Dressed for Some Success

A proper introduction is required for the man who finished Thursday night’s short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships second only to defending world titlist Todd Eldredge.

Judging from the outfit he wore onto the Nashville Arena ice, how about: Hello, my name is Damon, and I’ll be your waiter tonight.

Short red jacket, black bow tie, sleek black slacks. All Damon Allen needed was a tray in his right hand and a linen napkin folded over the left arm. To the accompaniment of music from the Broadway musical “No No Nanette,” Allen could have glided over in mid-routine and taken drink orders from the customers in the first row.

“It’s just a tuxedo,” Allen said when asked, more than once, about his costume in the interview room.

“It’s just a little different than the usual white or black . . . Not a waiter. Not a butler. Not anyone in the service industry.”

Still, it was easy to see how the uninformed viewer could be confused.

Damon who?

That uniform have a name tag, son?

Allen was a researcher and statistician for the U.S. Figure Skating Assn. at last year’s nationals. He did not skate, although he had planned to do so before a nagging leg injury was finally diagnosed as a stress fracture of the shin, forcing Allen to sit out the first three months of 1996.

Before that, he had been a quiet climber at the nationals: 10th in 1992, ninth in 1994, fourth in 1995.

He is second today, awaiting the outcome of Saturday’s long program competition, having outskated on Thursday such better-known contenders as Dan Hollander, Scott Davis and Michael Weiss.

Eldredge is in first place after a smooth, mistake-free performance that began with a triple-axel, triple-loop combination. Eldredge received a total of nine scores of 5.9--five for required elements and four for artistic presentation.

Allen was next with a sharply paced program that drew three presentation scores of 5.8. Davis, the 1993 and 1994 U.S. champion, finished the night in third, with Hollander fourth and Weiss fifth.

“I’m on a high right now,” Allen said. “This is the first time I’ve ever been in the medal standings.”

Still one more round to go, but Allen’s giddiness at the halfway mark was understandable.

This time last year, he had a good seat at the nationals and nothing more. Having ignored a sore left leg that had bothered him since the previous October, Allen developed a stress fracture by “trying to skate through it.”

Allen didn’t resume serious training until last March, after spending three months rehabilitating the leg at the Olympic training center in Colorado Springs.

And if he had told someone then that in 11 months’ time, he’d be within 48 hours of a silver medal at the U.S. nationals?

“He’d have laughed,” Allen said, engaging in the activity himself. “Who’d have thought?”

*

It’s Good to Be the King and Queen (Cont’d): Incumbents get special protection here. Just as judges overlooked a ragged performance by three-time defending pairs champions Jenni Meno and Todd Sand in Wednesday’s short program, scores of 5.9 rained down on defending ice dance champions Elizabeth Punsalan and Jerod Swallow Thursday night despite an obvious gaffe early in their free dance routine.

One minute into their program, Swallow’s grip on Punsalan slipped and he wound up dragging his partner across the ice before the duo could regroup.

Not a problem, agreed the judges, who promptly assessed the exercise worthy of eight (out of nine) scores of 5.9 for artistic composition.

The championship is the fourth in seven years for Punsalan and Swallow, who also won in 1991, 1994 and 1996.

The silver medal in ice dance went to Eve Chalom and Mathew Gates. Kate Robinson and Peter Breen finished third.

Tonight’s Schedule

Women’s short program, featuring defending world champion Michelle Kwan and 1995 U.S. champion Nicole Bobek, followed by the final pairs competition, the long program. Meno and Sand are second in pairs behind Kyoko Ina and Jason Dungjen. Shelby Lyons and Brian Wells are third.