er voice still cracks with nervousness, and the occasional answer trails off into a nervous giggle. The official bio lists her as 5 feet 3 inches, but she looks at least an inch taller now. She's filling out, and the braces have been shed.
In a four-week stretch this season, the surging 15-year-old from Great Neck, N.Y., finished second to Michelle Kwan at Skate America, second to former world champion Maria Butyrskaya at the Nations Cup, and third at the Cup of Russia.
Sarah Hughes is growing up, and skating like it.
Just in time. Some longtime observers believe defending champion Kwan is vulnerable at these US Figure Skating Championships, in which the senior ladies get started tonight in the short program. If she's going to be beaten by anyone, Hughes has emerged as the most likely candidate.
''To have people talking about me, it makes me feel good,'' Hughes said yesterday.
In the strait-laced hiring practices of the ice world, figure skaters have to build a resume before being considered for the corner office, and steady performances at international competitions are a key ingredient, especially in the year leading up to an Olympics. So far, Hughes's season is a model for all job seekers, amplifying the statement she made last year in placing fifth at the World Championships.
''This year has been so important because she's really established herself as a skater who's put good performances out there on a consistent basis, so the international judges are looking at her as a more serious and viable competitor,'' said Robin Wagner, her coach. ''Before you can be put on a team, your association has to feel that you are in that position.''
Hughes is more pithy. ''If I skate my best, I can win,'' she said, without a trace of braggadocio. ''That's why I'm here.''
This will be Hughes's third US championship as a senior, but the first at which she has been getting much attention. After winning the US Junior Championships in 1998, she moved up to fourth among seniors in 1999 and third last year, behind Kwan and Sasha Cohen. Cohen and Naomi Nari Nam, considered among the top contenders, are out with injuries this time around.
''I skated pretty well, but I never had the performance of my life at this competition. Two years ago it was Naomi and then last year it was Sasha. So everybody just went right to them,'' she said, zooming her hand forward to imitate the rush of attention. ''I sort of feel I've always been here, but the spotlight has been on someone else.''
In retrospect, that might have been a good thing.
''Two years ago and even last year, if I had won it would have maybe been too much for me to handle,'' she said. ''A lot comes with it. I see Michelle and she handles herself so well, and it's really something I can look up to.''
Hughes sets a pretty good example of her own. Unlike many up-and-coming skaters who move far from home to train, Hughes still lives with her family on Long Island and is still enrolled in Great Neck High School. The fourth of six children, Hughes lives a fairly normal family life, fighting over TV time and who has to do the dishes.
Until recently, she attended school for a while every day in addition to her hours of training, but since Skate America, things have gotten sufficiently hectic that ''I haven't been there much lately.'' She plans to return after the season, and thanks to doing her assignments at home, the sophomore honor student doesn't expect to fall behind her classmates.
''A lot of the problems come from too much attention and too much preoccupation with skating, and school tends to balance it out a bit,'' said her father, John, who was captain of the Cornell hockey team in 1969-70. ''I don't think her skating suffers, and I know it's good for her as a developing person.''
Three years ago, the family faced a major crisis when Hughes's mother, Amy, was diagnosed with breast cancer. ''We call Sarah the doctor, because that was the year she won the junior championships and Amy was able to go see her in between the chemo and [bone marrow] transplant, and it really lifted her spirits. It couldn't have been timed better.''
Timing. Hughes's solid jumping already gives her a slight technical edge over Kwan, so this season is being devoted mostly to capitalizing on the simple fact that little Sarah is becoming a more mature young lady. With the European and Russian skaters tending to be a little older these days, Hughes is beginning to fit right in.
''I think there's a great growth in her presence and confidence on the ice,'' said Wagner. ''That's important for the international judges to see. There isn't this push to have young skaters at the top, [and] I don't think Sarah skates as a 15-year-old. She's far more mature beyond her years on the ice, and she's comfortable with it.''
She's also comfortable with her recent success. ''Nothing that I've done surprised me,'' Hughes said. ''I knew I could do it, so I believe in myself and I do it.''
If she does it here, great. She feels ready. If not, ending the competition as first runner-up will still be a step up from last year.
''There's no shame in finishing second to Michelle,'' said Hughes. ''I'll just skate and try to make up the judges' minds.''
Try, in essence, to convince them that it's time.
