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Cohen Takes the Lead After Short Program

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Times Staff Writer

Sasha Cohen stood still on the bright, white ice of Philips Arena on Thursday, letting her nerves escape in a long, deep exhale.

“I was thinking, ‘Just breathe and stay in the now. You can’t let yourself get ahead,’ ” she said. “ ‘Just breathe and go with the music.’ Then, I was on automatic.”

But never robotic. Delighted by her new collaboration with coach Robin Wagner, Cohen performed an engaging short program to “Malaguena” and led after the first phase of the women’s competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

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Her fist-pumping finish reflected her relief at balancing precision and buoyancy in winning six first-place votes.

“I’ve had a lot of joy brought back to my skating, a lot of the joy I had when I was 8 years old and sliding around on the ice,” the former Laguna Niguel resident said.

Michelle Kwan -- vying for a record seventh straight title and eighth overall -- finished with an expression of grim acceptance. She over-rotated the landing of her first jump, a required double axel, and lost tenths off her required element marks, which were four 5.6s (out of 6.0), four 5.7s and one 5.8. She got one first-place vote and is second going into Saturday’s long program, worth two-thirds of the score.

“It’s about execution in the short, or be executed,” said Kwan, who hasn’t been lower than first at this stage since 2000, when she trailed Cohen and Sarah Hughes. “I tried to get my feet under me [on the double axel]. It was a wake-up call for the rest of the program. I said, ‘Michelle, hello, no more of this.’ ”

The five-time world champion steadied herself but couldn’t beat Cohen’s marks of 5.6 to 5.9 for required elements and 5.8s and 5.9s for presentation.

“My best friend and my worst enemy is myself when I’m out on the ice. I don’t find motivation from the outside. It all comes from within,” Kwan said.

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“It’s tough to say, ‘If I do this, it’s legendary.’ Titles are titles. I gain so much more than just the medal itself.”

Jennifer Kirk, sassy and sure to music from “Chicago,” landed a triple toe-triple toe combination jump for the first time to get one first-place vote and rank third. Angela Nikodinov of San Pedro, buffeted in recent years by injury, illness and the death of a coach she considered a sister, two-footed the landing on the first part of her combination jump but was otherwise elegant in finishing fourth.

“The whole week I just tried to imagine myself at home training and not worry about everything,” she said. “I actually got it to work this time.”

Amber Corwin of Hermosa Beach also did a triple toe-triple toe combination and is fifth. “I felt very strong, very confident,” said Corwin, who was fourth at Skate America and sixth at the Cup of China.

While Kwan chases Cohen and a place in history, Johnny Weir hopes history won’t repeat itself in the men’s event.

Weir was second after the short program last year but quit the long program after he fell twice, twisting his back and wrenching his knee. “This year I’m focusing on not thinking about figure skating,” he said. “I’m on vacation in Atlanta and there happens to be a figure skating event going on.”

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He’s leading the event, thanks to his strong “Valse Trise” routine and stumbles by Olympic bronze medalist Tim Goebel and defending champion Michael Weiss, who are 10th and fourth, respectively. Matt Savoie is second, and Evan Lysacek, who trains in El Segundo with coach Frank Carroll, is third.

“Regardless of who people expected to be in the top three, it’s a sport, and people mess up, obviously,” said Weir, whose marks ranged from 4.9 to 5.7 for required elements and 5.0 to 5.8 for presentation. “We deserve it.”

Goebel fell twice and popped his triple axel, doing a single. He got technical marks of 3.2 to 4.5 and presentation marks of 4.7 to 5.4, but said his ongoing boot problems weren’t to blame.

“The scores were accurate,” said Goebel, the 2001 U.S. champion and a two-time world silver medalist. “You can’t really have a presentation mark when you make three glaring errors in the short. The short program is all elements, and three of them were a disaster and the footwork wasn’t so hot.

“I don’t think I’ve ever done a short like this in my life.”

Weiss, a three-time U.S. champion, two-footed his combination jump and fell on his required triple axel. He got marks of 4.9 to 5.4 for required elements and 5.5 to 5.8 for presentation of his “Henry V” program.

“I know what I need to get done Saturday: I need to skate a clean program,” Weiss said.

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Beatrisa Liang of Granada Hills was seventh among the women after falling on the first jump in her required combination. Danielle Kahle of Thousand Oaks is 14th, and Yebin Mok of Los Angeles is 17th.... In the junior women’s event, Shanell Noji of Yorba Linda was fourth after the short program.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Today’s Schedule

All times PST

7:50 a.m. -- Junior men free skate. Finale of the junior men’s event.

10:10 a.m. -- Junior dance, free dance. Finale of the junior dance event.

1:50 p.m. -- Pairs free skate. The finale, worth two-thirds of the total score. No one skated especially well in the short program Wednesday, and the pressure is on because the U.S. can send only two pairs to the world championships in March in Germany. Tiffany Scott and Philip Dulebohn, last year’s winners, lead the field. Rena Inoue and John Baldwin of Santa Monica are second and Kathryn Orscher and Garrett Lucash of Simsbury, Conn., are third.

5:40 p.m. -- Ice dancing free dance. The finale, worth half of the final score. The withdrawal of five-time winners Naomi Lang and Peter Tchernyshev because of Lang’s sore Achilles’ tendon ensured a new champion will be crowned. Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto of the Detroit Skating Club won the compulsory and original dance phases and rank first, ahead of the husband-wife duo of Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov. Belbin was born in Canada and has applied for U.S. citizenship. Until her request is processed, she can represent the U.S. at the world championships but not in the Olympics.

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