Zebrasky-Leix to vie in U.S. ice dancing

By John Kovach

The pair is one of about 40 novice dancing teams in the nation and the only one in Ohio.

POLAND — Tom Zebrasky of Poland will be competing in the 2009 U.S. Figure Skating Championships carded Jan. 18-25 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.

Zebrasky, 19, a Springfield High graduate and a sophomore at Youngstown State majoring in chemical engineering, will team with partner Julia Leix, 15, from Gateway High of Monroeville, Pa., who will be 16 in February, in novice ice dancing competition on Jan. 18 and 19.

The eight-day meet, sponsored by the U.S. Figure Skating Association and Team USA/Olympics, is expected to attract some 120,000 spectators and will be nationally-televised.

“This is like the Super Bowl for the Steelers. There will be only one first-pace winner out of 12, but there will be second and third places,” said Zebrasky, the son of Corrada and Tom Zebrasky of Poland.

Zebrasky and Leix will compete among the best 12 teams in the nation in the novice compulsory dance on Jan. 18 from 7:40 a.m. to 9:50 a.m. (doing two dances, each about 1 minutes, 40 seconds), and novice free dance on Jan. 19 (doing one 21‚Ñ2-minute dance) from 11:20 a.m. to 1:05 p.m.

Zebrasky attended St. Charles elementary school and Cardinal Mooney High as a freshman before transferring to Springfield.

“We will do a pasodoble and blues dances [in compulsory],” he said. “A pasodoble dance is a Spanish dance. The Blues is a really smooth, easy-going dance, similar to a slow dance or waltz or jazz.

“They both are done to a specific pattern and music that we don’t choose. It is a set pattern for both. Everyone who does them both does the same thing. They combine scores to give you final score in the event.”

One of about 40 novice ice dancing teams in the U.S. and the only such team from Ohio, Zebrasky and Leix qualified for the national meet at the recent 2008-9 U.S. Figure Skating Ice Dance Pacific Sectionals in Scottsdale, Ariz., one of three sectionals in the country. The other two are East Coast and Midwest.

They advanced by placing fourth out of a field of 10 teams. The top four teams advanced.

Although Zebrasky and Leix will be in their first U.S. Figure Skating Championships, they already have a world title to their credit. They won a gold medal at Lake Placid (N.Y.) Ice Dance Championship at the World Championship Ice Dance in August of 2007.

Zebrasky, who has been ice dancing for nine years and had played hockey for 11 years, including with the Poland High team, met Leix at the Center Ice and Blades rink in Delmont, Pa. This is their second season together. He has been going to that rink for three years.

“She is very fun and energetic, easy to get along with, a hard worker and determined. We had a tryout and the tryouts went well,” said Zebrasky. “You can compete as a solo [ice dancer] but I don’t care for jumps and spins. I prefer dancing with a partner.”

Zebrasky said he had been playing hockey and ice dancing at the same time, but eventually his interest turned toward the latter.

“I was injured playing hockey when I was a freshman and then decided to give ice dancing my full attention,” said Zebrasky. “It’s basically ballroom dancing on ice. It’s not something everyone can do. There is a lot to it.”

He said ice dancing partners have to match up well together in “height, weight, body, the way you look, features, hair color, chemistry. You have [to] partner together.”

Zebrasky also said he and Leix are part of the U.S. Olympic ice dancing development team for the 2014 Winter Olympics.

“All of our training from here on out will be overseen by Olympic coaches and trainers, like mommy and daddy looking down our back. Everything will be Olympic-related,” said Zebrasky.

For more about the 2009 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, visit www.cleveland2009.com.

kovach@vindy.com