Team USA holds the lead in both the men's and pairs junior events after the short program at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Torino, Italy, while Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier led the United States senior athletes and will enter the free skate in second.

Lucas Broussard set a new personal best by more than six points to jump into first in the junior men's event while Sonia Baram and Daniel Tioumentsev topped the field in the junior pairs competition.

Junior pairs team Cayla Smith and Andy Deng are also in medal position in third.

In the senior pairs event, Knierim and Frazier set a new personal best score of 77.65 for their short program to "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" by Journey.

The reigning World champions earned all positive grades of execution. After opening with a triple twist, the performance was highlighted by their throw triple flip and Level 4 Axel lift.

"We're very proud of our performance tonight," Knierim said. "It was much improved from our last event, which has been our focus this season – taking one event and getting better into the next." 

Emily Chan and Spencer Howe, the 2022 Four Continents silver medalists, also represented Team USA, claiming sixth. Although they faltered on their lift and received no points, they received high marks for their first element, a triple twist, and scored 53.85.

Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan lead Knierim and Frazier by less than a point with a score of 78.08. Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deshamps of Canada took third place with a score of 69.34.

The senior men's event saw Ilia Malinin struggle on his jumps, but he was awarded Level 4s on his camel spin and step sequence for 80.10 points, which ranks fifth.

Japan holds the top three spots after the short program as Shoma Uno, Sota Yamamoto and Kao Miura scored 99.99, 94.86 and 87.07, respectively.

The junior pairs and men's competition also took place on Thursday with Team USA putting out strong performances.

In the junior pairs event, Team USA secured two of the top three spots going into the free skate on Saturday.

Skating to "Bla, Bla, Bla, Cha, Cha, Cha," Baram and Tioumentsev earned positive grades of execution on every element to clinch first in the short program. They opened with a triple twist and received Level 4 marks on their death spiral, spin, step sequence and reverse lasso lift to score 63.62, which is just under their international personal best.

"I think we skated pretty well," Tioumentsev said. "Especially for our first Grand Prix Final!"  

Smith and Deng claimed a new personal best in the short program, scoring 55.21 for their skate to "Summer of 42." Highlights of the program included a triple twist that Smith and Deng executed for the first time in competition as well as high marks on their Level 4 step in lift.

"Not bad for a first time," said Smith of their triple twist. "We have some things to improve on before Saturday, but overall, we're pretty happy with [our performance]." 

Anastasia Golubeva and Hektor Giotopoulos Moore of Australia sit between the two U.S. pairs in second with a score of 60.19.

In the junior men's event, Broussard picked up right where he left off after two wins in the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series. Scoring 81.11, he not only moved into first place, but crushed his previous personal best score of 74.79 that he scored at the final Junior Grand Prix of the season in Italy.

Performing to "Adios Nonino," the skater from Seattle, Washington, earned all positive grades of execution. After starting with a triple Axel, he secured more than 11 points on his Lutz-triple toe loop combination.

"I'm just proud of myself. I accomplished all my goals," Broussard said. "Breaking 80 was a big goal for me this season and I'm glad that happened."

Currently just out of medal position by a little over a point, Robert Yampolsky ended the day in fourth thanks to a performance that received all positive grades of execution and Level 4s on each of his spins and his step sequence. As a result, he was awarded 73.31 points.

Nikolaj Memola of Italy ranks second with a short program score of 79.84 and Shunsuke Nakamura of Japan rounds out the top three with a score of 74.81.

Competition continues Friday with Team USA competing in the senior pairs free skate, rhythm dance and women's short program. To follow all the action, visit the Grand Prix Final Competition Central on the U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone.