Defending champion Nathan Chen shines in men's short program at US figure skating championships

SAN JOSE - Nathan Chen made it look easy on the ice and in the standings Thursday night, running away with the short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

The defending champion and America’s best hope for an Olympic gold medal next month at the Pyeongchang Games, the 18-year-old Chen spun his usual quad magic, hitting two of the four-rotation jumps, one in competition. His energy lit up the SAP Center, and though his triple axel was funky, Chen earned 104.45 points.

That’s territory none of his countrymen can reach.

Coming closest was veteran Adam Rippon, who had a career-best 96.52. Jason Brown, a 2014 team bronze medalist at the Sochi Olympics, was third heading to Saturday’s free skate at 93.23.

Grant Hochstein put on the performance of his life, nailing every element and drawing the first standing ovation of the competition to wind up fourth at 92.18.

Rippon, at 28 the oldest entry in the men’s event, radiated energy all over the rink, particularly with his expressive footwork and spins. With the crowd clapping along to the 2016 national champion’s every move, Rippon was ecstatic even before he saw his 96.52 score.

Brown didn’t need a quad because of his classical body lines, speed and solid interpretation of his music, “The Room Where It Happens,” from “Hamilton.”

One of the more popular American skaters, Brown’s high marks drew a loud ovation to end the night.

Hochstein included a quadruple toe loop-triple toe at the outset. His spins were precise, his footwork smooth, and by the conclusion of his 2-minute, 40-second routine, he’d drawn the first standing ovation of the competition.

When his 92.18 shattered his previous best short program by nearly 11 points, the crowd roared again.

Vincent Zhou, the only American who comes close to the stratosphere Chen works in, leaped above the sideboards for his quad lutz-triple toe loop to open a difficult program. He also did a quad flip, only to crash on the triple axel - hardly an easy jump, of course.

The 17-year-old Zhou looked anguished when he saw an 89.02 for fifth place. Afterward, however, he expressed pleasure with the evening.

“I gave a good performance out there,” Zhou said. “I did a nice quad. Triple axel was a really stupid mistake. I just got kind of way into the program, I had too good of a flow, so I stepped really far over to the left. But other than that I think it was great.”

Three-time U.S runner-up Ross Minor, another veteran of the ice wars, also came through with a top-notch showing. But lacking a quad, his 88.91 got him sixth place.

Earlier, Chris Knierim and wife Alexa Scimeca-Knierim won the short program for pairs.

The 2015 national champions who have battled injuries the last two years were 2.17 points ahead of Tarah Kayne and Danny O’Shea. With 67.84 points were Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Nathan Bartholomay, a 2014 Sochi Olympian with a different partner.