Belbin and Agosto Lead After a Surprising Compulsory Dance
by Michelle Wojdyla

“Can you bleep out expletives?” replied Brent Bommentre. “It’s definitely tough. It’s a challenging dance.”

“I don’t think we’ve ever said this is our favorite dance,” added partner Kim Navarro. “Not even close to that.”

Known as the most difficult compulsory dance, the Golden Waltz kicked off the senior events this afternoon at the 2007 State Farm U.S. Figure Skating Championships. As expected, reigning Olympic silver medalists Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto (Arctic FSC) have more than a three-point lead after the Golden Waltz with a score of 39.43. Perhaps not as expected is the team in second, Meryl Davis (Arctic FSC) and Charlie White (Detroit SC), who earned 36.18. Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov (SC of New York) stand third with 34.65, and Navarro (Santa Rosa FSC) and Bommentre (Philadelphia SC & HS) round out the top four with 32.43.

Belbin and Agosto floated through the two patterns of the waltz, earning only three base grades of execution among the 1s and 2s. With program components as high as 8.25, the dynamic duo is still the class of the field, despite a rough autumn. After missing the Grand Prix Final in December due to a lower back injury Agosto suffered in practice, the three-time U.S. champions showed no signs of rust.

“Unfortunately this pattern is a little too familiar,” Belbin said. “We missed the Grand Prix Final last year, too. We just did this, it feels like. Hopefully next year we’ll get through a whole season without missing anything. Actually, when we [received our credentials], it felt like we were just here. I don’t think we’ve missed a beat. It feels nice to be back on the ice in a comfortable setting in our first competition since the injury.”

The Spokane Arena held a boisterous 6,300+ spectators, something not lost on the competitors.

“It’s great to see so many people coming out to see ice dancing,” Agosto said. “The crowd here in Spokane is so warm. It’s a very nice atmosphere for us to come and compete in. You feel at home here.

“It feels like a little Olympic village, because the whole city is so involved,” Belbin added. “I got that impression right away. Even the bars have figure skating on their marquee. It’s so cool to be in a town like this where everyone is so involved and knows what’s going on. It’s everywhere; it’s all around you. It really makes you feel like you’re part of something really special. It’s great for all of us. We work so hard and this is such a big deal to us. It means a lot to see it’s a big deal to other people, too.”

Last year’s junior champions, Davis and White, made the leap into second with a fluid, graceful dance that wowed the judges. Of the 72 GOEs, Davis and White received a single negative score. Still, standing in silver medal contention was not at the front of their minds.

“Our expectations for placement, we really didn’t talk about it that much,” White said. “We talked mostly about coming in and performing well. We did exactly that. It’s a very good placement and we’re very pleased. Anything would be good after that dance.”

That dance.

Davis and White went 2 for 2 in their first two encounters with the Golden Waltz this season. White face planted in the Lake Placid Ice Dance Championships and both skaters fell at Skate Canada. Would Spokane be the event that breaks the streak?

“We had to get past it,” White said. “Coming in to this competition, we couldn’t worry about what had happened in the past. It’s been a tumultuous compulsory for us, so it’s good to get over that bump. You don’t want to worry about it when you go out there to impress the judges. You think about how much you want to skate well (and) the expression, not ‘don’t fall on your face!’”

Together longer than any other dance team in the U.S., Davis and White, now college students at the University of Michigan, have been competing since they were children. This is their first season as seniors, and their successes over the Grand Prix circuit were a change from the past.

“We’ve said before we’re used to climbing the ranks each level we move up,” Davis said. “We’re used to starting at the bottom and slowly working our way up from year to year. This year’s been all new to us.”

One of the challenges facing the Canton, Michigan-trained dancers is White’s asthma.

“Usually I have it under pretty good control,” he said. “The problem is it’s aggravated by cold. Exercise and cold. So figure skating isn’t at the top of the list I should be doing. But I’ve been with a doctor a really long time, so as long as I keep up on my medications. I have an inhaler and a few other things I have to take. It really helps and I can barely notice it out there.”

2006 silver medalists, Gregory and Petukhov, had the second highest component scores, but were behind Davis and White by 1.67, a large gap in compulsories.

“We’ve only competed this dance one time before. We’re happy with the way we skated,” Gregory said. “It’s not one of our favorites. It’s a beautiful dance, we’d have to say. A challenging dance. When it’s done right, it’s exquisite. It’s like doing a free dance.”

Gregory and Petukhov were asked how hard it is to beat Belbin and Agosto.“Well obviously we haven’t yet, so it’s quite difficult,” Gregory laughed. “If it was easy we would have done it, right? We’re both in the race. They’re obviously racing other people as well, and they’re not our only rivalries or competitors. We have other people we can think about. But it is nice to have somebody in the U.S. that you are in pretty close competition with. That’s good. It always keeps us on our toes.”

Navarro and Bommentre skated a near flawless dance to capture fourth place. Only one judged dinged them with two –1s throughout the 72 marks.

“We usually started our [practice] day with Golden,” Bommentre said. “It’s a hard way to start at 7:00 in the morning. But we persevered. We definitely persevered through it, and I think it paid off. We skated great.”

While most of the ladies wore white dresses, Navarro looked exquisite in a buttery gold. But why go golden?

“I’m an English major. I like that symbolism,” Navarro explained. “I like to keep it all in theme.”

Last year’s fourth-place finishers, Morgan Matthews and Maxim Zavozin (SC of New York), stand in fifth after Zavozin stumbled in the first pattern of the dance.

The competition continues tonight with the original dance.

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