National Figure Skating Championships : Adair and Roca Lead All the Way and Dance to a Title

Donald Adair and Renee Roca led all the way and clinched the ice-dancing crown Friday night with a smooth performance in the free program at the National Figure Skating Championships.

Adair, of Romulus, Mich., and Roca, of St. Clair Shores, Mich., skated just ahead of their nearest pursuers, Suzanne Semanick and Scott Gregory. And they finished barely ahead of Semanick-Gregory, whose exciting final program included a stirring “Sabre Dance.”

The top two teams go to the world championships in Geneva, Switzerland, next month.

In third place were Lois Luciani and Russ Witherby.

The other gold medal awarded Friday, before a small crowd of 3,206 that braved a winter storm, went to 14-year-old Cindy Bortz of Tarzana, Calif., in the junior women’s class.

Defending men’s singles champion Brian Boitano, aided by acupuncture treatments for an ailing ankle, won the short program to maintain his overall lead.

Boitano, 22, of Sunnyvale, Calif., received five 5.8s out of a possible 6.0 for composition and style in his routine, which included a triple lutz-double loop combination jump. It was the first time he had attempted any jumps in more than a week.

Christopher Bowman of Van Nuys, Calif., remained second and Scott Williams of Redondo Beach, Calif., was third after two rounds.

Caryn Kadavy tightened the women’s championship event when she won the short program.

Kadavy, 18, of Colorado Springs, Colo., staged a vivaciously entertaining short program to move into second place in the overall standings, behind Debi Thomas and ahead of defending champion Tiffany Chin. Kadavy received two 5.9 scores for presentation and style.

Kadavy was first on five of the nine judges’ cards, giving her 103.50 points and 14 ordinals. Thomas, of San Jose, Calif., won with three judges and had 103.20 points and 16 ordinals.

That was good enough to keep the Stanford University freshman in first place overall. She had won the figures on Wednesday.

Chin, who was second heading into the short program, skated a more classical, less lively routine than Kadavy and Thomas. She earned 102.10 points and 24 ordinals.