Daniel O'Shea, a high schooler from Gurnee, Ill., had extra motivation while skating at the 2008 U.S. Championships in St. Paul, Minn.

If he won the novice men's event in his second appearance at nationals, his father promised to buy him a puppy. Danny is now the proud owner of a golden retreiver, Zoey, that matches his medal.

At the competition, he finished first in the short program despite being the first of 12 skaters to take the ice at the Xcel Energy Center. His program to "Spanish Caravan" by George Winston included spread eagle into a double Axel followed by a solid triple toe-double toe and triple Salchow.

He also won the free skate to take the competition by about 10 points over the silver medalist. In his performance patriotic music, Danny landed double Axel to start, then a triple toe-double toe combination and triple Lutz before stepping out of the landing on his triple flip. He went on to land a triple Salchow-double toe-double toe combo, triple toe and a triple Salchow-double combo. .:. More