CLEVELAND — With power, nothing else matters.

Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker won their second straight pairs title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Saturday, overcoming two big errors with their considerable speed and strength. They finished with a score of 178.76, edging newcomers Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett by about 2½ points.

The audience booed when the final standings were posted because Denney and Barrett had skated cleanly. But they were thrilled, likely on their way to the world championships only seven months after they began skating together.

"First would have been great. Second, wow, it's awesome," Denney said.

The free dance and women's free skate were later Saturday.

McLaughlin and Brubaker are considered the best hope to end the United States' medal drought in pairs — no American team has medaled at the Olympics since 1988 — and it's easy to see why. Their speed and power would give any hockey player a run for his money, and they don't take their feet off the gas for a second of their 4½-minute program. Yet they have the charisma and expression that makes pairs so appealing when done right.

Skating to "West Side Story," they punctuated every high note of their music with movement. They channeled the Jets and the Sharks perfectly, too, so much so that the Broadway producers might want to keep them in mind if they ever need fill-ins.

They're not just pretty faces, though, and their opening triple twist set the tone for the whole program. She launched into the air like a firecracker, and got such great air even the X-Games set would be impressed. They also did a huge throw triple loop and an intricate lift in the last 10 seconds of the program, barely breaking a sweat when most teams are just trying to stay on their feet.

But they had trouble with their solo elements. They both botched their side-by-side triple toe loops, with her falling and him stepping out of the landing. He also appeared to have trouble with the second jump of their side-by-side triple salchow-double toe combination.

Still, it was an impressive — and memorable — performance, and McLaughlin practically sprinted away from Brubaker when their music ended, grinning and pumping her fists. They acknowledged the cheering crowd, then skated over to hug Brubaker's mother, who was sitting in the front row. When they got off the ice, Brubaker pulled on a white T-shirt with "Happy B-Day Mom" written in big black letters.

Denney and Barrett had the cleanest performance of the day, not appearing to have any trouble with any of the elements. They even did a throw triple flip, a jump most couples don't even bother trying because the takeoff on it is so awkward. But they did it with ease, Denney landing with silky smoothness.

Their side-by-side jumps were effortlessly in sync — truly impressive considering they've only been skating together since June.

The pair skated together briefly two years ago, then split when Denney decided she wanted to try training in Colorado. She moved with her mother and sister while her father stayed in Florida, and the separation ultimately proved to be too much for the family. Denney returned to Florida in June, and quickly reunited with Barrett.

"We didn't have any expectations coming in here," he said.

So why did they finish second? Their program didn't have nearly the flair that McLaughlin and Brubaker's did, and they still need a little polish on the details. But give them another few months together, and it will come.

Rena Inoue and John Baldwin, national champions in 2004 and 2006, were third.

This is Baldwin's 23rd appearance at nationals — a run so long neither McLaughlin nor Brubaker was even born when he made his first trip — and he and Inoue looked their ages Saturday. Oh, they can still pull off some of the tough moves. She makes every throw jump look easy, and their lifts were nice.

But their triple twist was bumpy, and he made mistakes on two of their side-by-side jumps, stepping out of the landings on both. Worse, their speed was glacial, especially when compared with McLaughlin and Brubaker.