Emily Chan and Spencer Howe have spent far more time away from the ice than on it this season, the rising American pairs figure skaters forced to watch from the sideline while he recovered from shoulder surgery.

Howe admitted Thursday after their short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships that he is still not fully recovered.

Imagine how Chan and Howe might have looked if that was the case.

The reigning silver medalists overcame their biggest mistake, when Chan had to put her hand down for the landing on their throw triple loop, to score 65.86 points and top a crowded leaderboard in Columbus, Ohio. Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea were right behind with 64.57 points, and Katie McBeath and Daniil Parkman a surprising third with 64.21 points.

"I've been recovering for quite some time now, and we've had a lot of challenges leading up to this competition, and we weren't even sure if we were going to be in it at all," Howe said, "so for us to be here and sitting where we're sitting, it's definitely a huge blessing for us. It's been a long time for us and it felt really good."

In the rhythm dance, four-time and reigning American champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates showed exactly why they are also the defending world champs. Their program, set to music from the rock band Queen, scored 92.17 points, putting them well clear of Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko in second and Caroline Green and Michael Parsons in third.

The first day of the U.S. championships concludes Thursday night with the women's short program, where 16-year-old Isabeau Levito will begin her title defense. The men's short program and women's free skate are Friday night.

The American contingent has been on the rise in pairs skating after after years of struggling on the international stage, and that culminated with Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier winning the world title two years ago and a silver medal last season.

But with Knierim and Frazier taking the year off, and their future uncertain, that cleared the way for a free-for-all at nationals.

McBeath and Parkman staked their claim in their first U.S. championships since becoming a team last year, holding onto their throw triple lutz to finish their short program set to "Requiem for a Dream" and post the early score. It held up until the final group, when Kam and O'Shea nudged them aside despite a fall on their throw triple loop.

But it was Chan and Howe, who were coming off a fifth-place finish at worlds and had momentum on their side before his injury, who topped them all. Their program, set to music by Elvis Presley, was hardly their best performance but nevertheless earned an appreciative response from a large crowd inside Nationwide Arena.

"When we got here," Chan said, "it was a reminder of what it's like to be in a competition environment. It's been a while since we've been in a big arena. So it was really nice to be here and feel the energy of the crowd, and by the time we got out there for our performances, we were both so supportive of each other. We knew we would be out there together, so we set back in the comfort of each other, and we did our best to work together in the moment."