DALLAS -- John Baldwin has been coming to the U.S. Figure Skating Championships since 1986, so long ago that Ronald Reagan was president and Michael Jackson was actually hip.

Now, after 17 tries, Baldwin has made his first World Championships team. He and partner Rena Inoue finished third in pairs Friday night, earning them a trip to the world championships in March in Washington.

"It's like hitting a good shot when you're playing a game of golf,'' Baldwin said of his long journey. "Think of how many bad shots you've hit, but that one shot keeps you coming back.''

Baldwin, 29, won the novice men's title in 1987. He came to nationals 14 times in singles, and has come with Inoue the past three seasons.

"I think for John it's very validating,'' said his coach, Jill Watson, who won a bronze medal in pairs at the 1988 Olympics with Peter Oppegard.

"After that many years, you feel there's a payoff at the end, and finally you're being recognized or receiving some of the laurels of skating,'' she added. "I think he's turned out to be a really good pairs skater.''

Family affair
The Pottenger brothers made history in their hometown.

Steven and Christopher Pottenger, from nearby Coppell, Texas, both won pairs titles at this week's U.S. Figure Skating Championships, making them the first siblings to win separate pairs crowns in the same year.

Steven, 17, and partner Amy Howerton of Rock Wall, Texas, won the junior pairs title Saturday morning. Christopher, 15, and Sydney Schmidt of Dallas won the novice title last Monday.

Men's withdrawal
Shepherd Clark, at 31 the oldest skater in the men's field, withdrew just before the free skate Saturday at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Clark, of Atlanta, said he had flu-like symptoms.

In 13 trips to nationals, Clark's best finish was fourth in 1998. He was just 17th in the short program on Thursday.

Have a nice trip
Naomi Lang and Peter Tchernyshev got more than their fifth ice dance title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

They get trips to the world championships and to China.

Lang and Tchernyshev earned a spot on the team for the world championships, which will be held in March in Washington. They also were selected for the Four Continents Championships next month in Beijing.

"We're looking forward to the rest of the competitions, to Four Continents and the world championships,'' Tchernyshev said. "We need the competitions.''

Nationals was Lang and Tchernyshev's first competition of the season. They've only been on the ice for six weeks because she has a cyst on her Achilles' tendon that will require surgery in the spring.

Also chosen for the worlds team were: Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto (ice dance); Tiffany Scott and Philip Dulebohn (pairs); Katie Orscher and Garrett Lucash (pairs); and Rena Inoue and John Baldwin (pairs).

Selected for Four Continents were: Belbin and Agosto; Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov (ice dance); Scott and Dulebohn; Orscher and Lucash; and Inoue and Baldwin.

Chosen for the Junior World Championships, Feb. 24-March 3 in Ostrava, Czech Republic, were ice dancers Loren Galler-Rabinowitz and David Mitchell; Morgan Matthews and Maxim Zavozin; Kirsten Frisch and Brent Bommentre. In pairs, it will be Jennifer Don and Jonathon Hunt; Tiffany Stiegler and Johnny Stiegler; and Tiffany Vise and Larry Ibarra.