Evan Lysacek captured the short program.

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SPOKANE, Wash. — Kimmie Meissner already has shown she is the best in the world.

Now she is looking pretty good in her own country, too.

Meissner took a big step toward her first national title Thursday night, winning the short program in the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

Her clean, if somewhat uninspired program earned her 65.69 points, and gave her a comfortable lead over Bebe Liang and Emily Hughes.

Liang was a surprising second with 62.66 points, while Hughes scored 62.32. The free skate is Saturday.

"The national title would be great," Meissner said. "In the United States, that's the big thing. I've always been going for that. I'd be happy with that."

Earlier Thursday in the men's event, Evan Lysacek added some new spice to his rivalry with three-time champ Johnny Weir by winning the short program.

Lysacek finished with a personal-best 78.99 points after his first clean short in almost a year. Weir is less than a point behind at 78.14 points.

Most skaters win a national title before a world championship, but not Meissner. In one of the biggest surprises at the world championships, Meissner beat veteran Fumie Suguri and Sasha Cohen.

That made Meissner the first woman since Kristi Yamaguchi in 1991 to win the world championships before having a senior national title. But with Michelle Kwan and Sasha Cohen moving on, Meissner can fill in that gap.

In her first appearance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Tucsonan Chelsi Guillen and partner Danny Curzon finished eighth in the junior pairs event on Thursday.

"I am very proud for it being my first time (at nationals)," Guillen said. "It definitely encourages me."

Guillen and Curzon, an ASU student, train in Scottsdale. They were seventh entering the free skate. But the pair dropped to eighth overall after some mistakes, including Guillen's fall on the landing of a throw triple Salchow in their program.

"It felt nice (skating at nationals) but kind of scary," she said. "My favorite part was just being out there on the ice."