Davis appears on short end

MARQUETTE, Mich. -- The long and short of it is that nobody's ever done the long and short of it. Not at the same Olympics. Shani Davis has already qualified for the US long-track speedskating team and figures to pocket a couple of medals at the Winter Games in Turin in February. The challenge here, on the shores of Lake Superior, not far from Santa's workshop, was whether the man from Chicago could grab one of the five spots on the short-track team and get a shot at a relay.

But after Davis failed to qualify for either the 1,000- or 1,500-meter finals last night at Northern Michigan University's Berry Events Center, he needed something just short of divine intervention to cash his double. ''When cows fly," reckoned Davis, who's sitting 10th with only tonight's 500 and 1,000 remaining.

Four years ago, Davis needed to win an ''arranged" race just to get a ticket as alternate to Salt Lake. This time, even before last night, he conceded he needed some ''Bradbury luck" to hit the unprecedented double. Steven Bradbury, of course, is the Australian long shot who won the Olympic gold medal in the 1,000 meters in 2002 after the three men ahead of him crashed coming off the final turn.

At this point, Davis needs two mass pileups to qualify. Last night, he needed a fall by Misi Toth in his 1,000 heat even to get to the semis, where he was outclassed by Apolo Anton Ohno and Rusty Smith. He caught another break in the 1,500 when both Toth and Eric Lee went down, but was outsprinted by Ohno and J.P. Kepka on the final lap. ''I tried my best, but I'm not good enough," Davis shrugged.

Since Davis couldn't compete on both World Cup circuits this fall, he chose long-track, where he's the world all-around champion and where the endorsement money is. That put him decidedly behind the curve here, where he's up against Olympic medalists in Ohno and Smith, Salt Lake veteran Kepka and Alex Izykowski, the Bay City roller who has been the revelation of these trials.

''It's tough, but I knew what I was getting myself into when I took on the challenge," said Davis, who was a whopping 26.5 points out of fifth place. ''I'm happy I didn't back down from the challenge of going after my hopes and dreams."

Ohno, the best skater in the world outside of Korea, has been in full cruise mode here, claiming both time trials and three of four individual races and locking up a place on the team after winning last night's 1,000. Merely making the team is not enough, though, for a man who has a legitimate chance to win four medals at Olympus. His objective here is to qualify to skate the 500, 1,000 and 1,500 in Turin.

''The trials are very nerve-racking," said Ohno, who led Izykowski by a massive 157.0-53.5 margin. ''Every race, anything can happen. As long as I can skate individual at the Games, that's what I'm going to shoot for."

Caroline Hallisey, who skated two individual events at Salt Lake, will be delighted just to make it this time after slipping from fourth to fifth after last night's races with two fifth-place finishes. ''I was just dead," said the Natick native, who's bidding for her third straight team. ''Dead in the 1,000, dead in the 1,500."

Hallisey, who figured to have a good chance to make the relay after skating it during the World Cup season, was hoping to stay in fourth going into today's finale. But when Maria Garcia came up huge in the 1,500, acing out overall leaders Hyo Jung Kim and Allison Baver, she vaulted from seventh to fourth. ''That really hurts," acknowledged Hallisey. ''I'm going to have to step it up tomorrow. Not exactly what I wanted to have to happen."

Four years removed from Salt Lake, it's a faster, younger field. Kim and Baver, who'd finished 1-2 in the previous four races, were beaten by Kimberly Derrick and Garcia last night. This time, even finishing fifth is an accomplishment.