WICHITA, Kan. - Amber Glenn defended her title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Friday night, landing a huge triple axel early in the program before just being passed by Alysa Liu Her case was watched with nervous anticipation.

Glenn scored 216.79 points, while Liu, a two-time national champion after retiring two years later, scored 215.33 points. Liu made a mistake on the final spin of her free skate.

Glen has been unbeaten this season, winning the prestigious Grand Prix final last month. However, after a disappointing short-term program, the 25-year-old from Plano, Texas, found himself in third place and nearly six points behind.

Two-time champion Bradie Tennell, who was second after a short program, struggled in her free skate and was beaten by 18-year-old rising star Sarah Everhart of Haymarket, Virginia. (Sarah Everhardt) finished third.

Late in the night, two-time defending world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates contributed to their three-decade win after the rhythm dance.

Jock and Bates scored 92.16 points, 10 points higher than second-place finishers Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko. To put this into context, positions 2 through 4 are less than a point apart, and the pair of Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik scored exactly the same - 82.13 points - Caroline Green and Michael Parsons (Michael Parsons).

Chock and Bates were unable to get her after the show because she was dealing with a food-related stomach issue.

They would win their fourth consecutive national title and sixth place, which would tie them with the American record held by Meryl Davis and Charlie White. This comes 11 years after Jock and Bates were first on the podium.

The ice dance finale is Saturday, when world champion Ilia Malinin will also act in the men's short program.

The season's rhythm dance style is "the social dances and styles of the 1950s, '60s and '70s," and while many teams choose to dance to Elvis Presley, Nancy Sinatra or disco, Avant-Garde Chock and Bates choose to dance throughout the three took their fans on a difficult journey through ten years of American pop culture.

There's music from "Hawaii Five-O" and a version of "Let's Twist Again." Chock and Bates did "With Lucy" with Lucy and "Stay Alive" with the Bee Gees. Of course, they let the villagers lead the arena for a "YMCA."

The performance only underscored their status as favorites heading into the World Championships in Boston in March.

They may also be favorites for next year's Winter Olympics in Milan.

Carreira and Ponomarenko's cheeky, fun 1950s sock hops scored 82.86 points. The dominant silver medalists made a small mistake on their Twizzle but scored big in a choreographed rhythm sequence to take second place.

"Our job doesn't change regardless of the score," Carrera said. "We want to skate a good program, we want to skate."

Another silver medal may be needed.

Zingas and Kolesnik were fourth a few years ago and their Bee Gees' music magazines turned heads early, while Green and Parsons held on to the same score - in this one In the sport, there was a lot of scoring elements - it was so many scores - - but was ranked fourth because they lost to Zingas and Kolesnik on technical points.

"We're happy to be here, we've been working hard since the last game," Zingas said. "I think it shows. We had a blast skating and really enjoyed our performance. "