A trio of teams who train with Igor Shpilband at the Arctic Edge Ice Arena in Canton, Michigan took home the top three medals at the U.S. National Championships. The last time this happened was 1998, and the coach of the trio was also Igor Shpilband.

Meryl Davis & Charlie White won their third consecutive U.S. title with a smoldering performance to tango selections. Undefeated so far this season, the duo did not have too much to worry about heading into these championships, but they still wanted to give their all and continue building momentum for the last part of the season. Their total score of 185.48 topped their season's best by nearly 14 points.

"I think tonight went really well for us," Davis said. "It's exactly what we wanted to do coming here and just kind of building confidence and increasing the level of performance of that program."

Davis & White were visibly exhausted at the end of their performance, something not due to a lack of training, but to the passion that they poured into their free dance.

"We really wanted to give an emotional performance tonight and we are in fantastic shape," White said. "It's one thing to do the athleticism, but to put the emotion in the program really takes it out of you."

When Alex & Maia Shibutani finished their short dance to "Carousel Waltz" at the 2011 AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships, the audience rose to its feet and the scoreboard lit up with 70.47 -- the highest score for an American team this season. All elements received level 4. Even two-time and reigning national champions, Meryl Davis & Charlie White, had only scored 68+ on the Grand Prix. Could we have what could be a huge upset on our hands?

Yeah...no. Showing no nerves at all (it's a bit freaky, actually, how absolutely nothing seems to faze them!), Davis & White equaled the Shibutanis' level 4 sweep and earned .35 higher in GOE. Still awfully close for comfort. Plus "the Shibs" dethroned Davis & White as king and queen of the twizzles--7.43 to 7.07. The Shibutanis were one of only a few teams at these Championships to do a third twizzle set as their difficult entry or exit. Most of the other teams choose a difficult entry instead, usually a jump into the first set.

No dance competition at U.S. Nationals or Euros, so this made for a day of catching up (both on sleep and Euros photos). We did head over to the senior dance practices, and fortunately those were bloodless and enjoyable. It was unfortunate that the second two groups of dance practice were at the same time as senior pairs short, so it was a divide and conquer effort.

In the main rink, we had a live singer to perform the National Anthem, rather than a recording that was used earlier in the week. About 2/3 of the way through the song, the microphone cut out. Without missing a beat, the audience began singing loudly, filling the Greensboro Coliseum with supportive voices. It you are a sucker for "The Star-Spangled Banner" or anything patriotic at sports events, it was pretty moving. If you are extra tired from being at nationals for the last seven days, it would not be unexpected to have one's eyes well up with tears. Um, or so I've been told…

Pairs was an enjoyable event, with teams skating "can you top this?" programs rather than last ones standing make the podium. The ladies event was also exciting. Love it when the ladies bring it. In past nationals, it seems like good ladies = bad men, so we're all hoping that's not the case. 

Finally got the chance to see the senior dance practice -- with more than one team from each group participating. Everyone was there except for Rachel Tibbetts & Collin Brubaker.

Overall it seemed like a good practice. No major errors. One scary collision, though, when Lynn Kriengkrairut & Logan Giulietti-Schmitt and Ginna Hoptman & Pavel Filchenkov were both skating backwards and couldn't get out of each other's way in time. Lynn's skate clipped Ginna's leg, slashing her tights. Later we saw some bandages on Ginna's leg, too, but no signs of major bleeding. Here's hoping she feels ok. We talked to Lynn and Logan after the practice, and they felt so bad about what had happened.

Caught up with Madison Hubbell who said her face was really hot. Despite this, she showed no signs of even the tiniest bead of sweat. Asked for her secret, and Madison said she's switched to an airbrush makeup and it really "seals" her face to keep her from looking blotchy and sweaty. So this isn't a secret anymore, but at least we asked first if we could post it.

Tanith came in the rink wearing this "geek chic" look that most people would kill to be able to pull off. She was rocking eyeglasses, a grey poncho-cape top, and a style that was completely unpretentious. Think Olson twin, but taller and more beautiful.

In the far corner of the practice rink, they have this roped off area where the skaters can talk to media and sign autographs for the fans. When Meryl & Charlie were finished skating, they stayed for a while to sign and to pose for photos. One girl who walked past us was heard saying to her friend, "I'm never going to wash this arm again!" after an encounter with Charlie. It's still kind of weird to reconcile this with the little novice dancer we first met in Lake Placid all those years ago.

After practice, we were heading back to the parking lot at the same time everyone was coming in for junior ladies free skate. We did pass some skating parents and had the chance to briefly chat. Jacqui White (Charlie's mom) said that people usually confuse her for Meryl's mother and Cheryl Davis (Meryl's mom) for Charlie's. They've gotten used to it, especially given they don't look a lot like their children. And no, Meryl is not adopted, which is another question that comes up. She looks like her grandmother.

The night wrapped up with the oddest experience we can remember having at an event. We were taking the elevator down to the parking level, when a voice appears and asks, "Hello?" I apologize for hitting the call button (even though I didn't think I had), but the voice keeps talking. It would appear that he thought he had reached the box office, as he was inquiring if anyone could come to the events at the Coliseum. I replied that you would need a ticket for the competition. We reached our floor and the doors opened, so that made it difficult to hear. The caller had more questions, but the elevator door kept trying to slam shut, plus I felt stupid talking to an elevator panel with no obvious speaker or phone, just a voice that sounded like it was coming from around the call button. Finally, we just had to ditch him. We told the security guards what had happened and that they may hear the elevator getting another call about event tickets. They didn't even know the elevator could receive outside calls, and we began to wonder if we were being set up for some kind of Candid Camera joke. Nobody came up to ask us to sign releases, so we'll just chalk this up to a Really Odd Experience and move on. But if you are here in Greensboro and the elevator talks to you, consider yourselves warned!