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Skating by See images from the 2009 U.S. Figure Skating Championships where Alissa Czisny captured the title despite a fall. more photos

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updated 1:10 a.m. ET Jan. 25, 2009

CLEVELAND - Alissa Czisny put the woman back in women’s figure skating, reminding everyone there’s more to the sport than jumps.

Take note, youngsters.

The 21-year-old made a rebound for the ages Saturday, winning the women’s title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships one year after a dismal ninth-place finish had her re-evaluating herself. Tears filled her eyes when she saw the final results, and it’ll be days before the smile leaves her face.

“Throughout the years, there’s been a lot of disappointments and hard times,” said Czisny, known as much in the past for her inconsistency as for her considerable talent.

“I think I’ve been able to take all of them and learn from them. It’s made me a better person, it’s made me a better skater and I think I’ve learned a lot, a lot about life.”

Czisny’s program was far from perfect — she was third in the free skate and won despite completing just three triple jumps. She fell on a triple lutz and watered down what was supposed to be a triple-triple combination. But her elegance, maturity and basic skating skills were far superior to the up-and-comers who were supposed to turn nationals into their coming-out party.

Her score of 178.06 points was four points better than 16-year-old Rachael Flatt, the reigning world junior champion. Caroline Zhang, the 15-year-old 2007 junior champ, was third. Ashley Wagner won the free skate, bumping from 12th all the way up to fourth.

Earlier Saturday, Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker powered through her bad case of the flu and two errors to win their second straight pairs title, edging newcomers Caydee Denney and Jeremy Bennett. McLaughlin and Brubaker are the first couple to defend their title since Kyoko Ina and John Zimmerman won three straight from 2000-02.

Meryl Davis and Charlie White wrapped up their first ice dance title, overwhelming the rest of the field in the process. No surprise, considering their only competition in the United States is Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, and the Olympic silver medalists are back home while Agosto recovers from a back injury.

Czisny has long been considered the most talented skater in the country. She skates with the beauty of generations gone by, with stunning lines and a smoothness that masks the difficult tricks she’s doing. She seems to float across the ice when her blades are actually carving it with the precision of a diamond cutter. Her spins are simply breathtaking, the kind that remind you of that pretty little ballerina in the jewelry box.

But she sabotaged herself time and again, never able to hold it together when the pressure was greatest. This is her eighth trip to the senior nationals, yet she has just one medal to show for it. After last year’s debacle, though, Czisny took a long, hard look at what she was doing — and why.

She started skating for herself instead of the placements, and a funny thing happened: the results started coming.

“She’s always been a fantastic person. She could not have been a better person,” longtime coach Julianne Berlin said. “But she became a wiser person. She had to dig deep.”