U.S. Figure Skating Championships: Bay Shore siblings Oona and Gage Brown finish sixth in ice dance event
Oona Brown and Gage Brown from Bay Shore skate during the free dance competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. Credit: AP/Jeff Roberson
Long Islanders made their final claims for a spot on the United States’ Olympic figure skating team this weekend.
Bay Shore siblings Oona and Gage Brown earned a score of 194.31 for sixth place in ice dance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Saturday night in St. Louis.
Three ice dance pairs will be selected to Team USA for the Milan Cortina Olympics in February. The final team lineup will be announced at 2 p.m. Sunday.
“I think we left it all out there tonight and we're super happy with how we skated,” Gage Brown, 23, said after Saturday’s performance. “The crowd was absolutely phenomenal. This season has not been an easy one and we're super happy to cap off like that. Maybe there's more to our season, we don't know, but we're happy to cap nationals off with that performance.”
On Thursday, the Browns finished their first rhythm dance program in sixth place (75.72) while Jimmy Ma of Great Neck stood in 11th place (75.56) after his men’s short program. Ma skated his last program in the men’s free skate finals late Saturday night and finished 11th with a final score of 225.71.
Three men’s singles skaters will be selected to Team USA.
“There’s a lot more in the air than normal competitions,” Ma told Golden Skate after his short program on Thursday. “But, you know, one step at a time. It never gets easier. You just kind of have to accept it, embrace it and fight through it.”
Northport’s Audrey Shin and her partner, Balazs Nagy, finished fifth (185.10) in the pairs free skate finals on Friday night. Two free skate pairs will be selected to the Olympic team.
“Overall, this competition, we had a really strong short and that's something we're super proud of,” Shin said after Friday’s performance. “Coming into the long, we felt a little bit more nervous, but we still tried our best no matter what and tried to finish strong.”
Tess Ferguson is a reporter on Newsday's high school sports staff. She joined the team after graduating with a journalism degree from Ithaca College in 2025.
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