Chan, Howe withdraw due to health while leading U.S. championships - ESPN

Winning the pairs short program was enough for Emily Chan and Spencer Howe at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

The duo, who had been sidelined all season while Howe recovered from a torn labrum in his shoulder, scored 65.86 points on Thursday to sit atop a crowded leaderboard in Columbus, Ohio. But just hours later, Chan and Howe decided to withdraw from the remainder of the competition so that he could continue his recovery from the surgery last May.

«Tonight was a big success for us, and a huge milestone to our comeback,» Howe said in a statement, «but we feel we want to take this time to continue to get healthy and set ourselves up for success.»

Chan and Howe could still compete at the world championships in March in Montreal, where the U.S. will send three teams. But they will need to file a petition, and U.S. Figure Skating said they have signaled their intention to do so.

Their withdrawal from nationals means Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea, who were right behind with 64.57 points, moved into first place heading into the free skate Saturday. Katie McBeath and Daniil Parkman are right behind 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