Mar 08

U.S. Long Track Speedskating Team has a Rough Few Days in Nagano

March 7, 2008-Nagano, Japan. The U.S. National Long Track Speedskating team has had a rough few days at the Essent ISU World Single Distance Championships for Long Track speedskating in Nagano, Japan. The Men's 5000m saw American Shani Davis (Chicago, IL) earning a 5th place finish. Teammates Chad Hedrick (Houston, TX) and Trevor Marsicano( Balston Spa, NY) skated to a 14th and 15th finish respectively." The ice was very challenging for the distance races," said Sprint Team Coach Ryan Shimabukuro,"I haven't seen it like this ever, but then again, they haven't had international distance races here since the last time they held the World Single Distance Championships in 2000." Day two of competition was another difficult day for Team USA. The top U.S. finish for the day was in the Men's 500m with Kip Carpenter (Brookfield , WI) finishing 10th overall. Chris Needham (Belmont, MA) came in 22nd and Tucker Fredricks (Janesville, WI) 23rd place. In the Ladies division, U.S. National Champion Catherine Raney (Elm Grove, WI) was the only woman to qualify in the Ladies 3000m event. Raney finished 12th in the final standings. Racing continues tomorrow in Nagano with the Men's 1000m and 10k and the Ladies 500m and Team Pursuit. For additional information please contact Kori Novak, Director, PR , Media at 801-417-5360 or media@usspeedskating.org About US Speedskating: US Speedskating is a nonprofit organization recognized by the United States Olympic Committee as the national governing body for the sport of Speedskating in the United States. To date, US Speedskating has won a total of 75 Olympic medals, making it the most successful winter sport in the USA. ####