DORDRECHT, NED (February 11, 2012) - A busy weekend of World Cup racing for Team USA continued today as Lana Gehring (Glenview, IL) skated to a gold in the ladies 1500m at the Korean Air ISU Short Track World Cup in Dordrecht, Netherlands.
Posting a time of 2:32.577, Gehring crossed the line ahead of World Cup leader Ha-RI Cho (KOR) at 2:32.898, and China’s Kexin Fan (2:33.012). In her inaugural World Cup season, Tamara Frederick (Park Ridge, IL) skated to a 5th place finish in today’s 1500m B final with a time of 2:31.496.
“It was an amazing feeling to win the gold medal in the 1500,” said Gehring. “I look forward to more great racing tomorrow and the opportunities fro our whole team to have even more success.”
Team USA’s ladies (Gehring, Alyson Dudek (Hales Corners, WI), Emily Scott (Springfield, MO) and Frederick) placed second in their 3000m Relay semifinal today with a time of 4:16.942, behind China at 4:16.877. The ladies advanced to tomorrow’s A final with China, Netherlands, Japan and Italy.
“I’m excited about the A final relay because it gives us another opportunity to prepare ourselves for World Championships,” said Frederick.
World Cup rookie, 16-year-old John-Henry Krueger (Pittsburgh,PA) skated today’s 1500m A final, finishing 4th with a time of 2:24.288. World Cup 1500m leader Jinkyu Noh (KOR) won the gold with 2:23.588, Da Woon Sin (KOR) took silver with 2:23.761, and Semen Elistratov (RUS) won bronze posting 2:24.010. J.R. Celski (Federal Way, WA) finished 3rd in today’s 1500m B final.
In 1000m racing, Jessica Smith (Melvindale, MI) skated to a 2nd in the B final with a time of 1:38.392. Simon Cho (Laurel, MD) raced in today’s 1000m men’s B final, but had a disappointing fall and did not finish the race.
The Men’s Relay team (Kyle Carr (Peachtree City, GA), Travis Jayner (Midland, MI), Celski, and Krueger) skated a tough semifinal, finishing 3rd behind Canada (6:50.059) and Korea (6:50.077). The men will go on to skate tomorrow’s Relay B final.
Full race results are available at http://www.sportresult.com/federations/ISU/ShortTrack/. Racing resumes tomorrow from 6am-9:30am (MST) with the 500m, 1000m(2) and Relay Finals. Watch World Cup racing live from Dordrecht at http://livemanager.eurovision.edgesuite.net/isu/site/index.html.
Team USA Opens Long Track World Cup in Hamar
Team USA’s long track skaters opened their competition in the middle and long distances at the Essent ISU Long Track World Cup #5 in Hamar, Norway.
Jilleanne Rookard (Woodhaven, MI) skated the ladies 1500m A distance, finishing 20th with a time of 2:02.40, 5.41 seconds back from winner Ireen Wust (NED) at 1:56.99. Canada’s Christine Nesbitt posted a 1:57.03 for silver, and Marrit Leenstra (NED) took bronze with 1:57.59.
Brian Hansen (Glenview, IL) had the top finish for Team USA’s men with a 3rd in the 5000m B group (6:37). “It was really good to get a solid race under my belt since I broke my foot,” commented Hansen upon his return to international competition following his foot injury.
Patrick Meek (St. Louis, MO) skated a 6:42.36 for 10th in the 5000m B group. “Today's race was relatively solid on some tough ice. Hopefully I will be able to use this weekend as a nice stepping stone to worlds,” said Meek.
Extended results from today’s races in Hamar are available online at http://live.isuresults.eu/2011-2012/hamar/.Racing continues tomorrow with the ladies 3000m, men’s 1500m and the Team Pursuit. The ISU will present a live webcast of World Cup #5 beginning at 4:30am (MST) at http://livemanager.eurovision.edgesuite.net/isu/site/index.html