Keegan Messing sits 2nd after short program at Four Continents Figure Skating Championships

Canadian national champion Keegan Messing is in second place after the men's short program on Thursday night at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The 31-year-old, who is set to retire this off-season, finished with 86.70 points to be just a few back of Japan's Kao Miura.

Miura rebounded from a disappointing sixth at Japanese nationals — along with a shaky opening quad salchow — to land a massive quad-triple combination and score 91.90 points.

That also put him clear of 27-year-old Jimmy Ma of the U.S., whose soaring quad to open his short program and exceptional triple axel were good for a personal-best 86.64 points in the annual competition between non-European nations.

Canadians Conrad Orzel (80.09) and Stephen Gogolev (72.82) are seventh and 11th, respectively.

The men's free skate is scheduled for Saturday. Four Continents continues Friday with the pairs short program, rhythm dance and women's free skate.

In the women's short program, Kim Yelim breezed through a near-flawless short program to build the slimmest of leads over 15-year-old American Isabeau Levito earlier Thursday.

The 20-year-old from South Korea, performing to the moody piano piece "Mercy," was fluid through an opening triple lutz-triple toe loop before landing a double axel and triple flip. When her score of 72.84 points was read inside the Broadmoor World Arena, Kim clapped her hands and pumped her fists in delight.

It was a strong bounce-back performance for Kim, who struggled to a sixth-place finish at the Grand Prix Final.

"I was so, so nervous before," she said, "but I did an almost clean program and I am happy about that."

Levito was second with 71.50 points, and she would have been within a point of the