(JTA) — American Jewish figure skater Max Aaron was part of a trio that landed the U.S. skaters in the top 10 at the ISU 2016 World Championships. The six-day event was held last week at the TD Garden in Boston. Aaron, the 2013 U.S. champion, scored 254.14 points and placed eighth overall in his third appearance at a World Championship. The U.S. men fell just shy of securing the maximum of three places for the United States at the next World Championships; they will have two spots.

Three years ago, after winning the gold medal at the 2013 U.S. Figure Skating Championship, Aaron told JTA that he grew up looking to Jewish athletic giants for inspiration. “I always thought the list needed to be longer. We needed to have a stronger representation of Jewish athletes, and I’m so happy I’m part of them now,” he said at the time.

Jason Brown, a Jewish-American skater who finished ninth at the Sochi Olympics and was fourth at the worlds last year, is in training following a back injury and was not part of the U.S. squad for this event. Also skating at the World Championships was Alexei Bychenko, who in January became the first Israeli to win a medal at the European Skating Championships, where he took the silver. He finished 13th in Boston. Other Israeli skaters competing in Boston were pairs skaters Adel Tankova and Evgeni Krasnopolski, and ice dancers, Isabell Tobias and Ilia Tkachenko.