Nagasu a champion at age 14

Flatt, Wagner finish behind young skater; McLaughlin, Brubaker win pairs title

ST. PAUL, MINN. -- This is what figure skating has been looking for.

Mirai Nagasu delighted the crowd -- and herself -- with a refreshing and entertaining show at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Saturday night. Oh yeah, the 14-year-old became the second-youngest woman to win the U.S. title, too.

That other mighty mite, Olympic gold medalist Tara Lipinski, ended up doing pretty well for herself.

When her scores flashed, Nagasu looked at the screen with curiosity. When she heard she'd won, she said, "What?" then clapped her hands to her face and broke into a grin.

"I am very excited and speechless for words," Nagasu said.

Nagasu is too young to go to the world championships in March; skaters now must be 15 by the previous July 1, and she doesn't even turn 15 until April. Rachael Flatt, who finished second, also is too young. Ashley Wagner was third.

Skating to "Coppelia," the story of a doll that comes to life, Nagasu was absolutely charming.

She fell on her opening jump, a double axel, but she very quickly regrouped.

"The fall on the double axel was like a kick in the butt," she said. "After that, I was like, 'Attack!' "

Defending champion Kimmie Meissner's stunning decline continued with another mistake-filled program. Two years after winning the world title, she could only manage a seventh-place finish here, the first U.S. woman since Lipinski in 1998 to fail to defend her title.

"I didn't have a good competition here, which is very unfortunate," she said. "I'm so upset. I need to think about what I did here and why, and I need to fix it."

Earlier Saturday, Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubacker got the pairs title while John Baldwin Jr. got the girl, and Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto extended their dominance in ice dance.

McLaughlin and Brubaker last year's junior world champions, served notice they're going to be a threat on the senior stage as well, winning the pairs title in only their second season together. But they'll have to wait to take on the rest of the world because she is too young to go to the world championships in March.

Baldwin surprised partner and longtime girlfriend Rena Inoue after their performance, dropping to his knees to propose to her at center ice. Stunned at first, she tearfully said yes as the crowd cheered.

Belbin and Agosto won their fifth straight title, tying four other couples for most in U.S. history.