Timothy A. McKernan II (born July 29, 1989) is an American

ice dancer Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. Ac ...

who skates in partnership with Kimberley Hew-Low for Australia. They competed at the 2017 Four Continents Championships. Representing the United States with

Piper Gilles Piper Gilles (; born January 16, 1992) is an American-Canadian ice dancer who currently represents Canada internationally. With Paul Poirier, she is the 2021 World bronze medalist and 2022–23 Grand Prix Final champion, as well as a three-tim ...

, McKernan won one medal on the

ISU Junior Grand Prix The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (titled the ISU Junior Series in the 1997–98 season) is a series of international junior-level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded in the disciplines of men ...

series and became the 2008 U.S. national junior silver medalist.

Personal life

McKernan was born in

York, Pennsylvania York ( Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Yarrick''), known as the White Rose City (after the symbol of the House of York), is the county seat of York County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the south-central region of the state. The populati ...

. He is an

army brat A military brat (colloquial or military slang) is a child of serving or retired military personnel. Military brats are associated with a unique subcultureDavid C. Pollock, Ruth E. van Reken. ''Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds'', Revis ...

and has lived all over the country. His mother, Vicky, is a

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

in the

US Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed Forces. Since July 2020, ...

.Gilles-McKernan: Tim McKernan
/ref> His father, Timothy A. McKernan Sr., is a Colonel in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

and was deployed to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

at the time of the 2007 U.S. Championships and to

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

at the time of the 2008 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. After graduating from

Cheyenne Mountain High School Cheyenne Mountain High School (CMHS) is located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States. It is the only high school in Cheyenne Mountain School District 12. Its campus contains several buildings, including a recreation center, library, cafet ...

, McKernan attended the

University of Colorado at Colorado Springs The University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) is a public research university in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It is one of four campuses that make up the University of Colorado system. As of Fall 2017, UCCS had over 12,400 undergraduate an ...

and then Eastern Michigan University. He graduated in December 2013 with a bachelor's degree in Earth Sciences. From 2013-2019, McKernan was an assistant coach at the International Skating Academy at the Arctic Edge of Canton in Canton, MI USA. He taught alongside Marina Zoueva, Oleg Epstein, Johnny Johns, and Massimo Scali. He continued to teach in Canton after the departure of Marina Zoueva(Feb 2019) until October 2021. He now is a coach at the Dubai Mall Ice Rink in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Career

McKernan competed with Alicia Wallace in the 2002–03 season on the juvenile level. They competed at the 2003 U.S. Junior Championships and placed 9th in their qualifying group. In January 2003, he teamed up with

. They began competing on the Intermediate level in 2004. During their career, they were the 2007 U.S. Junior Pewter Medalists and the 2008 U.S. Junior silver medalists. They announced the end of their partnership on May 22, 2008. Gilles / McKernan were coached by Patti Gottwein,

Christopher Dean Christopher Colin Dean, OBE (born 27 July 1958) is a British ice dancer who won a gold medal at the 1984 Winter Olympics with his skating partner Jayne Torvill. They also won a bronze medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics. Early life Dean grew u ...

, and Rich Griffin. McKernan teamed up with Shannon Wingle in the summer of 2008. They are coached by

Igor Shpilband Igor Yuryevich Shpilband (russian: Игорь Юрьевич Шпильбанд, born July 14, 1964) is an American ice dancing coach and former competitor for the Soviet Union. He is the 1983 World Junior champion with former partner Tatiana G ...

and

Marina Zueva Marina Olegovna Zoueva or Zueva (russian: Марина Олеговна Зуева; born 9 April 1956) is a Russian figure skating coach, choreographer, and former competitor in ice dancing. Representing the Soviet Union with Andrei Vitman, she ...

. They made their international debut at the

2008–09 ISU Junior Grand Prix The 2008–09 ISU Junior Grand Prix was the 12th season of the ISU Junior Grand Prix, a series of international junior level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. It was the Junior-level complement to the 2008–09 ISU Grand ...

event in

Ostrava Ostrava (; pl, Ostrawa; german: Ostrau ) is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic, and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It has about 280,000 inhabitants. It lies from the border with Poland, at the confluences of four rive ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

, where they placed 7th. In the 2016–17 season, McKernan began competing with Kimberley Hew-Low for Australia. They debuted their partnership at the

NRW Trophy The NRW Trophy (also known as the NRW Summer Trophy or NRW Autumn Trophy) is an annual international figure skating competition organized by the Skating Union of North Rhine-Westphalia and since 2007, it has been sanctioned by the Deutsche Eislauf ...

in early November 2016.

Programs

(with Gilles)

Competitive highlights

''CS: Challenger Series; JGP:

Junior Grand Prix The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (titled the ISU Junior Series in the 1997–98 season) is a series of international junior-level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded in the disciplines of men ...

With Hew-Low for Australia

With Wingle for the United States

With Gilles for the United States

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:McKernan, Timothy American male ice dancers 1989 births Living people Figure skaters from Colorado Springs, Colorado Sportspeople from York, Pennsylvania