Thomas’ Lead Is on Thin Ice : Kadavy Is Close 2nd; Boitano Wins 4th Title

By moving from California to the high altitude of Boulder, Colo., Debi Thomas has returned to the highest level of women’s figure skating in the United States. But whether she can remain there depends not only on herself but also on another woman who trains in Colorado, Caryn Kadavy.

Thomas won the short program in the national championship competition Friday at McNichols Arena but only by the thinnest of margins. Of the nine judges, three favored Thomas, four favored Kadavy and two had them tied.

But because of a tiebreaker that gives more weight to required element scores, Thomas had the advantage on both of the deadlocked scorecards. So she won, five judges to four, hardly decisive.

Still, this victory for the San Jose native combined with her win in the compulsory figures Thursday extended her lead over second-place Kadavy of Erie, Pa., and third-place Jill Trenary of Minnetonka, Minn., going into today’s long program.

“If they don’t go out and mop the ice, they’re going to finish 1-2-3,” said Carlo Fassi, who coaches Kadavy, 20, and Trenary, 19, at the prestigious Broadmoor World Arena in Colorado Springs. “Those three are the Olympic team. They don’t have to worry about that. Now, we go to Calgary.”

Later, in fact much later, the three men who will represent the United States at the Winter Olympics were determined in a long program that lasted until almost 1 a.m., MST, Saturday. Much of the capacity crowd of 15,869 waited until Brian Boitano, seeking his fourth consecutive national championship, had skated before leaving, perhaps hoping to see if he could repeat his near-perfect performance of Thursday night in the short program.

He did not, having to balance himself with his hand on the ice twice after triple jumps to prevent falls. The judges were impressed, eight of them giving him a clear advantage over the other skaters. One judge gave him a perfect 6.0 for presentation. But the crowd was skeptical, booing the judges when the scores were announced.

Perhaps some prejudice was involved. A local skater, Paul Wylie, finished second in the long program and improved from third to second overall, just ahead of Christopher Bowman of Van Nuys. Bowman was the runnerup last year, but skating this year with a sprained ankle, he said he was content just to make the Olympic team.

Thomas, 20, might prefer to take care of some unfinished business here before turning her attention to the Olympics. She won the 1986 national championship but finished second last year to Trenary. Leaving little doubt that she is intent on regaining it this year, Thomas took an uncharacteristic swipe at Kadavy’s short program.

Kadavy clearly was the better skater artistically. On a scale of 1 to 6, Kadavy received 5.9s for presentation from six of the nine judges. Thomas received 5.8s all the way across. But Thomas was slightly better technically, receiving one 5.9 and six 5.8s for required elements, to one 5.9 and four 5.8s for Kadavy.

“Caryn had problems on one of her spins that some of the judges obviously didn’t see because they didn’t deduct the points,” Thomas said.

“Neither one of us skated our best short program, so I probably shouldn’t say anything.”

Fassi disagreed, saying that Kadavy never has skated her short program better in competition. She was considerably better than at the national championships last year, when she fell on a double-axel and missed her required combination. Ninth in the short program, she had to skate near flawlessly the next day to finish third overall.

“Last year’s short program was a disaster,” Kadavy said. “You don’t like to see anybody skate like that. I won’t forget it. But it was the best thing for me that it happened because it helped me going into the World Championships.”

One month after the national competition, Kadavy finished third in the World Championships behind champion Katarina Witt of East Germany, and Thomas.

It appeared Friday as if Trenary might have the disaster in the short program. At the end of her difficult triple flip, double loop combination, she landed on both feet, an automatic deduction. That might have unnerved a less determined skater. But Trenary continued to skate aggressively and finished third in the short program, holding off challenges by Jeri Campbell and Cindy Bortz.

Campbell, 17, is from Garden City, Mich., but skates for Barbara Roles Williams in Torrance. She finished fourth in the short program, retaining fourth place overall, and Tarzana’s Bortz, 16, finished fifth in the short program and improved from sixth to fifth overall.

Asked if she were disappointed about double-footing on the double loop, Trenary said: “Not at all. I was happy to be on my feet. I knew it was a little bobble and that there would be a deduction, but I’ll take it.”

Because Thomas won the short program instead of Kadavy, Trenary still has an outside chance to successfully defend her championship. Trenary will win if she finishes first in the long program and Thomas finishes third or lower. If Kadavy had won the short program, Trenary could have retained the title only by winning the long program while Thomas and Kadavy were finishing lower than second.

But the odds are still with Thomas and Kadavy. If either wins the long program, she wins the championship.

For Kadavy, it would be a dream come true. She finished second at the nationals in 1986 and third last year. For Thomas, it would be vindication. The defending world and national champion last year, she lost both titles, blaming tendinitis in both ankles and a stressful schedule as a premed student at Stanford.

When her coach, Alex McGowan, lost his Redwood City rink because of finances, he took Thomas with him to the University of Colorado. She will return to Stanford after the Olympics, but the change has been good for her, if only because the high altitude in Boulder better prepared her for the competition here.

“They did the best move they could do,” said Fassi, who coached Peggy Fleming and Dorothy Hamill. “If I would have been there, I would have done the same thing. If she had come here from California, I don’t think she would have been in the shape that she’s in.

“The next time the nationals are in California, I’ll move down there.”

McGowan, who will be looking for a rink after Thomas retires, saw an opening and seized it.

“Can I have your job at the Broadmoor,” he asked Fassi.

Figure Skating Notes Keena Bailey, 17, teamed with John Denton, 19, to win the junior pairs competition Friday. Bailey is from Centerville, Utah, but is coached by John Nicks in Costa Mesa. Third place went to Natasha Kuchiki of Canoga Park and Richard Alexander of Simi Valley. Kuchiki, 4 feet 10 inches and 77 pounds, is 11 years old. . . . Although Jessica Mills, who trains in Torrance, received much of the attention for her fourth-place finish overall in the junior ladies’ division, another 13-year-old, Tisha Walker of Thousand Oaks, beat Mills in the long program, finishing third, and was eighth overall.

There were no surprises in the championship pairs short program Friday night. Defending champions Jill Watson of Bloomington, Ind., and Peter Oppegard of Knoxville, Tenn., lead second-place Gillian Wachsman of Greenwich, Conn., and Todd Waggoner of Schaumberg, Ill., and third-place Natalie and Wayne Seybold of Marion, Ind. The first three after today’s long program earn berths in the Olympics. Watson and Oppegard were third in the 1987 world championships year but could improve in the Olympics if reports are true that Soviets Elena Valova and Oleg Vassiliev have withdrawn. They won the Olympic gold medal in 1984 and were runners-up in last year’s world championships.