Sun Valley Figure Skating Club (SVFSC) member Lauren Farr and her partner Mac Kern of Seattle, Wash. won the silver medal in Junior Pairs at the Eastern Sectional Championships Nov. 11-15 in Boston.
Second in short program, third in freeskate and second in the final standings, they qualified to compete for a national title at the 2009 U.S. Figure Skating Championships Jan. 18-25, 2009 in Cleveland.
SVFSC officials said Farr and Kern have put themselves in contention to medal at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. After that, they will move up to the highest competitive level, Senior Pairs.
In Boston, Farr and Kern's graceful flow combined with athletic lifts, artistic spins and difficult throw jumps earned them second place on the podium next to Tracy Tanovich and Michael Chau of Florida.
Farr, 18, began skating when she was four. She competed for the SVFSC in local club competitions and regional Ladies Freeskate events until two years ago, when her interests shifted to pairs skating.
In an online search she found her partner Mac Kern, a 21-year-old college student at University of Pennsylvania. The two met to test their compatibility as skating partners.
The collaboration of Farr and Kern felt right from the start. So, with the support of her parents, Dirk and Pam Farr, Lauren made the difficult decision to finish her junior and senior years of high school through correspondence courses so she could move to Delaware to train with Kern.
Last year, after only six months of training together, the couple finished in second place at Eastern Sectionals and took seventh at the U.S. Championships in Novice Pairs at Eastern Sectionals.
With this year's impressive second-place finish at the higher Junior Level, Farr and Kern are burnishing their reputation in pairs skating.
If they skate well at nationals and continue their success next year at the Senior Level, an Olympic future is a definite possibility for Farr and Kern.
The SVFSC, in announcing the big news, also saluted former Sun Valley skater Caroline Patton for her fourth place finish in Juvenile Ice Dancing. Patton and her partner, William Dean, won pewter medals at Eastern Sectionals.
Video of Eastern Sectionals, including Farr's and Patton's events, can be viewed on IceNetwork.com.
Lauren Farr and Mac Kern won the silver in Junior Pairs during the Eastern Sectional Championships Nov. 11-15 at Boston, Mass. Lauren is a Sun Valley Figure Skating Club member.
