US Figure Skating Championships 2018: Friday Results and Updated Schedule

The 2018 United States Figure Skating Championships got underway Friday with the future stars of the sport showcasing their talents.

Day 1 featured the full competitions for the juvenile girls, boys and pairs competition, followed by the short programs for the intermediate groups. While medals will be awarded throughout the week, the first golds have already been won in San Jose, California.

Here are the latest results from the first day of action in one of the biggest events in the sport.

Note: All scoring information courtesy of USFigureSkating.org.

Saturday Schedule

Intermediate Pairs Free Skate - 5:45 p.m. ET

Intermediate Ladies Free Skate - 7:45 p.m. ET

Intermediate Men's Free Skate - 9:30 p.m. ET

Juvenile Girls

Gold: Isabeau Levito 65.38

Silver: Clara Kim 63.83

Bronze: Macie Rolf 63.46

The first championship of the week went to Isabeau Levito, who led a group of three competitors that were far and away better than the rest of the field Friday.

Less than two points separated first and third, but more than eight points separated third and fourth place in this competition. While Levito, Clara Kim and Macie Rolf were all likely headed to the podium, the only question is who would be on top.

However, Levito earned extra points for her executed elements, including a double axel, single loop and double flip combination that raised her starting score. While she wasn't perfect, the performance was good enough to top the competition and win a gold medal.

Juvenile Boys

Gold: Keita Horiko 54.37

Silver: Jacob Sanchez 51.77

Bronze: Nhat-Viet Nguyen 49.31

Keita Horiko used a difficult program to push him to a gold medal in the juvenile boys competition.

As Ellen Dunkel of the Philadelphia Inquirer noted, it continued a run of New Jersey skaters:

Horiko had several combination sequences in his performance, giving him a high score for his executed elements. All he needed to do was nail his planned elements and he was able to bring home the best score of the group.

Jacob Sanchez earned a high score for his change foot combination spin, but it wasn't enough to catch Horiko.

Juvenile Pairs

Gold: Natasha Mishkutionok and Daniel Tioumentsev 48.63

Silver: Nadia Wang and Jaden Schwab 43.58

Bronze: Dalila DeLaura and Ryan Xie 42.30

Natasha Mishkutionok and Daniel Tioumentsev blew away the competition in the juvenile pairs event, winning by a margin of more than five points.

The Dallas Figure Skating Club congratulated the duo:

The judges simply felt Mishkutionok and Tioumentsev did nearly everything better than the rest of the field, giving them high marks for skating skills, performance and interpretation of the music.

Ryan Xie tried to keep the New Jersey run going with his partner Dalila DeLaura from New York, but the third-place group couldn't keep up with the eventual winners.

Intermediate Pairs

1. Zoe Larson and Nick Hubbart 39.27

2. Cate Fleming and Jedidiah Isbell 38.42

3. Katie Luong and Nathan Luong 31.38

The intermediate groups include both a short program and a free skate, just like the seniors, so this event is only half over with the free skate set for Saturday. However, this appears to only be a two-team race for the gold.

Zoe Larson and Nick Hubbart are out to an early lead thanks to a relatively clean run, earning extra points from their choreographed step sequence. They also separated themselves with their composition.

However, Cate Fleming and Jedidiah Isbell are right on their tails behind a performance that earned an even higher score for executed elements.

With seven points separating Katie Luong and Nathan Luong from anyone above them and five points clear of the teams below them, the San Diego duo seems destined for third place.

Intermediate Ladies

1. Indi Cha 47.28

2. Arianna Concepcion 47.07

3. Alyssa Chan 45.98

Indi Cha was able to take a small lead over Arianna Concepcion in the ladies' intermediate short program. She got there thanks to a triple lutz and two toe jumps during her routine. 

Concepcion's mother, Debbie, said coming into the event that just reaching the championships was an accomplishment she wasn't expecting. 

"She works really, really hard and it's really hard to get where she ended up -- top 12 in the country for her level," Debbie told Amaris Castillo of the Lowell Sun. "I'm so happy for her. It was a goal that she actually didn't think she'd achieve, so I think it makes it more special."

Things started off well for the 14-year-old as she continues her quest for a championship. 

Cha and Concepcion are well ahead of the field. Alyssa Chan, sitting in third place, has a sizable edge over Alena Budko in fourth with 43.96 points. 

Intermediate Men's

1. Maxim Zharkov 45.67

2. Matthew Nielsen 43.22

3. Liam Kapeikis 41.28

It didn't take long for Maxim Zharkov to set the pace in the intermediate men's short program. He stormed out to a two-point lead thanks to a dazzling routine that included a triple lutz, double toe jump, double axel and triple toe jump. 

The rest of the top six is largely bunched together, though Matthew Nielsen in second place does have some margin for error ahead of Liam Kapelkis. 

Kapeikis and sixth-place William Annis are separated by nine-tenths of a point. Zharkov is coming off a bronze medal at the midwestern sectionals last month. He's one step away from a victory at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships if he can build off of his momentum during Saturday's free skate.