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Allen makes long climb back to nationals
Now, Allen has a healthy knee and a realistic shot at a medal at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
Injuries have ruined two of his last three seasons, just when Allen was progressing through the strong ranks of American men. Those ranks have thinned in this post-Olympic year, and Allen hopes he can hold off the next wave of quadruple-jumping kids.
"I was pretty down having to take the year off," Allen said Tuesday. "I'd done it two years before that with a stress fracture in my knee.
"But I have learned a lot of lessons, that you've got to keep persevering, keep being determined to pull back to the top."
The top spot seems reserved for Michael Weiss, the runner-up the last two years to Todd Eldredge. Everything else is wide open, and Allen believes a place on the U.S. team for next month's world championships in Helsinki, Finland, is attainable.
"I was third in the Finlandia Trophy on the rink they'll use for worlds," he said. "When I was there, I bought this set of glasses and I already have broken two. So I have to go back and finish the set back up."
Even thinking about nationals or worlds was painful a year ago. Allen, in the midst of rehabilitation from surgery on his right knee, worked for the U.S. Figure Skating Association at the Philadelphia nationals.
"The two guys who made it were really good, but nationals were tough for me," he said. "Other than the top two, the others really weren't all that wonderful. I thought, 'Oh, man, I could be on the podium, I could be third."'
Instead, he was trying to get healthy again. Allen needed nearly three months after surgery on Oct. 2, 1997 before he could perform before an audience, at a show in his native Rockford, Ill.
"It was about eight weeks after the surgery, in December, that I got back on the ice in Colorado Springs," he said. "That was just 10 minutes of steps on the ice, just stroking. It was like, 'Thank God I'm back on.' It was very sweet to get my blades back on the ice.
"I had to go really slow and it is really hard for me. I always was, 'Oh, it felt really good, I'll try one more thing.' They had to harness me pretty much, keep me on a very restrictive pattern."
That meant no spins for the first two weeks back on ice, and no major footwork. It meant no testing jumps. For a top-level skater such as Allen, it meant taking baby steps.
"It really didn't come strongly back until April-May, a good six months of full recovery," he said. "I had no coordination in the air, I kind of lost a lot of that, my quickness and snap in jumps and that took the most time in coming back.
"That first double axel was a sweet reward: I can still do it."
How much can he do this week?
"My main goal is to have a lot of wins through the week. Find the good in each practice session and enjoy the week. I won't have my mind set on the short program and the long program. A really good week would be great practices and stay focused on my job and have two strong programs. I am feeling very ready."
The event began Tuesdaynight with the compulsory dance. With five-time champions Elizabeth Punsalan and Jerod Swallow now professionals, their former training partners, Naomi Lang and Peter Tchernyshev, took first place after the compulsories, worth20 percent of the total score.
Just behind were Eve Chalom and Mathew Gates.
Results
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Results Tuesday from the U.S. Figure Skating Championships:Junior Men
Short Program
1, Ryan Bradley, Colorado Springs, Colo., .5 factored placements.
2, Parker Pennington, Windsor, Conn., 1.0.
3, Braden Overett, Denver, 1.5.
4, Don Baldwin, San Diego, 2.0.
5, Joshua Figurido, Gloucester, Mass., 2.5.
6, Daniel Lee, Pueblo, Colo., 3.0.
7, Johnny Weir, Newark, Del., 3.5.
8, Kurt Fromknecht, Erie, Pa., 4.0.
9, James Yoo, Highlands Ranch, Colo., 4.5.
10, Eric Schroyer, Lakewood, Ohio, 5.0.
11, Jordan Wilson, Sebastopol, Calif., 5.5.
12, Sean Calvillo, Newport Beach, Calif., 6.0.
13, William Rasmussen, Washington, 6.5.
14, Fitzhugh Middleton, Louisville, Ky., 7.0.
15, Robert Brathwaite, Harbor City, Calif., 7.5.
16, Matthew Wesenberg, Bloomington, Minn., 8.0.
17, L. Jason Heffron, Rockford, Ill., 8.5.
Junior Pairs
Short Program
1, Sima and Amir Ganaba, Lake Arrowhead, Calif., .5.
2, Megan Sierk and Dustin Sierk, Hunstville, Ala., 1.0.
3, Jaisa MacAdam, Great Island, Maine, and Garrett Lucash, Braintree, Mass., 1.5.
4, Katie Gadkowski and Derek Trent, Colorado Springs, Colo., 2.0.
5, Shawna Tennille Winter, Mattawan, Mich., and Aaron Parchem, Bloomfield Hills, Mich., 2.5.
6, Lindsay Rogeness and Brian Rogeness, Anaheim, Calif., 3.0.
7, Kacy Niemeier, Nashville, Tenn., and John Gerth, Brentwood, Tenn., 3.5.
8, Emily Morgan, Warren, Pa., and Justin Cogley, Jamestown, N.Y., 4.0.
9, Jessica Waldstein, Manhattan Beach, Calif., and Devin Patrick, Costa Mesa, Calif., 4.5.
10, Molly Beth Quigley, Merrimack, N.H., and Kelby Renfro, Coppelli, Texas, 5.0.
11, Carey Floyd, Nashville, Tenn., and Eric Bohnstedt, Ashburn, Va., 5.5.
12, Stephanie McBath and David Gordon, Tampa Bay, Fla., 6.0.
13, Erin Rex and John Wagner, Lake Arrowhead, Calif., 6.5.
Senior Dance
Compulsories
1, Naomi Lang, Allegan, Mich., and Peter Tchernyshev, Waterford, Mich., .4.
2, Eve Chalom, Detroit, and Mathew Gates, Baldock, England, .8
3, Deborah Koegel, Phoenixville, Pa., and Oleg Fediukov, Brookhaven, Pa., 1.2.
4, Beata Handra, San Rafael, Calif., nd Charles Sinek, Monsey, N.Y., 1.6.
5, Tiffany Hyden, Colorado Springs, Colo, and John Lee, Chicago, 2.0.
6, Christie Moxley, Newark, Del., and Tom Gaasbeck, Newark, Del., 2.4.
7, Shannon Simon and Jason Simon, Pittsburgh, 3.0.
(tie) Stephanie Woodman, Overland Park, Kan., and Robert Peal, Wilmington, Del., 3.0.