Japan’s Kozuka is a surprise winner

Takahiko Kozuka of Japan was the surprise winner of the men’s title at Skate America, overcoming a fall on a quadruple toe loop Saturday to perform an accomplished routine to “Romeo and Juliet” that vaulted him past Americans Johnny Weir and Evan Lysacek.

Kozuka, the 2006 world junior champion, beat Weir by less than a point, 226.18 to 225.20. Weir two-footed his quad but had the second-best long program. Lysacek, who led after the short program, fell on his quad attempt and was downgraded on the first part of a triple axel-double toe loop-double loop. He also lost points on his step sequences, which the judges marked harshly in the men’s and women’s events.

Lysacek, who trains in El Segundo, finished with 223.21 points.

Yu-na Kim commanded the ice in the women’s short program, displaying enough control to affirm she’s an early favorite for the 2010 Olympic figure skating gold medal.

The 18-year-old South Korean, who trains in Toronto, performed a polished routine to “Danse Macabre.” With 69.50 points entering today’s free skate, she’s well ahead of Japan’s Miki Ando (57.80) and Yukari Nakano (57.46), who made small mistakes that hurt their technical marks.

U.S. champion Mirai Nagasu of Arcadia (56.42) showed great poise by improvising a triple flip-double toe loop combination jump after failing to complete a triple lutz-double toe. Rachael Flatt of Del Mar is fifth (54.92) and 2006 world champion Kimmie Meissner of Bel Air, Md., is sixth (54.90) after falling on a triple flip.

Kim, third at the last two World Championships, stumbled on a double axel, but her triple flip-triple toe was superb. “I was a little nervous,” she said through a translator. “I made a small mistake, but I was able to focus the rest of the program.”

Nagasu said she was nervous. “Because of how I’m skating against the world’s top athletes and world champions.It’s really nerve-wracking. After double-footing my triple lutz, I got mad at myself.”

Meissner, on a comeback of sorts, was pleased with her debut. Her fall “is not a big deal to me. I know I can fix it,” she said.

U.S. pairs champions Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker continued their rise by finishing a strong second to world champions Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany and outdistancing Rena Inoue and John Baldwin of Santa Monica.

McLaughlin, who grew up in Los Angeles, teamed with Brubaker to earn the highest technical score for a poignant skate to “West Side Story.” Their errors were minor beside the splat-fest that dropped Maria Mukhortova and Maxim Trankov of Russia from first to third.

Savchenko and Szolkowy had 180.77 points, to 172.69 for McLaughlin and Brubaker and 167.67 for the Russians. Inoue and Baldwin were fifth.

McLaughlin, too young to compete at last season’s World Championships, recently turned 16 and is eligible to compete in the next worlds, in Los Angeles in March. To get there, the Colorado Springs-based duo must place in the top two at the U.S. championships, but their progress and the poor state of U.S. pairs all but guarantee them a world team berth.

Inoue and Baldwin had been busy performing in shows and had little preparation time. That showed in “everything,” Baldwin said, notably when she fell on a throw triple axel and both stumbled landing jumps.

An uninspired original dance dropped five-time U.S. ice dance champions Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto further behind leaders Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder of France.

World champions Delobel and Schoenfelder, performing to boogie and swing music, had the top routine and have 96.75 points. Belbin and Agosto’s tap-themed dance was ranked third, giving them a score of 95.10. Sinead and John Kerr, a charming brother-sister duo from Scotland who skate for Britain, had the best technical marks for their Lindy Hop and swing music and are third entering today’s free dance finale.

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helene.elliott@latimes.com