US Figure Skating Championships 2017: Thursday Results and Updated Schedule

While the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, are still a couple of years away, some of the United States' best figure skaters took the ice Thursday in Kansas City, Missouri, with the hope of winning one of the sport's biggest competitions.

The pairs short program and women's short program took center stage at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Ashley Cain and Timothy LeDuc shined in the pairs competition, while Karen Chen stole the show in the women's short program with a record-setting performance. 

Here is a look at the full results, as well as a breakdown of the action. The updated schedule is courtesy of NBC Sports.

Pairs Short Program

Cain and LeDuc set the tone in Thursday's pairs short program with a score of 69.33. The full results are courtesy of USFigureSkating.org:

Place	Start	Pair	Score
1	5	Ashley Cain and Timothy LeDuc	69.33
2	2	Haven Denney and Brandon Frazier	65.39
3	8	Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Nathan Bartholomay	65.04
4	11	Marissa Castelli and Mervin Tran	64.29
5	12	Tarah Kayne and Danny O'Shea	61.80
6	9	Erika Smith and AJ Reiss	59.30
7	7	Jessica Pfund and Joshua Santillan	58.05
8	1	Chelsea Liu and Brian Johnson	57.02
9	4	Alexandria Shaughnessy and James Morgan	48.64
10	10	Cali Fujimoto and Nicholas Barsi-Rhyne	44.84
11	3	Joy Weinberg and Maximiliano Fernandez	42.71
Withdrew	--	Jacquelyn Green and Rique Newby-Estrella	--

Nick Zaccardi of NBC Sports called Thursday's results a big surprise, which is less a comment on the ability of Cain and LeDuc and more a testament to the loaded field they squared off against.

Tarah Kayne and Danny O'Shea are the defending champions, while Haven Denney and Brandon Frazier are two-time Skate America silver medalists. What's more, Marissa Castelli and Nathan Bartholomay were 2014 Olympians, although they have different partners than they did at the 2014 Games.

However, it was Cain and LeDuc who turned in a nearly flawless performance and established a lead of 3.96 points over second-place Denney and Frazier. Zaccardi said this is Cain and LeDuc's first year skating together, which makes the performance all the more impressive. 

While Denney and Frazier are still well within striking distance in second place, Denney had issues on some of her landings. Zaccardi noted she underwent knee surgery in 2015 and had her leg wrapped on Thursday.

Denny and Frazier are close, but Cain and LeDuc are solidly ahead of the defending champions at this point. Zaccardi wrote that "Kayne fell hard on their throw triple Lutz," which ended any chance of matching the clean outing from the leaders.

Women's Short Program

Chen turned in an incredible performance of 72.82 points to lead the way over Mirai Nagasu by .87 of a point. The full results are courtesy of USFigureSkating.org:

Place	Start	Skater	Score
1	6	Karen Chen	72.82
2	18	Mirai Nagasu	71.95
3	10	Ashley Wagner	70.94
4	4	Tessa Hong	65.02
5	13	Gracie Gold	64.85
6	9	Mariah Bell	63.33
7	2	Caroline Zhang	62.55
8	15	Paige Rydberg	61.60
9	11	Bradie Tennell	59.77
10	16	Livvy Shilling	59.73
11	5	Angela Wang	58.16
12	7	Amber Glenn	56.34
13	3	Franchesca Chiera	53.97
14	12	Ashley Shin	49.86
15	17	Katie McBeath	49.33
16	14	Megan Wessenberg	48.96
17	1	Hannah Miller	48.73
18	8	Courtney Hicks	46.02
19	19	Rebecca Peng	41.08

Chen is just 17 years old, and Zaccardi noted her score set the all-time U.S. Championships women's short program scoring record. The clean performance was something of a surprise considering she entered the event as the seventh-ranked competitor from the United States after a disappointing eighth-place finish at last year's U.S. Championships.

Perhaps the bigger surprise is where Ashley Wagner and Gracie Gold sit after the short program.

Wagner is a three-time champion, and Gold is the defending titleholder at the event. However, Wagner checked in at third place, while Gold was even worse in fifth. Zaccardi said Wagner "needed to save a double Axel near the end of her short" to salvage her performance.

While Wagner and Gold are far from out of contention with the long skate still on the docket for Saturday, Zaccardi pointed to the big-picture concern. The United States can send just three competitors to the world championships, and the performances at this event are largely factored in that decision. 

Finishing well outside the top three (more of a concern for Gold than Wagner at this point) would be an issue for either skater, especially since 2010 Olympian Nagasu is in better position after Thursday. Chen will also be hard to ignore if she follows her record-setting performance with another head-turning outing.

The race for the worlds is a subplot to watch on Saturday outside of just the fight for the U.S. title.

Post-Skate Comments

Cain said, "We definitely know what we're capable of, and we're hoping to show that again in the long program on Saturday, but we do know that this is only halfway though the competition," after the pairs short program, per Zaccardi.

As for Chen, she said "My body's still trembling right now," per Zaccardi.

Gold was still confident after her performance, per Zaccardi: "I can feel a huge improvement as a skater. I think everyone can see it. I have made comebacks before. This doesn't feel like a major comeback in some ways, because I felt pretty solid."

Updated Schedule

Date	Event	Time (ET)	TV
Friday, Jan. 20	Short dance	6-8 p.m.	NBC Sports Network
Friday, Jan. 20	Men's short program	8:30 p.m.-midnight	NBC Sports Network
Saturday, Jan. 21	Pairs free skate; free dance	3-6 p.m.	NBC
Saturday, Jan. 21	Women’s free skate	8-11 p.m.	NBC
Sunday, Jan. 22	Men’s free skate	4-6 p.m.	NBC