2015 U. S . J UN IOR P AIR S C HA MPIO NS ‘Built on trust’ by NICK MCCARVEL Te first time Caitlin Fields and Ernie Utah
Stevens ever skated together was Aug. 11, 2014. Less than five months later, they were U.S. junior champions. In sports — and in particular in figure skating — things take time. Perfection can’t be rushed; hard work can’t be skipped; teams can’t be created. But for Fields and Stevens, it all clicked when it needed to; their partnership proved golden. “It’s crazy looking back at that date now,”
Fields, 19, said. “We never let anything get in the way of what we wanted and we just wanted to make it happen. Serguei scared me at the be- ginning, to be honest. Tere is no real easy way out of anything, to get anywhere. You just have to do it.” Serguei is Fields and Stevens’ Carmel, Indi- ana-based coach, Serguei Zaitsev. After Stevens stopped skating with Zaitsev’s daughter Caitlin, Zaitsev paired him up with Fields, who was also searching for a partner of her own. Instantly, Zaitsev knew he had a hit. “Tey were both trying to find partners, but the season was made in the first minutes,” Zait- sev said. “In the first hour of them skating to- gether, we just knew. Te most important thing for pairs is physical chemistry and balance, both mentally and emotionally. By the time that I saw them, I thought it was such an interesting mix. It was the perfect mix.” Spend a few minutes with Caitlin and Ernie
and you’re assured to have a good time. Te two are “really good friends,” as Ernie calls them, and it’s apparent: Tey’re constantly making jokes, endlessly finishing one another’s sentences and always recalling moments on the ice when — aside from the hard work — fun has been had. “What makes it so fun is the people you
work with,” Stevens, a 21-year-old Kentucky na- tive, said. “Caitlin and I find that balance. We love working hard together, and then we love laughing and having fun, too. Tis coming sea- son is going to be the most interesting season that we have had yet. Serguei is a Russian coach. … with pain comes a lot of glory. When you fall you have to pick yourselves up.” Tis year will mark a transition for Fields
and Stevens into the senior realm. After their title in January, the two were fifth at the World Junior Championships in March, just their second in- ternational competition as a pair. Zaitsev knows that moving up means throwing out what has been accomplished and focusing on the future. “All of us are clear that everything that hap- pened this last year, it’s done; we’re not looking
34 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015
back,” Zaitsev explained. “We’re trying to push the envelope further. Teir lines, their details, what will separate them from the rest? It’s the little details. We’re trying to catch up and adapt. We should take our beliefs and our internal re- solve and put it in a place on the ice.” Tat internal resolve is what got them
through this season, too. In December, weeks before the U.S. Championships was set to com-
mence, Fields was taken in for an emergency ap- pendectomy. Te pair didn’t know if they would be able to compete at the Torun Cup in Poland, where a qualifying score needed to be registered in order to be eligible for Worlds should they perform well in Greensboro.
“I was definitely worried about Poland,”
Fields, an Arizona native, recalled. “I knew that I wasn’t going to let this silly surgery get in my way. Tere was no way that I was going to give up my chance to go to Junior Worlds.” “It wasn’t a fun time,” Stevens echoed. “I
will never forget sitting in the hospital around Christmas and hanging ornaments. I said it was going to be fun in Poland skating. And there was so much at stake.” No matter what is at stake — be it in Po-
land, Greensboro, Worlds or beyond — Fields and Stevens are finding that they rely on each other for strength. Do they have the makings of a great team? “We just have to look at each other and
know that this is home, and wherever we are to- gether in the world, we’re home,” Stevens said. Now that future includes seniors, which the
pair doesn’t bat an eye at. “Tis is our year to learn from all the chal-
lenges we’ll face,” Fields said. “It’s about learning for the future.” “We’re a team that’s built on trust,” Stevens
concluded. “We have a plan. We are so dedicated to one another that we can plan long term. It’s hard to bet on your partner, but we’re a team that is ready and capable. We’re ready to go.”
Fields and Stevens united on skating future
In their first year together, Caitlin Fields and Ernie Utah Stevens made plenty of noise as the U.S. junior champs.
JAY ADEFF/U.S. FIGURE SKATING
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