Freshman Skater to Enter World Championship Meet

A Harvard freshman, Scott E. Allen, has been selected to represent the United States in the 1968 World Figure Skating Championships at Geneva, Switzerland.

The official announcement of the United States Winter Olympic and World Championship Tournament teams was made Sunday at the conclusion of the United States figure skating championships in Philadelphia.

As expected, the selections for the U.S. Olympic team were the top three winners in each Olympic event--senior men, senior women, and senior pairs.

Finished Fourth

For the world team, however, Allen, who finished fourth among senior men, replaced John Petkevich, the third-place finisher in that category.

The selection committee for the world team apparently believed that Allen deserved a chance to compete in the world competition, where he finished fifth last year. He will train strenuously at Lake Placid. N.Y. until leaving for the world tournament training camp at Villar, Switzerland, next month.

Six Years Old

Allen, from Smokerise, N.J., began skating in competition when he was six years old. In 1962, at the age of 12, he entered the world championships for the first time and finished eighth in the senior mens division.

Since then, Allen has captured two national figure skating titles and a bronze medal in the 1964 Olympic Games. He was runnerup to Alain Calmat of France in the 1965 world championships.

Despite his disappointing fourth place finish in the national figure skating championships last weekend. Allen remains optimistic about his chances in the world competition at Geneva.

"I expect to finish among the top five," he said yesterday as he prepared to leave for Lake Placid.