Ice skating duo in Park Ridge striving to win national title this month

PARK RIDGE, Ill. - A skating duo just won a big competition and this month, they are hoping to do it again.

The pair trains in Park Ridge at the Oakton Park Recreation Center.

Baylen Taich and Michael Chapa skate like professionals on the ice. They've been skating for more than two decades combined, but hand in hand, less than a year.

"We have double twist, double loop and double flip throw and we can do double sow throw, but we haven't done it in a while," said Taich.

She's only 13 and he's 21 years old. Still, their coordination on the ice is impeccable. 

Taich skates in the morning, goes to school then heads back to the rink every day. Chapa goes to Lake Forest College and is hoping to head to the Olympics in 2026.

They were introduced last February by Oakton Ice Arena Coach and Skating Director Chris Knierim, who was an Olympic skater and a three-time National Champion alongside his wife, Alexa.

"I knew that they would do a good job, right? I didn't know that they were going to go into the pair final and win!" said Knierim. 

This pair just won the Novice Pair Championship and are about to try for the national title later this month.

"The top four teams from the final are going to compete at Nationals and we're going to compete against them," said Chapa. "We're going to see how we place hopefully. Now we won the final, so we'll hopefully win again."