atthew Lind's skating odyssey didn't begin with dreams of gold, a berth in the Olympics, the desire to be a national champion.
The used-skate table at the Salvation Army usually is long on scuffed seconds and short on big dreams.
''I had Rollerbladed a little,'' said Lind, moments after capturing the men's novice title yesterday in the US Figure Skating Championships at Matthews Arena. ''I was about 11 years old, winter was coming, and I wanted to keep skating. The only reason we didn't buy hockey skates was because they didn't have my size. So I took the figure skates, and that got me going.''
Only some seven years later, the 17-year-old Lind now stands as the top male novice in the country. Tall (6 feet 1 inch) and stylish, the Pittsfield-born Lind topped a field of 12, following his top-ranked short program the day before with another first-place finish in the two-minute freestyle.
Adam Aronowitz, a 4-9 spitfire from Westport, Conn., finished second. Kiev-born Egor Matsipura finished third after a disappointing fifth place in the short program.
Earlier in the day, looking sure and graceful as they performed their 21/2-minute routine - which included a sweeping rotational lift - Victoria Devins of Skaneateles, N.Y., and Kevin O'Keefe of Limestone, Maine, free-danced their way to a gold medal.
Jennifer Don, who trains on Cape Cod with Mary and Evy Scotvold, finished third overall in the novice ladies division, following up her first-place finish in the short program with the third-best long program of the day. Kelsey Drewel of Troy, Mo., won the gold, followed by Shannell Noji of Yorba Linda, Calif.
In the novice pairs, Janice Mayne and Josh Martin of California were third after the short program but rallied to take the title. A local pair, Tanya Bakerman of Acton and Jeremy Cobb of Waltham, finished eighth.
Lind, who now lives in Franklin, first began skating at the Graf Rink in Newburyport. The Linds then lived in Georgetown, and Matthew, after teaching himself some initial moves while watching the likes of Paul Wylie and Nancy Kerrigan perform on television, took his first lessons from Ellen Caruso of the Georgetown Skating Club.
''I'm ecstatic,'' said Lind. ''My goal this year was just to make the nationals, and now I'm excited to move up to juniors and face the challenge of the next level.''
Lind still has that first pair of skates, Salvation Army issue, tucked away in his father's closet. Cost: $4. These days, he flies around the ice on skates that cost upwards of $2,000 per pair.
''Oh, you have to save something like that,'' he said. ''When you get into something like this, and begin to think you're going to take it seriously, and maybe have some success, you hold on to them.
Lind is now finishing up his high school education with an independent study course through the University of Nebraska. Upon graduating in the coming months, he'll consider his college alternatives, which he said could include Northeastern and Brown.
''But that's all for later,'' said Lind, who now trains with the Scotvolds in South Dennis. ''You only have so many years you can skate, and you can go to school at any age.''
As for Devins and O'Keefe, Barret Brown, who coaches them at the Boston Skating Club, picked their music: the theme from the movie version of Agatha Christie's novel ''Murder on the Orient Express.''
But there was no mystery in their dazzling performance. The pair had already won Sunday's novice dance compulsories, but they were taking nothing for granted.
''We've been practicing this program for a while,'' said O'Keefe, a Northeastern freshman. ''It felt pretty solid.''
Devins, who now resides in Arlington with the family of a skating club member, said, ''I wasn't even thinking about how we placed yesterday.''
Where they will be in the future is another story, however.
Brown anticipates it will be a busy summer of practice for the pair, who met at a Lake Placid dance tryout, began skating together in September 1999, and were the surprise of the 2000 junior nationals in Williamsville, N.Y., where they were gold medalists in the intermediate dance.
''They'll go junior next season and we're going to start right away on next year's programs,'' said Brown. ''If they have the desire, they'll figure out a way to continue to do the hard work. And winning today shows them that hard work really pays off. And I hope it can bring them some sponsorships.''
The slow, melodic music put them right on track, but not without some hesitation.
''Kevin wanted to do something more funky and cool,'' said Brown, ''but I felt this would be a good challenge, something new for them, especially as they head toward the international circuit. This is the hardest transition coming up, from novice to junior.''
