Petkevich to Join U.S. and Canadian Skaters In Fourth Annual 'Evening with Champions'

John Misha Petkevich '73, 1971 North American Men's Figure-Skating Champion, will perform with other U.S. and Canadian skating medalists this weekend at Watson Rink in the fourth annual "An Evening with Champions" Eliot House benefit skating exhibition.

Toller Cranston, 1972 World Free Skating Champion and 1973 Canadian Champion, and Gordon McKellen Jr., 1973 U.S. Men's Champion, also headline the event, which will include performances by gold-medal winners in U.S. and Canadian Olympic singles, pairs, and dance categories.

Tonight's exhibition marks the first group performance of the 1974 season for the skaters, who will compete in February in the North American Figure-Skating championships.

Rhodes Scholar

Petkevich, one of the founders of the skating show, has returned from England where he is studying as a Rhodes Scholar, to skate for the two-day event.

Petkevich first conceived of the skating show three years ago when he underwent X-rays on his knees and noticed the number of children restricted to wheel chairs at the Children's Hospital.

"Skaters spend their time, skating around in circles hour after hour without really doing very much for others," Petkevich said yesterday. "I wanted a chance to help those children who are not so well off."

The skating show, organized and run by Eliot House residents, has since become a sanctioned event on the U.S. figure-skating schedule. It was the first skating event ever staged to benefit an outside charity.

"The show has gained an unusual prestige in the world of figure skating," Petkevich said. "It provides one of the few opportunities for skaters to let their hair down and just skate."

In three years, the show has raised more than $64,000 for the Boston-based Children's Cancer Research Foundation, the Jimmy Fund.

Performances are tonight at 8 p.m. and tomorrow at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Other skaters who will be performing are Sandra and Val Bezic, 1973 Canadian Pair Champions; Ann and Skip Millier, 1973 U.S. Dance Silver Medalists; Dorothy Hamill, 1973 U.S. Ladies' Silver Medalist; Lynn Nightingale, 1973 Canadian Ladies" Silver Medalist; Gale and Joel Fuhrman, 1973 U.S. Pair Silver Medalists; and Juli McKinstry, 1973 U.S. Ladies' Bronze Medalist.