Winning comes down to free skate

Reprinted from Saturday's editions

SPOKANE, Wash. - At just 17, Kimmie Meissner is one step and seven triple jumps away from fulfilling a dream.

The Maryland resident, who trains at the University of Delaware, can add an American championship to her world title with a solid free skate this afternoon in the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

On the men's side, leader Evan Lysacek is just as close to his initial national championship, but in three-time champion Johnny Weir, lurking just 0.85 points behind, he faces a much larger hurdle.

"It ain't over," said Weir, a Chester County native who, like Meissner, trains in Newark, Del., "until the fat lady sings."

Meissner leads Bebe Liang and Emily Hughes by more than three points, a stout but not insurmountable advantage. One fall would provide an opening for her competitors.

"The national title would be great," Meissner said. "In the United States, that's the big thing. I've always been going for that. I'd be happy with that. Now that the short is over with, it's just one more step."

Later in the day, the more competitive men's championship will be contested.

Weir, aiming to become the first man with four consecutive titles since Brian Boitano (1985-88), is breathing down Lysacek's neck. Ryan Bradley, a veteran plugger in the sport, is a distant third.

The top three men and women here will earn a trip to the world championships in March in Tokyo.

Even though Weir has had the clear edge in the national competition, Lysacek has outperformed him on the world stage, earning bronze medals in the last two world championships and finishing one spot ahead of Weir in the 2006 Olympics.

"I got close," Weir said of his battle here with Lysacek. "I'm going to keep fighting. To be in second place at the national championships, even though I've won three, it's still a great honor.

"[I'm an] underdog, but I don't feel like one," he said. "In my head, I feel like I'm in first place."

Weir will have the advantage of skating after Lysacek (12:44 a.m. today, Philadelphia time). Meissner will go before both Liang and Hughes at 5:30 p.m., Philadelphia time.

The fact that the traditionally higher-profile evening session will feature the men instead of, as is usually the case, the women speaks to a changing of the guard in U.S. skating.

Meissner, despite her surprise world title in Calgary, Alberta, remains a largely unknown quantity among the sport's fans. With Michelle Kwan, who won nine national titles, and Sasha Cohen absent and likely finished, the teenager is in position to become American figure skating's poster girl.

If she wins, she'll be counted on to help ABC/ESPN boost its figure-skating ratings, which have slipped significantly.

"It's really different, because there is no national champion [competing] here," Meissner said. "It's really up in the air. . . . I do actually [miss Kwan and Cohen] because I've always watched them. The one year where I did compete against Michelle, I really enjoyed it. And obviously with Sasha, I liked the competition. But I've got some good competition here now."

Weir and Lysacek, meanwhile, will provide national TV with an appealing heavyweight bout. The two have different styles on and off the ice.

"I just want to out there and skate the best possible program I can," Lysacek said. "If I can do that, everything else will fall into place."

Weir plans to attempt a quad tonight, which he's rarely tried. Lysacek also has one scheduled.

Meissner can become the first U.S. women since Kristi Yamaguchi to have won a world title before her national crown. She has planned a jump-filled program - her music will be "Galicie Flamenco," in honor of Spanish roots on her mother's side - for the long program. But she won't be incorporating the triple axel that first won her fame.

"I've been practicing, but I'm planning on putting it in for worlds," she said.

Liang, 18, a former junior champion who has yet to fulfill that early promise, used her best short program ever to leap over Hughes and into second.

"I just need to make sure I keep my focus, keep my mind straight," Liang said.

SATURDAY

Women's and

Men's long programs

4 p.m. (6ABC)

11 p.m. (ESPN2)