PAIRS

SCHEDULE

* Short program, 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at Staples Center (worth one-third of final score).

* Long program, 7:30 p.m. Friday at Staples Center (worth two-thirds of final score).

The U.S. can send two pairs to the Salt Lake City Winter Games.

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FAVORITES

KYOKO INA

Greenwich, Conn.

and JOHN ZIMMERMAN

Birmingham, Ala.

* Two-time defending U.S. champions, Ina, who skated with Jason Dungjen at the 1998 Games and finished fourth, and Zimmerman, who placed third at the 1997 U.S. Championships with then-partner Stephanie Stiegler, finished fourth at the 2001 Grand Prix Final last month. They are heavy favorites to win their third consecutive U.S. title and have benefited from the coaching of Russian legend Tamara Moskvina.

TIFFANY SCOTT

Hanson, Mass.

and PHILIP DULEBOHN

Germantown, Md.

* Scott and Dulebohn have been runners-up in two consecutive U.S. Championships and finished 11th at the 2001 World Championships. A stress fracture in Dulebohn’s lower back and left hip forced the pair to withdraw from the Goodwill Games and miss all of their Grand Prix assignments this season. But their consecutive silver medals at nationals, as well as a ninth-place finish at the 2000 worlds, make this pair, if sound, a strong contender for the second U.S. Olympic spot.

DANIELLE

and STEVE HARTSELL

Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

* This brother-sister team was the 1999 U.S. champion but missed most of the 2000 season after Danielle suffered a fractured kneecap. The Hartsells finished third at last year’s nationals and were fifth at Skate America this season.

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THE REST

* TIFFANY and JOHNNIE STIEGLER, Manhattan Beach

* LAURA HANDY, Newark, Del., and JONATHON HUNT, New London, Pa.

* STEPHANIE KALESAVIC, Rochester Hills, Mich., and AARON PARCHEM, Oak Park, Mich.

* RENA INOUE, El Segundo, and JOHN BALDWIN, Santa Monica

* KATHRYN ORSCHER, Glastonbury, Conn., and GARRETT LUCASH, Granby, Conn.

* MOLLY QUIGLEY, Portsmouth, Va., and BERT CORDING, Nashville, Tenn.

* LINDSAY and BRIAN ROGENESS, Anaheim Hills

* JENNIFER DON, Sugar Land, Tex., and JERED GUZMA, Las Vegas

* SIMA and AMIR GANABA, Lake Arrowhead

* LARISA SPIELBERG, East Lansing, Mich., and CRAIG JOERIGHT, Cleveland, Ohio

* MARCY HINZMANN, Lakewood, Ohio, and RONNIE BIANCOSINO, Newark, Del.