2014 U. S . JUNIOR PAIRS CHAMPIONS by MIMI WHETSTONE She was a ballerina, born into a skating fam-
ily. He was adopted from a Vietnamese orphan- age at 14 months. Both started as singles skaters in Scottsdale, Ariz. She had competed one sea- son with Craig Norris; he had skated three with Caitlin Fields. When Madeline Aaron and Max Settlage committed to their partnership, they set off on a journey that would ultimately take them to Colorado Springs, Colo., and the 2014 U.S. junior pairs title. T e youngest of three children, Aaron was
always following in the footsteps of her sister, Molly, and brother, Max. “Molly started fi gure skating when Max
started playing hockey, since they were always at the ice rink together,” Aaron said. “I started skat- ing because I had to, since my sister was skating. Once I started, Max started to dabble in fi gure skating, and he ended up passing me in the levels. My sister did pairs before I did, so being the little sister, I just had to try what she was doing.” Molly, a member of Team USA in 2009 and
2011 with partner Daniyel Cohen, competed at fi ve U.S. Championships, most recently placing 11th in the senior pairs event in 2011. Max, the 2013 U.S. champion, won his fi rst Grand Prix Series medal in 2013, claiming bronze at Skate America.
“I was the recreational skater of the family,”
Aaron said. “When I would go to nationals to watch Max and Molly, my mom would literally tell people that, too. ‘She just likes ballet. She’s the recreational skater.’”
Although she would prove to be as compet-
itive on the ice as her siblings, Aaron did enjoy dance, performing for 12 years with Ballet Arizo- na. But even her off -ice activities were modeled after her big sister. “I started dancing with Molly,” Aaron said.
“We both did dance. From that experience, I dis- covered that I love ballet more than anything. Un- til I was about 13, I did more ballet than skating. It was 45 minutes on the ice and three hours of ballet a day. I loved it.” Settlage’s story is much diff erent. He didn’t set foot on the ice until he was 10 years old. “I was a swimmer for fi ve years,” Settlage
said. “I actually started skating because I was in- vited to a skating party and I was the only one hanging on to the boards. I wanted to keep up with everyone. I did learn-to-skate for a little while, and then I took a break. I remember want- ing to skate more, so I got back into it and took private lessons. It was a recreational program. No one had more than a single Axel.” Aaron and Settlage also diff er when it comes
to sibling involvement. “I have a little brother, Will, but he’s not so
little. He’s 6-foot-5 and 15 years old. He wants to be a basketball player,” Settlage said. “He was adopted from Cambodia at about 8 months. He knows a lot about skating and it’s funny because he’s upset that he knows everything about it. I can’t name fi ve basketball players, but he can name 20 fi gure skaters.” After beginning his career in Flagstaff , Ariz.,
Settlage decided to relocate to a more serious skat- ing program in Scottsdale, where he met Aaron during a singles session. “Maddie and I used to have competitions doing triple jumps,” Settlage said. “We would try to outdo each other and see who could do each jump the best. It’s funny how things just line up, you know. Maddie and I have known each other a long time. I even went to her bat mitzvah.” Once their previous partnerships had dis-
solved, Aaron and Settlage decided to team up, re- locating to Colorado Springs, Colo., to train with coaches Dalilah Sappenfi eld and Larry Ibarra. “Molly and Max were already in Colorado
and they loved it,” Aaron said. “T ey were fi nding lots of success, so we thought that was the best move when we fi rst got together.” Aaron and Settlage were undefeated in their inaugural campaign, taking top honors at the 2011 Pacifi c Coast Sectional Championships and winning the 2011 U.S. novice title. “Novice was our fi rst season together and at
that level, it’s so much easier,” Aaron said. “No one knows what to expect and there’s no pressure. We just had fun with it and it really showed in the way we skated. After that, we put too much pressure on ourselves. It became, ‘Oh, we have to do this,’ and ‘We have to place here.’” In their junior debut, Aaron and Settlage
fi nished sixth at the U.S. Championships before earning two Junior Grand Prix (JGP) assignments in 2012. Fueled by their fi rst international medal, a bronze from JGP United States, the pair head- ed to the 2013 U.S. Championships hungry for more. Leading after the short program, Aaron and Settlage thought the title was theirs, but a disap- pointing free skate left them in third place overall. “T at was really hard for us,” Settlage said.
“We wanted to qualify for Junior Worlds and we just missed it. But we medaled, so it was really hard to be too upset about it. Our friends would congratulate us and we would try to put on a brave face and say ‘T ank You,’ but we were really disappointed.” “We had trained so hard,” Aaron added. “It
felt like we had had a real breakthrough season. After the short program, we were in fi rst place by a couple of points, so to go out there for the free and completely miss how we had trained was the worst. Had we skated fi ne and still ended up third, we would have been better off . T at’s what pushed us and helped us so much going into last season. We wanted to make sure that never hap-
pens again. We didn’t want to come away from another season with anything else we could have done or should have done. We wanted to feel like we did everything.” Determined not to let history repeat itself,
Aaron and Settlage united and refocused, recap- turing the magic of their fi rst season as a team. “T is year we just said, ‘Let’s train hard and
have fun. Let’s enjoy skating this year,’” Aaron said. “T at’s really been the biggest diff erence. We took the pressure off . We had struggled under a pressure that wasn’t really necessary. Everything, even down to how we approached practices at competition, how we handled our nerves, how we handled each other, was diff erent last year than any previous season.” “Of course everyone wants the win, but for us, last season was more about knowing that we skated the best we could,” Settlage said. “Last sea- son was our best season as far as working together. We really pushed hard and worked well together. We found out what works best for us.” “Both Dalilah and I really worked on keep- ing them focused on personal goals and not nec- essarily on outcome,” Ibarra added. “We kept our minds on doing better than previous events.” With a junior title under their belts, Aaron
and Settlage plan to maintain their joy on the ice as they head into their fi fth season together — their fi rst at the senior level. “We’re not going to treat it like we treated
junior,” Settlage said. “We’re going to do our best, but we’re not going to go into it with expectations on where we want to be. For me, the senior ath- letes are the athletes I’ve looked up to since I start- ed skating. T ese are the skaters who are Olympic level. Now we’re at the qualifying level for the Olympics. To think of where we came from — recreational skaters and ballet dancers just trying to skate at parties — it’s mind-blowing.” “Ultimately it’s everyone’s goal to make it to
senior,” Aaron added. “We made it to the top. I think this year we really have to remember that we’ve already come so far and accomplished what we needed to in order to compete at the highest level. We need to enjoy it this year. We want to be grateful for every moment this season and start to develop internationally in the senior ranks. We’d like to start being known on the scene.” As for the future? “I go to UCCS [the University of Colorado,
Colorado Springs]. I want to go into nursing,” Aaron said, hoping to follow in the footsteps of her mother, Mindy Aaron. “I’m an artist,” Settlage said. “I want to get into animation when my skating career is over. I actually get commissioned a lot. People ask me to draw things for projects and stuff like that. Once I’m done on the ice, I defi nitely want to get into that more. Something in the arts would be perfect for me.” “On the ice, we want to be contenders for
the Olympics in four years,” Aaron continued. “Everyone wants to do that, but it’s great timing for us. We have four years to develop ourselves as seniors and I think we can get there.”
SKATING 29
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