Girdwood figure skater, Keegan Messing wins silver medal at U.S. Junior Nationals; Prepares for 2010 Olympic bid in Vancouver

Ken Smith/Turnagain Times Girdwood figure skater Keegan Messing wears the silver medal he won at the Junior U.S. National Figure Skating Championship in January. Messing, 17, is now preparing to compete at the Senior level and perhaps make it to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, B.C.

By Ken Smith
Turnagain Times

Girdwood men’s figure skater, Keegan Messing, finished the season in championship style, winning a silver medal at the men’s U.S. Junior National Championship in Cleveland, Jan. 18-25.
Messing, 17, is now preparing to step up to the next level and compete for a spot in U.S. men’s figure skating for at the 2010 Olympics.
Messing beat out 14 other junior competitors from around the country to capture the silver medal. He won the free skate competition and came in third in the short program.
He qualified for the Junior National Championship by winning the Pacific Coast Sectional Championship in Phoenix in November. The top four skaters were invited to the national competition from that event.
Messing, who was born in Girdwood, is currently training and participating in a series of short-form competitions in preparation for his Olympic bid. He competed in Wisconsin, March 20, and will be in another show in Houston in May.
In the meantime, Messing said he’s working on a new program for the upcoming season, with his first competition at the men’s Senior level in July.
“I’ve been skating two years in the junior level,” he said at his home in Girdwood Old Townsite. “Last year I came in fifth in the Junior Nationals.”
Messing will turn 18 on Jan. 23. The U.S. Figure Skating National Championship is also in January.
The average age of Olympian skaters is 22-24 and there’s never been a 17-year-old U.S. Olympian skater. Nonetheless, Messing said he’s hopeful to make it to Vancouver, B.C. for the 2010 Olympics where only three skaters will be chosen to represent men’s figure skating.
“It’s not going to be handed to me by any means,” he said. “I need to show them that I’m worth sending.”
Technically, the 5’2” Messing said he’s sound. But he realizes, growth and maturity in the sport will only come from skating with the best in the nation.
“I’d like to go to the Olympics,” he said. “Especially because it’s right here in Vancouver. If I know I can go there with confidence that’s half the battle. At this Nationals, I have nothing to lose. All I have is something to gain. I’ll have four more years to get the judges to recognize me.” The 2014 winter Olympics will be held in Russia when Messing will be 22.
Even if he doesn’t make it to the Olympics, Messing could make it on the World Team.
“Usually what happens at Nationals determines what happens the following year as far as your international chances and making team USA,” said his mother, Sally Messing.
The top U.S. men’s figure skaters are Evan Lysacek, 24, and Jeremy Abbott, 23.
Messing, who trains five days a week at the Subway Sports Center in Anchorage, which has two ice rinks, said the hardest part for him is training alone in Alaska.
“There’s no top skaters that come from Alaska,” he said. “So, I’m by myself. Whereas these guys (Lower 48 skaters) train together and push each other. When you train alone, it’s hard. You don’t really know what’s going on outside. It’s tough to stay motivated.”
And because he lives in Alaska, far removed from the national training sites, Messing logs a lot of air-time flying around the country and the world to compete and train with upper level skaters.
Messing began figure skating at the age of three. His mother said he was mesmerized watching figure skaters on television.
“He said, ‘I want to jump and spin,” she said.
From then on, Messing was on figure skates, taking to the ice naturally. High school hockey coaches also recognized his skating talents and tried to recruit him. Messing said he likes hockey and owns a pair of ice hockey skates, but the sport never captivated his interest like figure skating.
“He likes being in the spotlight,” his mother said.
And there’s also the opportunity to meet pretty girls.
“I prefer to be in the locker room with hot girls in mini-skirts than a bunch of guys in jock straps,” he said with a smile.
As for dating, Messing said he doesn’t have the time with his busy training schedule. And there’s school and classes.
Messing, a high school junior, is home schooled, which his mother said was the only way her son could put in the practice time he needed and complete all his classes.
“I skate during the day, and when I get home I try to get as much school work done as possible,” he said, “but sometimes there’s just not enough time in the day.”
Messing said he’d like to go to college and study engineering, but right now all of his focus is on figure skating.
Messing’s coach is Ralph Burghart. He lives in Wasilla and brings a wealth of experience in coaching and competition. Burghart is Austria’s seven-time National Champion. He’s been Messing’s coach since he was six years of age.
Messing is well known in Alaska for his achievements, but now he will have a chance to perform before a national audience at the highest level of his sport. And for the first time, he may actually be seen on national television. The top 12 figure skaters at the National Championship make it to the televised broadcast.
Messing is working on a new program for the upcoming season, with music from Prince’s “Purple Rain” and “Raspberry Beret” and Justin Timberlake’s “Bringing Sexy Back.” He will have a new bright purple costume, emulating the Artist Formerly Known as Prince’s trademark color.
Messing’s colorful outfit may come to symbolize the beginning of the next phase of his career, as he steps into the spotlight of the high pressure and glamorous world of the American figure skater, in hopes of shining bright himself on the greatest stage on ice.