US Figure Skating Championships 2015: Day 8 Results and Reaction

There's a new queen in American women's figure skating.

Ashley Wagner was the big winner Saturday night at the 2015 United States Figure Skating Championships. She toppled Gracie Gold to once again reign supreme in the ladies' division.

The 23-year-old was just one of many skaters victorious on the evening, with the pairs and ice dancing divisions wrapping up as well in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Alexa Scimeca and Christopher Knierim maintained their lead after the pairs short program, scoring a 136.48 in Saturday's free skate to win gold with a 210.49. Both their free-skate and total scores were U.S. records, per Ice Network:

Scimeca and Knierim began their routine with a quad twist lift 3, which earned a whopping 10.53 points, and from there, they avoided any major catastrophes that would've wrecked their final score.

"Normally when you see people win national championships it looks so easy, but that program was like a nail-biter for me," said Scimeca after her and Knierim's victory, per Brandon Penny of TeamUSA.org. "It was just hard. I had to be really in the zone when we were going through it. And then I got really excited at the end and almost fell on the dismount."

In the end, Scimeca's trepidation was unfounded. Haven Denney and Brandon Frazier were the next closest pair, and they finished a full 10.57 points back of the leaders.

Place	Team	Score
1st	Alexa Scimeca and Christopher Knierim	210.49
2nd	Haven Denney and Brandon Frazier	199.92
3rd	Tarah Kayne and Danny O'Shea	185.31
4th	Madeline Aaron and Max Settlage	175.74

As expected, the ice dancing gold was a two-horse race between the team of Madison Chock and Evan Bates and their stiffest competition, Maia and Alex Shibutani.

With the dominant duo of Meryl Davis and Charlie White taking a break from competitions, Chock and Bates and the Shibutanis had as good a chance as they've ever had to win gold at the U.S. championships.

Chock and Bates owned a slim 0.11-point lead heading into Saturday, which was far from insurmountable. The Shibutanis heaped on the pressure with a strong 107.47 in the free dance. Chock and Bates needed to come up with something special, and that's exactly what they did, scoring a 111.11 and winning gold.

Davis made sure to salute the skaters who are carrying the torch in American ice dancing:

Michael Buckley added that the U.S. has nothing to worry about regarding the future:

"

The state of USA Ice dancing is alive and amazingly well. @USFigureSkating #NC2015 What an event!

— Michael Buckley (@buckhollywood) January 24, 2015"

The competitive rivalry between Chock and Bates and the Shibutanis should be a lot of fun to watch.

Place	Team	Score
1st	Madison Chock and Evan Bates	185.06
2nd	Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani	181.31
3rd	Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue	164.74
4th	Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker	162.45

The battle between Gold and Wagner was the most anticipated of the night.

"Right now the rivalry between Gracie and I is such a great thing for the sport," said Wagner earlier in the month, per Scott M. Reid of The Orange County Register. "It keeps things interesting. It gives fans something to get behind. People take sides. So I think entertainment-wise, I think it is really great."

In 2014, Gold won at the U.S. championships, while Wagner, who was then the back-to-back champ, finished a rather disappointing fourth. Neither earned a medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics, but Gold also owned bragging rights in Sochi, Russia, placing fourth, with Wagner back at seventh.

In Greensboro, Wagner had a chance to set the record straight. With a 72.04 in the short program, she also entered the free skate with a 5.02-point advantage over Gold.

Wagner performed first, and by the time her routine was through, her triumph was all but a foregone conclusion. Her 148.98 score in the free skate was the highest ever at the U.S. championships, as was her 221.02 final score:

"

.@AshWagner2010 smashes the U.S. scoring record for the free skate (148.98) and total score (221.02). #NC2015

— icenetwork (@icenetwork) January 25, 2015"

Two-time Olympic medalist Michelle Kwan praised Wagner's performance:

Gold began her routine well but fell down on a triple-flip attempt toward the end, which resigned her to defeat. She still produced the second-highest score (138.52) in the free-skate portion, but she never came close to Wagner.

The entirety of Wagner's achievement will be remembered for some time.

Place	Skater	Score
1st	Ashley Wagner	221.02
2nd	Gracie Gold	205.54
3rd	Karen Chen	199.79
4th	Polina Edmunds	192.62

Note: You can view the full results from the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on IceNetwork.com.