on the ice," Sappenfield said. "I thing it shows their power and line with something soft. I thought they were ready for something more mature and with Romeo and Juliet they can connect with it and tell the story."

For their exhibition program, McLaughlin found "Play That Funky Music". Next season, they plan to keep their long and find a Spanish piece for their short program. Off ice, McLaughlin listens to all kinds of music including classic rock, heavy metal, hip-hop and pop. Brubaker enjoys rock, hip-hop, heavy metal and Spanish music.

Brubaker is a sophomore at Pikes Peak Community College where he is studying business. He also works part-time at the Hom eDepot to support his skating. But eventually, he wants to be a firefighter. "The business degree is a backup," he said. "I always wanted to be a firefighter and help people." McLaughlin is in the eighth grade at Fox Meadow Middle School. She would like to be a figure skating television broadcaster after she finishes competing.

Off ice, Brubaker enjoys cycling while McLaughlin likes baking, reading, traveling and playing with her three-year-old sister, Mya. "I like to dance, but just in my room or with friends," McLaughlin said.