Roca-Adair Team Leads in Ice Dancing

Renee Roca and Donald Adair, the favorites in dance competition, grabbed the lead as the National Figure Skating Championships began Tuesday.

Roca and Adair, winners in their last two international competitions and second in the 1985 nationals behind Judy Blumberg and Michael Siebert, who have since turned professional, scored 149.90 points and 10 ordinals. They were first on all but one of the nine judges’ cards.

“We felt really relaxed and great out there,” Adair said. “We didn’t feel any pressure, if there is any.”

Roca, 22, of St. Clair Shores, Mich., and Adair, of Romulus, Mich., won Skate America and Skate Canada last year.

Suzanne Semanick and Scott Gregory, winners at the National Sports Festival last summer, were second even though Gregory fell during the waltz portion of the compulsories. They collected 146.10 points.

“We weren’t surprised that the marks were close,” Roca said. “We’re very closely matched.”

Don Leddington, coach of Semanick-Gregory, said that Gregory caught a skate in a rut, causing the fall.

In third place was the pair of Lois Luciani of Wilmington, Del., and Russ Witherby of Claymont, Del.

Rudy Galindo, a 16-year-old from San Jose took the lead after the compulsory figures in the junior men’s event. Galindo, third in the junior Worlds last year, had 98.10 points and 14 ordinals. He placed first with five judges to take a 3.10-point lead over junior world champion Erik Larson of Remona, Calif.