John Blanchette: Michigan pair builds resume

They had won the Nebelhorn Trophy. This is what passed for their resume.

Now, that’s a nice enough bauble, but the Nebelhorn is to the figure skating circuit what the Fort Worth Bowl is to the BCS. Nonetheless, Brooke Castile and Ben Okolski felt great about the accomplishment, until they learned about the prize money.

“There wasn’t any,” Okolski said.

For a couple of hand-to-mouth, live-with-the-parents, 20-something skaters, that tends to temper the thrill of victory. Yet it was at the very same time that they discovered another source of emotional currency, when their coach, Johnny Johns, told them, “I think you can be national champions this year.”

If only he’d taken that faith to Vegas.

The long-shot angels were undeniably served Friday at the Spokane Arena when Castile and Okolski won the pairs title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, an unscripted detour that a not-quite sellout crowd of 9,250 found delicious.

It wasn’t just that they hammered two-time champions Rena Inoue and John Baldwin, which was unlikely enough. More improbable was that Castile and Okolski jumped from eighth place to first in the space of a year – a feat that singles skater Rudi Galindo managed in 1996, but no one else in memory. Yes, three of the teams ahead of them a year ago did not skate here, but none of those pairs were going to measure up to the Michigan duo’s performance Friday.

Figure skating delivers these moments all too rarely. Even under the revamped scoring system, dues must be paid and actual performance is regularly trumped by history and reputation. But, hey, rookies don’t get the calls in the NBA, either.

In that regard, Castile and Okolski had to have some help, and got it. Baldwin, as tends to be his trademark, wiped out on a side-by-side triple loop, and then Inoue couldn’t land the throw triple axel. The cleanup pair, Naomi Nari Nam and Themi Leftheris, played Zamboni, too, on their throws after a strong start and an open door to the World Championships slammed shut.

Castile and Okolski simply kicked that door in with not just a clean but a spectacular skate – and, naturally, there was nothing more spectacular than their split triple twist, which isn’t so much a trick for them but a cause.

“We’re trying to make a statement,” Castile observed.

And that is?

“In the ‘90s, or even two years ago, it was something you had to have to be a top team at worlds or nationals,” she said. “Now people aren’t even doing them. I think a triple twist really shows true pairs skating.

“It’s not an easy element. It’s hard to do them – not only in competition, but day-to-day in practice. It’s just a statement that it needs to be done.”

So why isn’t it?

“Because you don’t get many points for it,” she said. “A triple twist, level one, is scored the same as a double twist, level four, and that’s just a mistake.”

Echoed Okolski, “Any pairs spin, no matter how hard it is, is easier than a triple twist. That should speak for itself.”

But it doesn’t. This is, apparently, yet another glitch of the new judging system. The levels Castile speaks of are aspects of difficulty in a maneuver – and the most difficult execution of a double twist is indeed assigned the same points as the least difficult triple twist. So, with the increased likelihood of a fall, there’s absolutely no incentive for a pair to attempt the triple.

Unless you’re trying to change the world. And it looks as if they might get company in that mission.

“They’ve inspired us,” Baldwin said. “I think you’re going to see the triple twist back in our program. With the system the way it is, it doesn’t award (the triple) enough, but when they do it the way they do, they are making a big statement with it – and it will be enough.

“We’ll put it in our program, too – as long as it’s comparable to theirs.”

Revolution is generally not the duty of skating’s scufflers, which is what Castile and Okolski have been to this point.

They have been a pair for five years, finishing second in nationals their last year as juniors, in 2004. Since then, it’s been mostly sevenths and eighths, with hard work and hard choices in between.

What you don’t see behind the sparkly costumes and bright smiles are the lengths the down-the-standings hopefuls have to go to afford lessons and ice time and forge opportunities. U.S. Figure Skating doles out some support based on achievement, but Castile and Okolski bankroll their dreams by teaching “Learn to Skate” classes, living at home and getting some help from their parents. They take shortcuts – Castile designed their costumes. And they fret.

“You’re going through the year, hoping you can pay bills to continue to skate so you can make it to nationals,” Okolski said. “It weighs heavily on my mind. Every time I want to go out and do something, I stop my self and say, ‘Wait – I have to coach this many hours to pay for this night.’ So I’d better just go home and read.”

Today they can read about themselves. It’s time to update the resume.