Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue captured their second consecutive national title on Saturday night — keeping their undefeated season intact — closing out the competition with 215.88 points. “I think in this performance more than ever before Zachary and I were really connected,” said Hubbell.
Madison Chock and Evan Bates cast a spell over the crowd with their flirtatious “Fever” program, and showed no hint of the injury that sidelined Chock for the first half of the season. They finished second with 211.52 points.
“Coming in we knew that Zachary and Madison were the hottest team arguably in the world,” Bates said. “We’re just excited that we’ve set our three year plan in motion. With good performances at the first major event, things are looking up for us. If we leave the ice as happy as we did yesterday and today then we’ll be in good spirits whatever the result will be.
Rounding out the podium were Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker with 196.95 points. It was their first podium finish in four years of competing at this event. The result made it a clean sweep for their Montréal-based coaching team.
Lorraine McNamara and Quinn Carpenter finished in fourth place with 191.10 points, ahead of Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko (190.01).
Following this competition, U.S. Figure Skating named the teams for Four Continents, Worlds and the World Junior Championships (see below).
RHYTHM DANCE
The ice dancers took center stage on Friday afternoon for the rhythm dance. Defending champions Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue staved off a strong challenge by the 2015 champions, Madison Chock and Evan Bates.
Despite receiving a Level 3 on the second Tango Romantica pattern, Hubbell and Donohue earned the highest component scores of the segment and a total of 84.56 points. “It was great to be here in this beautiful arena. Zach and I were here this spring for Stars on Ice and we got a small taste of what it would be like,” Hubbell said.
In just their second competition of the season, Chock and Bates performed with confidence in their “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” program. The duo is within striking distance of claiming their second title, and head into the free dance with 82.33 points. “I’m just so happy to be healthy and to be able to skate,” Chock said.
Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker finished in third place with 76.77 points. “It’s very nostalgic to be able to see so many familiar faces in the audience with us today when we performed, which made it feel very comfortable and exciting,” said Hawayek.
The top three teams all train in Montreal with Marie France Dubreuil, Patrice Lauzon, Romain Haguenauer, and Pascal Denis. Before their respective moves, they all trained in the Detroit area.
Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko, the 2018 junior champions, sit in fourth with 75.23 points in their senior debut. Lorraine McNamara and Quinn Carpenter, the 2016 World Junior champions, are in fifth with 74.42 points.
2019 World Championships
Madison Chock/Evan Bates, Kaitlin Hawayek/Jean-Luc Baker, Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue
Alternates: Lorraine McNamara/Quinn Carpenter, Christina Carreira/Anthony Ponomarenko, Rachel Parsons/Michael Parsons
2019 Four Continents Championships
Madison Chock/Evan Bates, Kaitlin Hawayek/Jean-Luc Baker, Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue
Alternates: Lorraine McNamara/Quinn Carpenter, Christina Carreira/Anthony Ponomarenko, Rachel Parsons/Michael Parsons
2019 World Junior Championships
Caroline Green/Gordon Green, Eliana Gropman/Ian Somerville, Avonley Nguyen/Vadym Kolesnik
Alternates: Oona Brown/Gage Brown, Jocelyn Haines/James Koszuta, Ella Ales/Daniel Tsarik
RELATED CONTENT:
2019 U.S. CHAMPIONSHIPS
