Tim Benz: Pittsburgh-trained ice dance team competing at nationals with Olympic dreams

Let’s say you are a defenseman for the Pittsburgh Penguins. You’ve never played on the NHL stage before. Neither has your partner on the blue line. Your first game together is going to take place in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Let that sink in for a minute.

For Pittsburgh-trained ice dancers Cara Murphy and Josh Levitt, that was their reality at last year’s National Championship in Las Vegas. It was their first year working together, with no competitive qualifying season because of coronavirus restrictions. But they got an invitation to compete anyway because they registered at the championship level before the season was slated to begin.

With covid-19 constantly getting in the way, though, they didn’t hit the ice in front of judges as partners until the National Championship.

“There were no spectators,” Murphy said of the trip to Vegas. “Just cardboard cutouts. So it was a good way to ease into it. It wasn’t an arena full of people. With (nationals) being our first competition, it was very exciting. But also a good way to get comfortable.”

Now, after a more familiar U.S. Figure Skating qualifying series, Murphy and Levitt (both 23 years old) earned their way back again to the National Championship this weekend in Nashville (Friday and Saturday on NBC Sports). The top three pairs will qualify for the Olympics from the championship ice dancing event and will represent Team USA at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing (Feb. 4-Feb. 20).

Levitt and Murphy have been training at the Robert Morris University Island Sports Center with coaching from Rachel Lane McCarthy and Andrejs Sitkis. Levitt, a native of Virginia, actually relocated to Pittsburgh so he could practice full-time with Murphy, who is a native of Mt. Lebanon and a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh.

‘So, how did you two meet?’

The story of how they connected in the internet age sounds like two people looking for love more so than Olympic gold.

“There’s a website for it,” Levitt said with a laugh.

No. Not a dating app, but a skating industry site called IcePartnerSearch.com, which provides connections for prospective partners.

“Cara had a profile up. I was looking to change disciplines into dance. And I saw that she was tall enough (5-foot-5) for me. There aren’t many girls who are tall enough to skate with a 6-foot-3 guy. But I saw that she had some amazing programs up there. A really good skater. So I messaged her,” Levitt said.

Levitt was a pairs skater looking for a new partner in the ice dancing discipline. Murphy had competed in the singles and solo dance events.

Murphy was in the same boat as Levitt, looking for someone tall enough to be a proper fit on the ice, as she made a switch in competitions.

And trying to find someone with whom she had the right chemistry.

“I learned a lot from Josh,” Murphy said. “He has had partners in the past whereas I was just a singles skater. I’ve learned a lot about how to communicate with a partner. When things get tough, how to move past it. We got along really well from the first tryout. We are both kind people. It worked out well.”

So the two began messaging. Levitt came to Pittsburgh for a pair of tryouts together. Not long thereafter, Levitt was packed up and headed toward Pittsburgh for good.

That’s where his coaches and those at the Island Sports Center came into play. Helping to find him an apartment five minutes from the rink. Hooking him up with prospective young skaters to coach so he could earn a living while training here.

Levitt says the welcome he has received from Pittsburgh made the life-transition portion of his adventure easy.

“Everyone here has been great. So nice. Helping me get students to coach. Get set up. It’s been wonderful to be part of this community and know everybody,” Levitt said.

Learning on the fly

On the outside, many may think that skating is skating. How different can the sports be, right?

The answer is: A lot.

In ice dancing, there are no overhead lifts. No jumps. More edgework. So perhaps not as much of a focus on the power of the sport. But more so an emphasis on grace, expression, fluidity of movement, musicality and a symbiotic relationship with your partner.

“For pairs, it’s a lot more strength-based elements,” Levitt said. “And for dance, it’s much more about body movement and expression and extensions to create pictures on the ice.”

Lane McCarthy said the adjustments for a solo skater/dancer and a pairs skater aren’t easy. But Murphy and Levitt were quick studies.

“(Levitt) passed all of his compulsory dances in one year. Which is almost impossible. That’s how hard he worked,” Lane McCarthy said. “With Cara, the main thing for her was getting used to dancing with a partner. Trusting Josh with the big lifts. Josh is used to doing big lifts. Cara wasn’t used to that yet. Now it’s so natural to her.”

Sitkis felt like the partners had the right tools to make the transition at a championship level.

“They were both very skilled skaters when they came,” Sitkis said. “So it wasn’t like they were starting from zero. It wasn’t easy. But it wasn’t unnatural for them to skate together… Over a period of two years, they came a long way.”

Gold within their grasp

The Murphy-Levitt tandem honed an on-ice relationship quickly enough to become the first pair to reach Nationals from the RMU ISC ranks since Marsha Snyder and Peter Fischl in 2008, also coached by Lane McCarthy.

“It’s an awesome honor,” said Beth Sutton, RMU ISC skating director. “It’s a great representation of the athletes that we have here in Pittsburgh and at the Island Sports Center.”

By Lane McCarthy’s own admission, reaching the Olympics is a “long shot” for Murphy and Levitt. After all, the top two American pairs that will be competing in Nashville (Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue, Madison Chock and Evan Bates) are both candidates for the medal stand at the Olympics.

“My goal is for them to have the best skate they could possibly have,” Lane McCarthy said. “They worked so hard for this event. I just want them to have an amazing experience and hopefully get their highest score of the year.”

That would be anything above 111 points. For Murphy, putting their talents on display on America’s largest stage for their sport is a reward on its own.

“I have been watching the U.S. National Championships on TV since I started skating at age six,” Murphy said. “Being there competing with my role models is an absolute dream come true. It was a surreal experience last year and we are thrilled to have qualified this year… I feel honored to represent this program and this rink at the national level.”

This time, having earned their way there. This time, not in front of cardboard cutouts.