Drew Meekins
Drew Meekins (born April 10, 1985) is an American pairs skater and choreographer. With former partner Julia Vlassov, he is the 2006 World Junior Champion. Meekins attended the 2018 Olympic Games with Mirai Nagasu.[1]
Drew Meekins | |
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Drew Meekins with Jessica Rose Paetsch in 2008. | |
Personal information | |
Full name | Andrew Meekins |
Country represented | United States |
Born | Juneau, Alaska | April 10, 1985
Home town | Wellesley, Massachusetts |
Residence | Colorado Springs, Colorado |
Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) |
Former partner | Jessica Rose Paetsch Julia Vlassov |
Coach | Dalilah Sappenfield Laureano Ibarra |
Former coach | Alexander Vlassov |
Choreographer | Zuzanna Szwed Tom Dickson |
Skating club | Skating Club of Boston |
Skating career
Meekins and Vlassov won the 2006 World Junior Championships. In their first season of senior international competition, they won the silver at the Nebelhorn Trophy, placed sixth at the 2006 Cup of China, and placed 5th at the 2006 NHK Trophy.[2] Vlassov and Meekins finished in 7th place in their senior debut at the 2007 U.S. Championships. They were fifth in the free program.
Vlassov and Meekins were assigned to two Grand Prix events for the 2007–2008 season; however, they were forced to withdraw from the 2007 Skate Canada International before the event began due to an injury to Meekins's shoulder which occurred during an attempted lift in practice. Vlassov and Meekins announced the end of their partnership on November 8, 2007.[3]
U.S. Figure Skating announced on July 14, 2008, that Meekins had teamed up with Jessica Rose Paetsch.[4] Paetsch and Meekins placed 10th at the 2009 U.S. Championships.
After qualifying for the 2010 U.S. Championships, Paetsch & Meekins announced the end of their partnership in December 2009.
Meekins is now a figure skating coach at the Broadmoor skating club in Colorado Springs, CO. He has worked with many skaters, including coaching and choreographing Vincent Zhou when he won the title of 2017 Junior world Champion[5] and Mirai Nagasu when she won bronze at the 2018 Olympic Games.[1]
Meekins now coaches a wide range of skaters and offers virtual lessons and other resources on his website.[6]
Early life and family
Andrew Meekins, known as "Drew", was born in Juneau, Alaska on April 10, 1985. He is one of five children (four sons and one daughter) born to Edward Russell "Russ" Meekins, Jr. (1949-2020) and his wife Nancy Harvey. All four of his grandparents moved to Anchorage, Alaska from the Northeastern United States during the tail end of World War II and were active in business and civic affairs in Anchorage throughout the middle and late 20th century. His father, his aunt Susan Sullivan, and his grandfather Russ Meekins Sr. all served in the Alaska State Legislature as Democrats representing Anchorage. His father, the only one of the three to serve more than one term, was the House's majority leader in his last term (1981–1983). In that term, he played a key role in two events which rank amongst the most significant in the history of the Alaska Legislature: the mid-session overthrow of the Democratic House leadership and its replacement with a multi-party coalition, and the bribery conviction and subsequent expulsion of a member of the Alaska Senate. As a result of the fallout from these events, he soon found himself on the outs with Alaska's political establishment. The family left Alaska ca. 1990 and moved to Massachusetts, the home state of Nancy Harvey's parents, settling on Cape Cod.[7] One of his brothers, Cam Meekins, is a rapper.[8]
Programs
(with Vlassov)
Season | Short program | Free skating |
---|---|---|
2007–2008[9] | Malaguena by Ernesto Lecuona |
Titanic Symphony by Richard Clayderman |
2006–2007[10] |
|
Warsaw Concerto performed by Richard Clayderman |
2005–2006[11] | Picante by Vanessa Mae |
Paychek (soundtrack) by John Powell |
2004–2005[12][13] | Picante by Vanessa Mae |
Paychek (soundtrack) by John Powell |
2003–2004[14] | Beethoven's 5th |
|
Competitive highlights
With Paetsch
Event | 2008–2009 | 2009–2010 |
---|---|---|
U.S. Championships | 10th | |
Midwestern Sectionals | 3rd | |
Eastern Sectionals | 3rd |
With Vlassov
Event | 2002–03 | 2003–04 | 2004–05 | 2005–06 | 2006–07 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
World Junior Championships | 9th | 1st | |||
U.S. Championships | 4th N. | 1st N. | 2nd J. | 3rd J. | 7th |
Cup of China | 6th | ||||
NHK Trophy | 5th | ||||
Nebelhorn Trophy | 2nd | ||||
Junior Grand Prix Final | 4th | 2nd | |||
Junior Grand Prix, Croatia | 3rd | ||||
Junior Grand Prix, Andorra | 2nd | ||||
Junior Grand Prix, Ukraine | 3rd | ||||
Junior Grand Prix, Belgrade | 1st | ||||
NACS Waterloo | 4th J. | ||||
NACS Ohio | 1st N. | ||||
Eastern Sectionals | 2nd N. | 1st N. | |||
New England Regionals | 1st N. | 1st N. | |||
N. = Novice level; J. = Junior level |
References
- MACUR, JULIET. "How Mirai Nagasu Grew Up and Got Back to the Olympics". NYTimes. NYTimes. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
- Welcome to U.S. Figure Skating
- "Pairs Team Vlassov and Meekins Announces Split". U.S. Figure Skating. 2007-11-08. Retrieved 2007-11-08.
- "Pairs Team Jessica Rose Paetsch and Jon Nuss End Partnership". U.S. Figure Skating. 2008-07-14. Retrieved 2008-07-14.
- International Skating Union. "Zhou dazzles to capture world junior crown". Ice Network. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
- "Modern Figure Skating". Modern Figure Skating. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
-
- Olympic Notebook
- Former Seawolf already earned Oylmpic metal. Now he wants a metal,' The Anchorage Daily News (Alaska), Beth Bragg, February 20, 2020
- Brannen, Sarah S.; Meekins, Drew (May 23, 2012). "The Inside Edge: Sarah, Drew (try to) go hip-hop". IceNetwork. Retrieved May 23, 2012.
- "Julia VLASSOV / Drew MEEKINS: 2007/2008". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on July 26, 2011.
- "Julia VLASSOV / Drew MEEKINS: 2006/2007". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on August 26, 2007.
- "Julia VLASSOV / Drew MEEKINS: 2005/2006". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on May 14, 2006.
- "Julia VLASSOV / Drew MEEKINS: 2004/2005". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on February 10, 2005.
- Mittan, Barry (May 8, 2005). "Arctic Pair Vlassov and Meekins". Skate Today.
- "Julia Vlassov & Drew Meekins". U.S. Figure Skating. Archived from the original on October 13, 2007.
- "World Junior Figure Skating Championships: ISU Results: Pairs" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-11-04. (10.5 KB)
- Paetsch & Meekins at the U.S. Figure Skating
- Vlassov & Meekins at the U.S. Figure Skating
- Vlassov & Meekins at the International Skating Union