World silver medalists Madison Chock and Evan Bates hold a slim lead over Olympic teammates Maia and Alex Shibutani after the U.S. Championships short dance in St. Paul, Minn., on Friday.
Chock and Bates, the defending U.S. champions, totaled 75.14 points, bettering their mark from the 2015 Nationals by 1.19 points.
The Shibutani siblings, the three-time U.S. silver medalists without a national title, also improved from last year to post 74.67 points.
In 2015, the Shibutanis trailed by .11 going into the free dance and ended up 3.