US Figure Skating Championships 2018: Tuesday Results and Updated Schedule

The 2018 U.S. Figure Skating Championships continued Tuesday, with novice and juniors competition taking center stage. 

The novice men and ladies both did their short program and pairs competition. The junior ladies and pairs competitions were also on the schedule.

Here are the results from Tuesday, along with a look ahead at Wednesday's slate.

Wednesday Schedule

Novice Ladies/Free Skate (11:15 a.m. ET)

Junior Men/Free Skate (1:15 p.m. ET)

Junior Dance/Short Dance (4 p.m. ET)

Novice Men/Free Skate (6:15 p.m. ET)

Championship Ladies/Short Program (9:35 p.m. ET)

Novice Ladies/Short Program

First: Beverly Zhu (54.91)

Second: Christina Lin (48.29)

Third: Violeta Ushakova (46.76)

Beverly Zhu put herself in a strong position for gold, opening up more than a six-point lead in the standings following a stellar short program. Her clean skating performance puts her well ahead of second-place Christina Lin and third-place Violeta Ushakova.

The 6.62-point lead makes her the clear favorite heading into Wednesday's free skate. Her separation from Lin is nearly identical to the second-place skater's lead over ninth-place Sarah Jung.

All but one of the skaters had a score of at least 40 in their short program, which should put them all in relative contention to medal in the free skate.

Novice Men/Short Program

First: Nicholas Hsieh (56.75)

Second: Goku Endo (54.11)

Third: Max Lake (52.66)

The novice men, on the other hand, appear to have settled into a four-person race for the medals. Nicholas Hsieh's near-flawless performance has him sitting atop the leaderboard, just ahead of Goku Endo and Max Lake. Hsieh even added a little levity to his performance with "Hello Darkness My Old Friend" playing at the beginning of his skate.

All three competitors should have a real shot at winning gold in the free skate, and fourth-place Lucas Alteri is hanging just outside the medal contenders in fourth.

All other competitors are at least seven points out of third place.

Intermediate Dance/Free Dance

Gold: Elliana Peal and Ethan Peal (96.01)

Silver: Claire Cain and Andrei Davydov (91.59)

Bronze: Anna Gissibl and Alexander Colucci (90.74)

Elliana and Ethan Peal saved their best for last, recording a 52.40 score in their free skate to run away with the intermediate dance competition.

Their free skate score was nearly five points better than any other pair and more than made up their margin from the short dance, which had them in third place coming into Tuesday.

Clair Cain and Andrei Davydov, who led following the short program, held off Anna Gissibl and Alexander Colucci for the silver.

Junior Pairs/Free Skate

Gold: Audrey Lu and Misha Mitrofanov (173.31)

Silver: Sarah Feng and TJ Nyman (155.57)

Bronze: Laiken Lockley and Keenan Prochnow (153.04)

Audrey Lu and Misha Mitrofanov left no question about who was the best junior pairs team in the country, putting up a 112.51 score in their free skate to run away with the gold medal Tuesday.

No team came within 17 points of Lu and Mitrofanov, who led the competition following a strong short program earlier this week.

Sarah Feng and TJ Nyman edged out Laiken Lockley and Keenan Prochnow for silver. The three medalists were far and away the best in the competition, with no other team posting more than 135.96 points.

Novice Pairs/Free Skate

Gold: Jade Hom and Franz-Peter Jerosch (126.99)

Silver: Joanna Hubbart and William Hubbart (118.31)

Bronze: Masha Mokhova and Ivan Mokhov (116.64)

Jade Hom and Franz-Peter Jerosch entered the free skate in first place after an impressive short program and ended it in the same position. Their 80.32 score in the free skate paced the rest of the competition and left no doubt who the winners were Tuesday.

Joanna Hubbart and William Hubbart moved from seventh place into second thanks to the second-best free skate score (78.00), while Masha Mokohva and Ivan Mokhov fell to third with the fifth-best free skate score (72.94).

The seventh-place finishers (Jasmine Fendi and Joshua Fendi at 110.03) were closer to second place than second place was to first, underscoring the dominance from Hom and Jerosch throughout the competition.

Novice Dance/Free Dance

Gold: Katarina Wolfkostin and Howard Zhao (122.41)

Silver: Gianna Buckley and Jeffrey Chen (116.77)

Bronze: Caroline Liu and Kenan Slevira (115.56)

Katarina Wolfkostin and Howard Zhao dominated the free dance portion of the competition Tuesday and seized the victory after placing in second in the initial program. Their 73.54 score in the free dance was the only one above 67.50, which allowed them to overtake Gianna Buckley and Jeffrey Chen.

The 67.49 from Caroline Liu and Kenan Slevira was the second-best showing in the free dance, propelling them into medal position and just ahead of Elizabeth Tkachenko and Alexei Kiliakov (112.95 total score).

Junior Ladies/Free Skate

Gold: Alysa Liu (184.16)

Silver: Pooja Kalyan (166.53)

Bronze: Ting Cui (165.51)

Alysa Liu built on her dominant performance from the short program during Tuesday's free skate and cruised to victory with a total score of 184.16. Her 120.33 score in the free skate was one of only two scores above 112.00 and left no doubt who would walk away victorious.

The closer race was for second, as Pooja Kalyan went from fourth place after the short program to second thanks to a 111.98. She just held off Ting Cui, who thrived with a 119.96 in the free skate and jumped from 11th place to third in the total score department.

Emily Zhang was second after the short program but fell to fifth overall thanks to a 92.86 in the free skate.