KEARNS, UT (March 2^, 2012) – Day one of the 2012 American Cup Final/Champions Challenge kicked off today at the Utah Olympic Oval with competition in the ladies and men’s 500m, the ladies 1500m and the men’s 1000n distances.

Sugar Todd (Union, NE) won the Ladies 500m, posting a time of 39:17, followed by Rebekah Bradford (Apple Valley, NM) at 39:60, and Leah Lambert (Delafield, WI) in third with 40:83.

Matt Plummer (St. Louis, MO) took the top spot in the men’s 500m with 35:95, followed by Matt Rittenhouse (Milwaukee, WI) in second at 36:09, and James Cholewinski (York, SC) in third posting a time of 36:20.

In the Ladies 1500m, Rebekah Dyrud (Plymouth, MN ) won the distance posting a season-best time of 2:05.34. Lisa Hambly (White Bear Lake, MN) took second with a time of 2:06.71, and Briana Kramer (Orlando, FL) finished third at 2:07.95.

Joey Mantia (West Jordan, UT) won the men’s 1000m distance with 1:10.53, followed by Jonathan Garcia (Houston, TX) posting a personal-best 1:10.68 for second, and Jeffrey Swider-Peltz (Wheaton, IL) with a personal-best time of 1:11.24.

Extended results from today’s races are available at www.speedskatingresults.com.

The American Cup finals continue tomorrow with Ladies 1000m, 3000m and Men’s 1500, 3000m. Races begin at 9am (MST). Follow the results live at www.speedskatingresults.com and on US Speedskating’s Twitter & Facebook pages.