DALLAS -- Former U.S. and world champion Elaine Zayak and longtime ABC Sports producer/director Doug Wilson were inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame on Friday.

Joining Zayak and Wilson in the Hall's 2003 class were longtime international judge and referee Charles "Chuck'' Foster and Skippy Baxter, a technical innovator in the early ice shows.

Zayak won the women's title at the 1981 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, and added the world crown the following year. She retired after the 1984 Olympics but returned to the amateur ranks in 1994, when the International Skating Union allowed professionals to be reinstated.

At 28, she finished fourth at the 1994 nationals and was an alternate for the Lillehammer Olympic team.

"I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it as well or even better than I had before, and I wanted to show other people that a 28-year-old woman can still compete,'' Zayak said.

Foster was a judge at the 1976, 1979 and 1986 world championships, and a referee at the worlds in 1981, 1987, 1998 and 1999. He was the assistant referee for the women's competition at the Salt Lake City Olympics.

Foster has also had a long career as an administrator with the U.S. Figure Skating Association, ISU and U.S. Olympic Committee. He was a member of the USFSA's board of directors for 17 years, and was the USFSA's representative to the ISU from 1989-90. He was the USOC secretary from 1989-96, and was chef de mission for the 1994 Olympic team.

Wilson has participated in TV production of 10 Winter Olympics, beginning in 1964. He's won 17 Emmys and the Lifetime Achievement Award for sports directing from the Directors Guild of America.

Baxter skated with Sonja Henie's ice show for many years, and was one of the first to push the touring shows' technical limits, doing double axels and triple salchows.

Nikodinov's struggles
Angela Nikodinov's hard luck never seems to end.

After years of failing to live up to her potential, she finally had her career on track with coach Elena Tcherkasskaia, winning a bronze medal at the 2001 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. But Nikodinov was devastated by Tcherkasskaia's sudden death from cancer in November 2001, and she missed a spot on the Salt Lake City Olympic team.

She dislocated her left shoulder last February, then dislocated it again in September. While she was off the ice recuperating from the second injury, she developed a virus that sapped her strength.

When she finally got back on the ice in mid-October, she practically had to learn how to do her triple jumps all over again.

"(Coach Frank Carroll) was there supporting me and trying to motivate me,'' Nikodinov said. "It was a very deep hole I was in, mentally more than physically.''

Despite not being in top physical condition, she came to nationals anyway. She had a rough time in the short program, stepping out of a triple lutz, two-footing her triple flip and doing only a single axel.

She's was in 11th place before withdrawing Friday because of the shoulder problems.

"You can't expect the world when you haven't done it at home,'' Nikodinov said. "I have to go out and put this behind me. It's going to be another big lesson for me.''

But isn't she sick of learning lessons?

"Yeah, somebody up there wants to give me all of these obstacles,'' she said. "They think I can do them, so I have to just try to overcome them.''

More honors for Hughes
Olympic gold medalist Sarah Hughes is one of 12 members of the USFSA Scholastic Honors Team that recognizes top student-athletes in figure skating.

Hughes, a 17-year-old high school senior who recently was accepted to Harvard, has a 3.9 grade point average at Great Neck (N.Y) North High School.

Jennifer Don, another competitor in senior women at this week's national championships, also was honored. Don, 18, attends Silverado High School in Las Vegas.

The other honorees were Felicia Beck of Lake Arrowhead, Calif.; Victoria Devins of Skaneateles, N.Y.; Loren Galler-Rabinowitz of Brookline, Mass.; Alicia Heelan of Colorado Springs, Colo.; Lisa Horstman of Glen Ellyn, Ill.; Tatiana Klunchoo of Mission Viejo, Calif.; Meghan McCullough of Alexandria, Va.; John Serpe of Richmond, Va.; Leo Ungar of Palo Alto, Calif.; and Tiffany Vise of Colorado Springs.

The awards are sponsored by Chevrolet.

Junior winners
Dennis Phan and Erica Archambault won the junior men's and women's titles Friday at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

Phan, of Palm Desert, Calif., was second after the short program, but he won the free skate to claim his first national title. Phan was ninth in juniors last year, and was fourth in novice at the 2001 nationals.

Archambault, of Gardner, Mass., also was second after the short program, but she edged out Natalie Mecher for the title. Archambault was 10th in novice last year.

Past U.S. junior winners include Scott Hamilton, Brian Boitano, Todd Eldredge and Tim Goebel. Among the women, winners have been Sarah Hughes, Jill Trenary, Carol Heiss and Tenley Albright.

Happy birthday to you
It's birthday week at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

Ice dancer Ben Agosto turned 21 on Wednesday, the same day he and partner Tanith Belbin staged an upset by beating four-time champs Naomi Lang and Peter Tchernyshev in the original dance.

Joan Cristobal, the 2001 junior women's champ, turned 17 on Thursday. Michelle Kwan's coach, Scott Williams, also had a birthday Thursday. He turned 37.