or Mapleton dancer Jared Murillo, the third time really is the charm. Earlier this month, the 17-year-old took first place in the Youth Latin Championship of the U.S. National Amateur DanceSport Championships at Brigham Young University. It was his third crack at the prestigious ballroom competition.

As luck would have it, he and partner, Californian Lacey Schwimmer, placed third the first time they competed in the DanceSport Championships. On their second try, they took second. But this year, they finally won the first-place medal. This is only the fourth time since 1995, the first year BYU hosted the competition, that a Utah resident has won the Youth Latin Championship.

Finally!

Murillo said there was something different about his performance at this year's competition. Unlike in years past, he said he felt more prepared and confident this time around.

"I used to get so nervous, but this year was different. I think I did better because I was more relaxed, and I just wanted to go out there and do my best," he said.

When the winners were being announced, Murillo said that he just focused on trying to hear the judges correctly because "you kind of get used to not winning."

But when they finally read his name, he said he was thrilled. "I told Lacey, 'We did it. We finally won a title.' "

Performing five dances (the cha-cha, samba, rumba, pasodoble and jive) during four rounds, Murillo and Schwimmer competed for the National Youth Latin Ballroom title along with 37 other couples ranging in age from 16 to 18.

Elaine Grenko, a part-time ballroom dance faculty member at BYU and one of the organizers of the DanceSport Championship, said that couples come from all over the United States to compete in this event, the biggest one of its kind in the nation.

Nearly 1,400 dancers competed in the championship and more than 11,000 were in the audience during the three-day event.

Grenko said this championship brings in the largest and most involved audience in the country for a ballroom dance competition.

"The competitors absolutely love coming to Provo because we really do have the best crowd in the United States. They're so involved in the competition," she said. "It's not like a concert where you sit and watch and clap at the end. You cheer for your couple, call their number and encourage them."

Grenko said that she expects winning this title will do great things for Murillo and Schwimmer.

"I sure they hope this will take them forward to find more success. It gives you a lot of confidence in your partnership when you win a U.S. championship," she said.

An early start

The fourth of seven children, Murillo was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, and moved to Utah in 1991. At age 6, he began taking dance lessons at the encouragement of his parents, Alex and Robin, at the family-owned dance studio, Center Stage Performing Arts Studios in Orem.

Alex Murillo said that he and his wife have always enjoyed ballroom dancing and they thought it would provide an opportunity for their children to develop discipline, self-esteem and greater cultural understanding.

"We thought it would be a good thing to have for the boys," he said. "What girl would not like a boy to ask her to dance and know how to do itfi"

Although Jared Murillo began his dance career taking hip-hop lessons, he started competing in Latin dancing at age 8. He still continues to do hip-hop, tap and jazz "just to be a well-rounded dancer," he said.

(Those diverse dance skills came in handy when he performed with his brother Josh as a principle dancer in the Disney TV movie "High School Musical," which premiered in January.)

At age 14, Jared Murillo left Utah and moved to Redlands, Calif., to train with his partner and her parents, world-renowned coaches Buddy and Laurie Schwimmer.

"I can't believe we let him do it, but he wanted to be a world champion," his father said.

Jared Murillo spoke highly of his coaches, saying that they're so much fun to work with.

"They're just unbelievable. They understand and know how to have fun and still be strict," he said. "It's more like you're doing what you like to do and ... never like work."

Along with the national Latin title they just won, Jared Murillo and Schwimmer are also the world and U.S. swing champions.

In addition to training daily with the Schwimmers, he also lives with them. Murillo said living with his partner took some getting used to.

"We're pretty used to it now, but, before, we were like brother and sister. We'd get in fights about dumb stuff," he said.

An exciting youth

Murillo spends his days doing homework for his independent study high school courses and spends his nights training, anywhere from two to four hours.

He said his training regimen is a lot of hard work, but that's just what he does.

"I'll continue to do it because it's a talent that I have. I don't want to waste that talent," he said.

Spending so much time training and competing makes for a very unusual childhood and youth, but Murillo isn't fazed because he's been doing this his whole life along with other members of his family.

"I've been used to it, traveling everywhere. My whole family does this," he said. "It might seem out of the ordinary, because it's so much different, but it's normal for me."

He said that sometimes he does feel like he misses out on family time and the experiences other kids his age are having -- like school dances, for instance.

His father said that Jared told him, "All I want to do this year is go to prom. If there's a girl out there who wants to go to prom, let me know."

Footsteps of faith

Alex Murillo said that because his son performs all over the world (and because he's so good looking), he worries about him a little bit.

"He does have a lot of girls contact him, and sometimes I worry if he'll keep his wits about him. But he has," he said. "He's a good Mormon boy."

In fact, a reporter asked Jared Murillo after he won the DanceSport championship earlier this month if, now that he's on a roll, he was not going to go on a proselytizing mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints like he had previously stated.

Murillo answered by saying that he was still planning to go on a mission when he turns 19 and that dancing was secondary to what he was going to do.

He said that, besides a mission, he plans on going to college and is thinking about going into the field of medicine.

But for now, he will continue to train for and compete in several smaller competitions, and he is headed to Blackpool, England, in May to compete in the British Open DanceSport Championships, an international ballroom dance competition -- what his father called "the Mecca for ballroom dancers."

Though Murillo has other plans besides competing, he said dancing will always be a part of his life.

"Even though I'll have another job, I'll still keep dancing in my life," he said. "I think I'll keep dancing probably until I'm gone."

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page B1.