1997 U.S. Figure Skating Championships

The 1997 U.S. Figure Skating Championships took place between February 8 and February 16, 1997, in Nashville, Tennessee. The primary venue was the Nashville Arena and the secondary was the Nashville Municipal Auditorium. Skaters competed in five disciplines across three levels. The disciplines of the competition were men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, ice dancing, and compulsory figures. The levels of competition were Senior, Junior, and Novice. Medals were awarded in four colors: gold, silver, bronze, and pewter. In the figures event, the novice competitors skated one figure, and the juniors and seniors skated three.
The event served to help choose the U.S. team to the 1997 World Championships. The 1997 World Junior Championships had been held prior to the national championships and so the World Junior Championships team had been chosen at a World Juniors selection competition earlier in the year.

Senior results

Men

Michael Weiss attempted to become the first American to land the quad toe loop and was initially believed to have been successful but three hours after the competition, U.S. Figure Skating ruled the jump had been two-footed and did not ratify it.

Rank	Name	Club	TFP	SP	FS
1	Todd Eldredge	Detroit SC	1.5	1	1
2	Michael Weiss	Washington FSC	4.5	5	2
3	Dan Hollander	St. Clair Shores FSC	5.0	4	3
4	Scott Davis	Broadmoor SC	5.5	3	4
5	Damon Allen	Broadmoor SC	6.0	2	5
6	Timothy Goebel	Winterhurst FSC	11.0	10	6
7	Michael Chack	Los Angeles FSC	11.5	9	7
8	Jere Michael	Los Angeles FSC	12.0	8	8
9	Aren Nielsen	Atlanta FSC	12.0	6	9
10	Shepherd Clark	The SC of Boston	13.5	7	10
11	Derrick Delmore	Washington FSC	17.0	12	11
12	Matthew Kessinger	Ind/World Sk Acad FSC	19.5	13	12
13	Philip Dulebohn	Univ of Delaware FSC	19.5	11	14
14	John Baldwin Jr.	Los Angeles FSC	20.0	14	13
15	Brian Buetsch	FSC of Rockford	23.5	17	15
16	Kevin Donovan	Chicago FSC	24.0	16	16
WD	Trifun Zivanovic	All Year FSC		15

Ladies

World Champion Michelle Kwan was the frontrunner but had a free skating where she fell twice and landed three clean triples. Lipinski won the title and became the youngest U.S. ladies' champion, ahead of Sonya Klopfer who won the title in 1951 at the age of 15. She also performed the first triple loop-triple loop combo ever in her free skating.

Rank	Name	Club	TFP	SP	FS
1	Tara Lipinski	Detroit SC	2.0	2	1
2	Michelle Kwan	Los Angeles FSC	3.5	1	3
3	Nicole Bobek	Los Angeles FSC	5.0	6	2
4	Angela Nikodinov	All Year FSC	6.5	5	4
5	Amber Corwin	All Year FSC	7.0	4	5
6	Tonia Kwiatkowski	Winterhurst FSC	7.5	3	6
7	Karen Kwan	Boston University	10.5	7	7
8	Shelby Lyons	Broadmoor SC	12.0	8	8
9	Lisa Bell	Broadmoor SC	13.5	9	9
10	Alizah Allen	The SC of New York	15.0	10	10
11	Kyoko Ina	The SC of New York	17.5	11	12
12	Brittney McConn	Atlanta FSC	18.0	14	11
13	Erin Sutton	Detroit SC	20.0	12	14
14	Lindsey Page	St. Clair Shores FSC	20.5	15	13
15	Serena Phillips	St. Moritz ISC	22.5	13	16
16	Kathaleen Kelly Cutone	Colonial FSC	23.5	17	15
17	Amy D'Entremont	Colonial FSC	25.0	16	17
18	Robyn Petroskey	Broadmoor SC	27.0	18	18
19	Diane Halber	Los Angeles FSC	29.0	20	19
20	Jacqie Turner	Arctic Blades FSC	29.5	19	20
WD	Sydne Vogel	Broadmoor SC