Belbin and Agosto on Their Way to the Olympic Winter Games as Champions
by Daphne Backman
 (St. Louis, Mo., 1/13/06) - Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto (Arctic FSC) proved once again why they are two-time U.S. champions and World silver medalists with an expressive and authentic free dance to flamenco music that earned them a third-straight title and a standing ovation. Belbin and Agosto’s combination lifts were complex but controlled with effortless transitions and precise positions, while the rest of the program was filled with intricate choreography. This is Belbin’s first title as a U.S. citizen (she was sworn in on Dec. 31, 2005).
“The title actually feels different for a number of reasons,” Belbin said. “Obviously, the biggest is that we can finally complete as two American citizens. We felt a great connection with the crowd tonight. It felt really amazing, because it was the largest crowd that we have ever seen at a national championship for ice dancing. The ice dancing was just phenomenal tonight. I would like to applaud all of our competitors, because I think it is phenomenal how far we have come.”
Belbin and Agosto were named to the Olympic Team, as were silver medalists Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov (SC of New York) and bronze medalists Jamie Silverstein (Arctic FSC) and Ryan O’Meara (Coyotes SC of Arizona).
Scoring a total of 107.49 in the free dance, Belbin and Agosto’s total score of 215.29 was more than 30 points higher than Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov (SC of New York). Gregory and Petukhov skated to Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet” and Vanessa Mae’s “Art of War” for their free dance. They had good unison on their twizzles, and their lifts were controlled and executed well, but the program lacked the usual spark.
“I had a rough skate,” Gregory said. “The music for some reason felt like it was twice as slow as it did on the practices. So, I think from the beginning that it threw us off a little bit. We had some little mistakes here and there, stuff that normally doesn’t happen. Usually, free dance is our strongest suit, but nobody’s perfect.”
Jamie Silverstein (Arctic FSC) and Ryan O’Meara’s (Coyotes SC of Arizona) choreography highlighted Silverstein’s flexibility and expression. Several of the lifts included Silverstein in a split or Biellmann position. They finished second in the free dance and third overall. Silverstein’s last appearance at the U.S. Championships was 2000 where she finished second with partner Justin Pekarek. O’Meara was the 2005 U.S. bronze medalist with Lydia Manon. Silverstein and O’Meara have been partners less than a year, so their third-place finish is testament to their talent and determination.
“We really, really wanted this,” Silverstein said. “We were kind of afraid to say how much we wanted it. It was just a victory getting here for me. I have such a super star partner that believes in me – and our coaches – and Tanith (Belbin) and Ben (Agosto) deserve so much credit, too – they are part of the reason we get to go to the Olympics.”
Morgan Matthews and Max Zavozin, the 2005 World Junior champions, skated to “Tango de Roxanne” from the motion picture “Moulin Rouge.” The difficult choreography and expression of the program stood out but was marred by a fall by Matthews at the end of the serpentine footwork. They finished sixth in the free dance and fourth overall.
Skating to a fun medley of music by Michael Buble, Kimberly Navarro and Brent Bommentre received a partial standing ovation for their energetic performance. They finished fourth in the free dance and fifth overall.
2005 pewter medalists Tiffany Stiegler (Los Angeles FSC) and Sergey Magerovskiy (Arctic FSC) finished seventh skating to a dramatic piece of music, “Notre Dame de Paris.” Stiegler and Magerovskiy changed training locations to work with Nikoli Morozov in Simsbury, Conn., just a few months ago.
Jennifer Wester and Daniil Barantsev (Dallas FSC), who also train with Morozov, entertained the audience with a lively program to Russian folk music.
2005 U.S. junior ice dancing champions Trina Pratt and Todd Gilles skated an innovative program to “House of Flying Daggers” and moved up one spot to finish eighth in their senior debut. They were seventh in the free dance.
|