EVERETT, Wash. — Americans Evan Lysacek and Johnny Weir resumed their rivalry tonight, holding the top two spots after the men's short program at Skate America.

Lysacek, who edged Weir in a tiebreaker for last season's national title, scored 81.30 despite a one-point deduction when he mistimed the start of his program.

"It was completely my fault," said Lysacek, who leads Weir by .75 points. "I started my movement one second too early."

Japan's Takahiko Kozuka was third with 80.10, just behind Weir's 80.55. The men's free skate is Saturday, along with the ladies short program.

Weir's slight bobble on a triple flip made a difference as skaters debuted programs and music for the new season.

Lysacek, skating to Maurice Ravel's "Bolero" while wearing a Gothic outfit with black gloves, cleanly landed four triples, including a triple lutz-triple toe loop combination. Weir, skating to "Sur Les Ailes Du Temps" by Saint Preux, did well on the same combination, along with landing a triple axel.

Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker, the defending U.S. champions, were third after the pairs short program.

They trailed surprise leaders Maria Mukhortova and Maxim Trankov of Russia, who scored 66.32 points, ahead of world champions Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy from Germany, with 64.08.

McLaughlin and Brubaker scored 57.02 after Brubaker stumbled landing a triple salchow and McLaughlin fell on a throw triple loop.

"We had little mistakes but it's the beginning of the season," Brubaker said.

Savchenko and Szolkowy, who dominated pairs skating last season by winning the European Championships and worlds as well as the Grand Prix Final, had to play catch-up after Savchenko spun just twice on a planned triple toe loop, their first jump.

Mukhortova and Trankov skated a clean program. They were the European silver medalists last season and the 2005 world junior champions. Veterans Rena Inoue and John Baldwin, two-time U.S. champions, are fifth with a score of 50.00 after Inoue fell on a difficult throw triple axel.

Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, America's most accomplished ice dancing pair, skated a clean program in the compulsory dance earlier Friday and are second in the standings.

The five-time national champions and Olympic silver medalists finished with 37.63 points, trailing defending world champions Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder's 38.49. The original dance is Saturday night and the free dance is Sunday.

Britain's brother-sister pair of Sinead and John Kerr were third with 34.37.

Compulsory dance, where each couple skates to the same music and the same pattern for two rotations around the rink, is considered the easiest segment of the ice dancing competition as the competitors are judged for their mastery of fundamental elements.

But for Belbin and Agosto, it was anything but stress-free. They were heavy favorites for gold at the world championships last March, but failed to medal when Belbin fell during the compulsory, a rare gaffe. Since then, they changed coaches and moved from their longtime training center in Detroit to outside Philadelphia. Skate America, the sport's season opener, is their first competition since the worlds.

"Very nervous, absolutely," Belbin said. "But thankfully our new coaches have been really working on our knee bend and strength in our legs."