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Young pairs teams are supposed to be seen and not cause a stir. So much for that.

Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker continued their swift rise in pairs skating Wednesday night, winning the short program in their first senior U.S. Figure Skating Championships. The competition was pretty good, too, as they edged Olympians Rena Inoue and defending champions Brooke Castile and Benjamin Okolski.

McLaughlin and Brubaker's score of 66.54 points gives them a 1.3-point lead over Inoue-Baldwin going into Saturday's free skate.

"We felt really strong and ready and confident for the short program," Brubaker said. "It's definitely a confidence booster, and it was a good skate getting ready for the long."

Pairs teams usually take years to develop, to perfect the unison and harmony needed for world-class success. But McLaughlin and Brubaker are on the fast track. In only their second season together, they're already generating some buzz internationally and they make no secret of the fact they want to make the Americans contenders after years of medal droughts.

They routed the junior ranks last year, winning every competition they entered including the junior world championships. After moving up to seniors this year, they did well enough at their Grand Prixs to qualify for the final.

They are not eligible to compete at the world championships in March because she only turned 15 in September.

"We feel like we have an opportunity to do something the United States hasn't been able to do in a long time," Brubaker said.

Added McLaughlin, "It's not so much pressure, it's just motivating. We want to make a big bang next year."

They're already off to a good start.

While most of the top pairs bobbled their way through their programs Wednesday night, McLaughlin and Brubaker shone.

"We don't go anywhere to skate for second," Brubaker said.

Their throw triple salchow covered so much of the ice, she should have had a pedometer on her to see how far she traveled. Their lateral triple twist was the best of the night, and more difficult. Unlike other couples, who go up vertically and come right back down, she twists her body so she's actually perpendicular to the ice.

And he really showed his strength as a skater when he supported her on their lift. While other men scuffle the ice with their toe picks and take jerky steps, Brubaker's steps are smooth and quiet.

"That was our best short program of the season," McLaughlin said.

It wasn't perfect, though. She had to put her hand down on their side-by-side triple salchows and their side-by-side combination spin was noticeably out of unison.

That left room for another pair to pass them with a clean program, but nobody could manage it.

Inoue and Baldwin didn't make any mistakes, but their program didn't have the difficulty expected of the top teams. Certainly not what the judges expect from a pair whose athleticism is their strength.

Their side-by-side double axels were nice, but that's a move so basic it wouldn't get them very far at junior worlds, let alone the senior version. They only did a double twist, and it still wasn't close to being as explosive as McLaughlin and Brubaker's triple twist.

They did have nice footwork, and they showcased their experience and maturity with the best unison of the night on their side-by-side spins.

And, considering they've only been training a matter of weeks, it wasn't a bad showing.

After last year's worlds, Inoue told Baldwin she needed a break from the grind of competing. Skating wasn't as much fun as it once was, and she felt all the technical requirements and rules in the new judging system had robbed her of her creativity.

So instead of training for competitions, the two toured. They did shows all over Europe and Japan and, somewhere along the way, rediscovered their love for the sport.

"I wanted to enjoy a different kind of skating, for ourselves," Inoue said. "I totally feel regrouped and fresh. We came here for nationals to just enjoy and challenge ourselves."

Castile and Okolski were a little rusty after missing the Grand Prix series because she had several leg injuries. Their biggest problem was his fall on their side-by-side double axels.

Earlier, four-time ice dance champs Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto won the compulsory dance. No surprise there, of course. What was a mild surprise was "only" being 1.27 points ahead of training partners Meryl Davis and Charlie White.

It's hardly the makings of an upset, and the gap will likely grow with Thursday's original dance and Saturday's free dance. But considering the Olympic silver medalists are so far ahead of everyone else in the United States, this is about the closest the competition gets.

"That's great," White said. "In compulsories, there's never as much discrepancy as the others. But it's always nice to be close to such a great team."