That challenge became very real Friday night when into a very ordinary national championships skated two extraordinary kids, Sasha Cohen and Sarah Hughes.

Not only did their performances in the women's short program lift the level of skating in what has been a lackluster U.S. Figure Skating Championships, but they surely woke up Kwan, who was third.

	Michelle Kwan finished third in the ladies short program.

"I do see the future and it's incredible," Kwan said. "I can see the great potential and where we're sitting at world standards and how the U.S. looks against the world."

It will look awesome if these youngsters keep this up. They really didn't expect to surge ahead of Kwan so soon.

"I wouldn't really believe I could beat her, she's just so great," said Cohen, who is 15 but looks, oh, maybe 9.

"That's quite right," chimed in veteran coach John Nicks after Cohen's brilliant, innovative routine to music by Vivaldi and Albanini earned her first place from five of the nine judges.

"We all knew coming into this competition our wonderful champion Michelle, who has been supreme and is still best in the world, would be challenged by the youth of America. It's been a tradition the American ladies champion never rests easy on the throne. She will be challenged in the next year or two years. But (there is) nothing like Michelle, your consistency in performance, and all these young skaters understand it."

Hughes, 14, took the ice directly after Cohen drew a standing ovation. While she wasn't quite so energetic, Hughes was a winner with three judges for her flowing program to "Serenade for Klara."

"She was solid, she was confident, I couldn't have asked for much more," coach Robin Wagner said.

"It's not always easy to skate after a standing ovation, but I am very pleased with myself," Hughes added.

Kwan admitted she was too confident, too comfortable, and it showed. The three-time champion, a heavy favorite entering the event, fell on the simplest triple jump, a toe loop. There also wasn't a lot of spark to her presentation, although it hardly was as uninspired as what had been seen from the men, pairs and most of the ice dancers this week.

"I felt so at ease," the two-time world champion said. "I think that I didn't take my time and rushed right into it."

Was she surprised to fall, particularly on the toe loop, which she hasn't missed in four years?

"Yeah. I thought, `What am I doing on the ice?' I haven't fallen on that in forever."

Kwan still can win by finishing first in Saturday night's free skate. But could anyone expect the Olympic silver medalist to need a rally to win? She even fooled her coach, Frank Carroll, who knows Kwan better than anybody.

"I thought she was dead-on," Carroll said. "I thought she was going to be fabulous.

"We've talked about the fact you can't lose concentration for one single second. ... That's what a short program is all about, not losing concentration."

Dressed in white and looking like a ballerina in a music box, Cohen was magical from the beginning of her first significant senior event. Combining unusual strength for someone so small (4-foot-9, 79 pounds), she displayed marvelous flexibility. From her triple lutz-double toe combination to a series of exquisite, difficult spirals to a perfect triple flip, she wowed the crowd.

And the judges.

"That's the best short program she's skated in three years," Nicks said.

Hughes didn't miss a thing, either. Her combination spins were especially strong, but the overall program wasn't quite equal to Cohen's.

Hughes is eligible for next month's world championships because she did well enough internationally last year to qualify. Cohen must finish in the top three at junior worlds in three weeks to get into the world championships -- provided she makes the top three at nationals on Saturday.

The United States will have three skaters at worlds, in Nice, France. It's unfathomable that Kwan would not be one of them, but she certainly can't rest on her laurels in the free skate.

"It's great to see them skate and see the potential of where we are," Kwan said.

Later Friday, Kyoko Ina and John Zimmerman won their first pairs title together and showed that the United States isn't lagging all that far behind the rest of the world. Ina, the first woman in 25 years to capture pairs gold with two partners -- she won in 1997 and '98 with Jason Dungjen -- and Zimmerman had the look of a Russian couple, and the scores to match.

Skating to "Phantom of the Opera," they were first with eight judges in beating Tiffany Scott and Philip Dulebohn. Both pairs will go to the worlds.

"Tonight is the zenith of it so far for us," Zimmerman said.