Belbin and Agosto Are Perfect

American dance partners Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto won with perfect 6.0 scores from all nine judges. (Steve Dipaola -- Reuters)

PORTLAND, Ore., Jan. 14 -- Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto had seen perfect marks of 6.0 before. They received one after the compulsories Tuesday. They got four after the original dance Wednesday. Even so, they had no inkling of what was to come Friday. They performed tonight's Russian gypsy dance in the concluding free dance with flair, and received a thunderous ovation from the Rose Garden crowd.

But they were visibly stunned when all nine judges awarded them perfect 6.0s for presentation.

Even Michelle Kwan, who has received 53 in her career, has never seen such a stacked scoreboard.

"It was a surprise in the compulsories," Belbin said. "It was an even bigger surprise in the original dance. But there is no way to describe what we saw tonight. . . . I hope I never forget what that screen looked like when all of those 6.0s came up."

Added Agosto, "It was a little bit surreal, a little bit inconceivable."

The scores confirmed what had not been in doubt: Belbin and Agosto had secured their second straight U.S. title in the event after leading after each dance. In March they will travel to Moscow to attempt to become the first U.S. dance team in 20 years to win a medal at the world championships.

"I do think we can do whatever we put our minds to," Agosto said. "Our main goal is to skate our best and have that take us to the very top."

Their string of 6.0s broke a U.S. record held by Judy Blumberg and Michael Seibert, who received four 6.0s in 1983, one for technical merit, three for presentation. The 14 perfect scores they received this week also obliterated the U.S. career record in dance held by Naomi Lang and Peter Tchernyshev, who had six.

"Tonight was very special," Agosto said. "All week we've been feeling very confident and very strong. We really wanted to go out tonight and have a good time and show the audience how much we love what we're doing. . . . It felt strong and more connected artistically than we had done this season."

Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov claimed second place and Lydia Manon and Ryan O'Meara, third. Fairfax's Morgan Matthews and Ashburn's Maxim Zavozin finished in fifth place after earning a fourth in Friday's free dance, worth 50 percent of the final score. They had entered the night in sixth.

Lucash and Orscher Claim First Gold

Garrett Lucash was so ill from a stomach virus earlier this week that he couldn't hold pairs partner Katie Orscher for any of the lifts, yet on Friday the two skated a largely mistake-free, if not exceptionally dynamic, long program to claim their first gold medal at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

After finishing second two years in a row, Orscher and Lucash topped 2004 U.S. champions Rene Inoue and John Baldwin, who had wobbles on several elements. Marcy Hinzmann and Aaron Parchem took third, and Tiffany Scott and Silver Spring's Philip Dulebohn finished fourth despite placing third on Friday.

Help for Tsunami Victims

Belbin and Agosto helped organize a benefit performance for victims of the tsunami in South Asia and Africa, the skaters announced. Belbin and Agosto will be joined by Tim Goebel, Victor Petrenko, Johnny Weir, Elizabeth Punsalan and Jerod Swallow and others in Skate-Aid for Tsunami Relief in Detroit on Feb. 4.

"Tanith and I wanted to do something meaningful to help the thousands of tsunami victims and their families," Agosto said. "We called our skating friends about the idea of a fund-raising show and Skate-Aid was born."

Pashkevich in Stable Condition

Igor Pashkevich, the coach of singles skater Angela Nikodinov, was listed in stable condition but remained hospitalized for a third night at Portland's Legacy Emanuel Hospital. Pashkevich suffered a fractured bone in his neck in a taxi shuttle accident Wednesday that killed Nikodinov's mother and left Nikodinov and her father with minor injuries.