5 favorites SENIOR DANCE
Tanith Belbin/Ben Agosto
2006 U.S. Championship finish: 1
Ages: Belbin 22, Agosto 24.
Hometowns: Kirkand, Quebec/ Chicago
Original- dance music: “Concierto Para Quinteto” by Astor Piazzolla
Free-dance music: Overture from “That’s Entertainment”
Personal best: 221.26, World Championships, 2006
Around the rink: Any observant driver who has zipped past the expanded convention center can’t miss the giant poster of Belbin and Agosto who are America’s “it” couple of ice dancing. The pair has earned the title by winning silver at the Turin Olympics, three straight national titles and a silver medal at the 2004 Worlds. They also are known for ringing out the old judging system with perfect 6.0s for presentation in free dance at the 2004 nationals.
Melissa Gregory/ Denis Petukhov
2006 U.S. Championship finish: 2
Ages: Gregory 25; Petukhov 28
Hometowns: Chicago/Hartford, Conn.
Original- dance music: “La Cumparsita” by Gerardo Matos Rodriguez and the Argentinean tango “Tanguera”
Free-dance music: “Adam and Eve” by Yoav Goren
Personal best: 185.26, U.S. Championships, 2006.
Around the rink: The three-time U.S. silver medalists are coming off a sixth-place finish at last month’s ISU Grand Prix Finals, their first appearance in that event. Top Americans Belbin and Agosto pulled out when Agosto reinjured his back. Gregory and Petukhov met through e-mail when both were looking for new partners in 2000. They married less than two months later. Petrukov, born in Kirov, Russia, became a U.S. citizen in 2005.
Morgan Matthews/ Maxim Zavozin
2006 U.S. Championship finish: 4
Ages: Matthews, 19; Zavozin 21
Hometowns: Chicago/Ashburn, Va.
Original- dance music: Astor Piazzolla’s “Autumn in Buenos Aires”
Free-dance music: Maksim Mrvica medley
Personal best: 187.51, World Junior Championships, 2005
Around the rink: The pair had an ambitious Grand Prix series schedule, skating in the Nebelhorn Trophy (2nd), Skate America (4th) and Cup of Russia (6th). Zavorzin, from Moscow, became a U.S. citizen on Dec. 31, 2005. They won the Junior Worlds in 2005.
Kimberly Navarro/ Brent Bommentre
2006 U.S. Championship finish: 5
Ages: Navarro, 25; Bommentre, 22
Hometowns: Santa Rosa, Calif./Chestnet Hill, Pa.
Original- dance music: John Powell’s “Assassin’s Tango” and Tom Waits’ “Little Drop of Poison”
Free-dance music: Beatles medley
Personal best: 173.76, U.S. Championships 2006.
Around the rink: In their third season, Navarro and Bommentre own a fifth-place finish at nationals. They competed in three events this season and their best finish was third at the Karl Schaefer Memorial in Vienna, Austria.
Meryl Davis/Charlie White
2006 U.S. Championship finish: 1, juniors
Ages: Davis, 20; White 19
Hometowns: West Bloomfield, Mich./Bloomfield, Mich.
Original-dance music: Astor Piazzolla’s “A Los Amigos”
Free-skate music: Borodin’s “Prince Igor Polovtsian Dances”
Personal best: 178.86, U.S. Championshps, junior, 2006
Around the rink: U.S. Figure Skating is high on these 2006 World Junior bronze medalists and defending junior national champs. In their Grand Prix senior debut at Skate Canada, they finished fourth. They followed with another fourth place at the NHK Trophy.
-Hilary Kraus