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Posted at 11:23 a.m., Saturday, January 26, 2008

Figure skating: McLaughlin, Brubaker win pairs title

By Nancy Armour
Associated Press National Writer

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker got the title while John Baldwin Jr. got the girl.

McLaughlin and Brubaker, last year's junior world champions, served notice they're going to be a threat on the senior stage as well, winning the pairs title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships today. Their overall score of 190.74 was more than seven points ahead of Baldwin and Rena Inoue, two-time U.S. champions.

"It's all a blur," Brubaker said.

Inoue's probably saying the same thing. As she and Baldwin took their bows, he dropped to his knees and asked his longtime girlfriend to marry him. She appeared stunned — or maybe she just couldn't hear — and he asked her a second time before she said yes, hugging him as tears rolled down her face.

The only thing tarnishing the afternoon is the knowledge that McLaughlin and Brubaker won't get to take on the world — yet. She only turned 15 in September, missing the age cutoff for the world championships in March by two months. Still, you can bet the Germans and Chinese will be keeping an eye on these two.

Brooke Castile and Ben Okolski, last year's champions, were third.

Later Saturday, Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto go for a record-tying fifth straight ice dance title while 14-year-old Mirai Nagasu tries to leave her very first senior competition with the women's crown.

The United States has a history of mediocrity in pairs in recent years, and McLaughlin and Brubaker are the best hope to change that. They're already defying expectations with their quick rise. It takes most couples years to develop the harmony and unison of a world-class pairs team, but McLaughlin and Brubaker have had it since they started skating together just two years ago.

They routed the junior ranks last year, winning every competition they entered. They qualified for the senior Grand Prix final — they had to withdraw after the short program when he developed cellulitis — and were, without question, the class of the field at nationals.

No one else can match their speed or their power. But they're deceptively graceful, doing every trick with such beauty and control it looks like child's play. On their lifts, he carries her as if she's weightless and twirls her in the air as easily as a baton.

But what truly sets them apart is her expressiveness — especially at such a young age. Skating to "Romeo and Juliet," she displayed all the passion and angst of the star-crossed lover.

"In the new judging system, a lot of pairs are doing the same things," she said. "We want to stand out and be creative."

Their only flaw was her falling on their side-by-side triple salchow. But it wasn't enough to knock them off the top of the podium. When they finished their performance, Brubaker dropped to the ice, pumping his fists, while McLaughlin skated away, holding her hands to her face.

Nothing could spoil their joy — even the knowledge that their season is now finished.

"(Missing worlds) gives us another year to grow as a team," McLaughlin said.

The rest of the world can consider itself warned.