Local skaters compete at national championships

Kimmie Berkovich, Micah Jaffe and Coach Jackie Miles wait for their scores at the U.S. National Figure Skating Championships. [Photo courtesy Jackie Miles]

Four skaters who skate with the Pavilion Skating Club of Cleveland Heights competed at the United States Figure Skating Championships in Omaha, Neb.

Hannah Rosinski and Jacob Jaffe finished eighth in Junior Dance. Last year, they were third in Novice Dance. Rosinski and Jaffe have been skating together for two years; prior to that they competed with other partners, as well as competing in singles and pairs. Their goal for this year's competition had been to place among the top eight.

Kimmie Berkovich and Micah Jaffe, who have been skating together for three and a half years, finished tenth in Novice Dance.

Jackie Miles, who coaches both pairs, was proud of her skaters' performance in Omaha. "It was great seeing them skate so well . . . they worked so hard," she said. “They skated as well as they could, and were so pleased.”

The first step to qualifying for Nationals is competing at the Sectional Championships. The country is divided into three sections—West, Midwest and East. The top four finishers at sectionals at each level qualify for the National Championships, and both teams from Pavilion were third in their respective levels. There are five levels at the National Championships—Juvenile, Intermediate, Novice, Junior and Senior. In past years, Juvenile and Intermediate skaters competed at a separate national championship, but starting in 2013, all five levels competed together.

Miles said it was nice for her skaters to get to see internationally competitive skaters practice. In the past, her skaters  attended a dance camp with 2011 World Ice Dance Champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White, and Jacob Jaffe met Sarah Hughes, 2002 Olympic champion, at the 2012 National Championships.

In 2012, Miles coached Holly Moore and Daniel Klaber to the Novice Dance National title, with Rosinski and Jacob Jaffe finishing in third. Moore and Klaber have since moved to Michigan to skate.

The Jaffe brothers reside in Cleveland Heights. Jacob is a 2012 graduate of Hawken School, where Micah is a junior. After Nationals, Jacob went to Israel to volunteer for five months, and in the fall he will join Brown University's Class of 2017.

Rosinski, of University Heights, is a senior at Beaumont School and is undecided about what she will do in the fall. Berkovich, a junior at Ohio Virtual Academy who lives in South Euclid, will be moving out of state.

All four skaters have been skating since they took group lessons through Pavilion's Learn-to-Skate program. Nationals was the last competition together for both pairs, but Micah Jaffe is looking for a new partner.

Miles, who was also a National competitor, believes the skaters who currently skate at Pavilion have a great future ahead of them. "We have a great group of young skaters at the Pavilion, and they're working so hard," she said. "They could make Nationals one day."