The first medalists at the 2012 U.S. Figure Skating Championships were decided Monday morning. Novice ice dancing was the first of the 12 events to conclude in San Jose, California. Holly Moore & Daniel Klaber won the free dance and took first overall with a score of 109.53 en route to the gold medal. Leaders after the pattern dances, Whitney Miller & Kyle MacMillan, placed second in the free dance and won silver with their total 108.13. Hannah Rosinski & Jacob Jaffe, who were third after the pattern dances by almost six points, placed fourth in the free dance but had enough of a lead to capture the bronze medal. Third in the free dance, Chloe Lewis & Logan Bye, will take home the pewter medal.

Moore & Klaber drew to skate last, and it made for an exciting conclusion to the novice dance competition. Bedazzling in red (and some black) with her spiffy partner in black (and some red) Moore channeled her inner Kaitlyn Weaver+Taylor Swift-hybrid sass and made "Le Jazz Hot" just that -- hot. The teen duo set the tone and attitude right from the beginning, attacking their elements without making it look like they actually had required elements. Everything flowed and was woven throughout the choreography.

With high levels (4s on everything except the footwork (3) and the twizzles (2)) and their lowest Grades of Execution being a base 0 (and only three of the 54 GOE were 0s), Moore & Klaber showed why the deserved gold. Their final element, a rotational lift, was so strong (Moore held her skate blade to her scalp!) that one of the judges awarded it a +3.

A bonus for the audience was the sheer joy and fun the team seemed to be having. Moore & Klaber skated like champions. No doubt. No hesitation. Just get in character, nail the elements, finish in character -- and then hug! Sitting in the kiss and cry awaiting their scores, the skaters and their large contingency of coaches knew they could not have done better. When the announcer began to read their scores, as soon as she got out the word "sixty..." coach Natalia Deller gasped. When the announcer finished saying their free dance score (62.02) and that they were in first place, Moore let out a small shriek, clutched her partner, and then burst into tears.

"We love our free dance," Moore told reporters after leaving the kiss and cry. "I really hope that showed and [the audience] could share in how much fun we were having. We worked hard this season and it really paid off."

"As soon as the music came on, I forgot everything," Klaber said. "It felt like it does every day."

"We got a personal best score, so that was very exciting," Moore added. "I think that over the season the program has really built, and it all just came to this and we just left it all out on the ice."

In their first season together, Whitney Miller & Kyle MacMillan came to San Jose with four previous national medals between the two of them. Today they added a silver to their cache.

"It felt like it was one of our best skates, and we were really happy with the scores," Miller said. The 108.13 event total blew away their previous best of 98.75.

Miller & MacMillan's free dance to the music "Hungarian Gypsy Waltz" and "Pet Nahych Berusek" earned 58.07. The three lifts were all called level 4s and earned net positive GOE. Their footwork was only a level 2, but it was their highest scoring element (6.14) due to it receiving their highest GOE. Their spin and twizzles were level 3s, while their Program Component Scores went as high as 6.0.

"Unlike the last times we have done [the program] the second half had a lot of energy," MacMillan said. "The first half was light, but also had energy."

Bronze medalists Hannah Rosinski & Jacob Jaffe earned 54.71 for their James Brown medley free dance.

"We were really excited!" Rosinski said. "We feel that it was our best free dance performance that we’ve ever competed."

Rosinski & Jaffe earned level 4s on their lifts, level 2s on their footwork and spin, and a level 3 for their opening element, the synchronized twizzles. The twizzles were a bit far apart and a little wild, but they were OK, earning GOE of 0 to +1.

"That’s what I’m most nervous about because I screwed up on them at sectionals," Rosinski said, recalling the level 2 with negative GOE from November, "but I’m really happy that I got them today."

"I think we just really got into it after the twizzles," Jaffe said. "It’s just a really fun program."

The gold and bronze medalists train together in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, but there was no sign of any bitter rivalry -- just the opposite. Rosinski had nothing but kind words for Moore & Klaber.

"They were awesome!" she said. "We’re so proud of them. They’re so much fun to train with because they push us and motivate us to skate harder, and I think we do the same for them and they really deserve it. We’re very happy for them."

Chloe Lewis and Logan Bye's performance to "Prince Igor" was ranked third in the free dance, and received level 4s for all of their lifts and their spin.