Timothy A. McKernan II^[1] (born July 29, 1989) is an American ice dancer who skated most recently in partnership with Kimberley Hew-Low for Australia. They competed at the 2017 Four Continents Championships. Representing the United States with Piper Gilles, McKernan won one medal on the ISU Junior Grand Prix series and became the 2008 U.S. national junior silver medalist.

Personal life

McKernan was born in York, Pennsylvania. He is an army brat and has lived all over the country.^[2][3] His mother, Vicky, is a lieutenant colonel in the US Army Reserve.^[4] His father, Timothy A. McKernan Sr., is a Colonel^[5] in the U.S. Army and was deployed to Afghanistan at the time of the 2007 U.S. Championships^[6] and to Iraq at the time of the 2008 U.S. Figure Skating Championships.^[7]

After graduating from Cheyenne Mountain High School, McKernan attended the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs 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 began to teach as a freelance coach at Dubai Ice Rink in Dubai Mall in the UAE in November 2021. In November 2022, he successfully launched Oasis Skating Club in the UAE. He is President and Head Coach of this club, which is now the 3rd largest club in the country.

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.^[8]

In January 2003, he teamed up with Piper Gilles.^[9] 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.^[10] Gilles / McKernan were coached by Patti Gottwein, Christopher Dean, and Rich Griffin. In 5 seasons together, Gilles and McKernan won 4 US National medals(2004 Juvenile Bronze, 2005 Intermediate Gold, 2007 Junior Pewter, 2008 Junior Silver)

McKernan teamed up with Shannon Wingle in the summer of 2008. They are coached by Igor Shpilband and Marina Zueva. They made their international debut at the 2008–09 ISU Junior Grand Prix event in Ostrava, Czech Republic, where they placed 7th.

In the 2016–17 season, McKernan began competing with Kimberley Hew-Low for Australia under the tutelage of Marina Zoueva and Massimo Scali. They debuted their partnership at the NRW Trophy in early November 2016. Kimberley and Timothy represented Australia in the Olympic Qualifying Event for the 2018 Olympic Games. Both skaters retired from competitive Skating in December 2017.

Programs

(with Gilles)

Competitive highlights

CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

With Hew-Low for Australia

With Wingle for the United States

With Gilles for the United States