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March 5, 2005
Time trial photos from Milwaukee
Thanks to Sue and Trisha for sending in some shots from the time trials on day 1! Additional shots can be found in the Milwaukee 1 photo gallery.
Apolo skates his 4-lap time trial
photo by Sue Tichy
Apolo, just having finished his 9-lap time trial
photo by Sue Tichy
Apolo skates his 4-lap time trial
photo by Trisha
(Coming Sunday: Nick's shots from the 1500m.)
Posted by noelle at 11:14 AM | Comments (3)
Time trial medal ceremony photos
More shots from Sue and Trisha
Men's 4-lap time trial medal ceremony: Rusty Smith (bronze), Apolo Ohno (gold), J.P. Kepka (silver)
photo by Sue Tichy
Men's 4-lap time trial medal ceremony
photo by Trisha
Posted by noelle at 11:06 AM | Comments (0)
March 4, 2005
More on Alex Izykowski
Alex Izy gets to tell what his roller coaster ride in Milwaukee was like in an article out today.
Detroit Free Press | Bay City skater off to China for worlds
Initially, when the four-day competition ended, Izykowski, 21, thought he had missed making the five-member U.S. team by one spot. But as he was leaving the doping control area at the... rink, someone called out: "Hurry up! Get out there!" Izykowski had no idea what had transpired.
Quote from Alex: "I have visions of seeing myself next year in Italy." You can do it, Alex!!
Morgan Izy's nickname: "Alex wasn't the only successful Izykowski last weekend. His 14-year-old sister, Morgan -- called 'our little Seabiscuit' by her mother -- won the juvenile national title."
Posted by noelle at 9:28 AM | Comments (11)
World Team Championships Schedule
For anyone interested in following along with the World Team Championships taking place this weekend in Korea, here's the schedule from Live Cyberscoreboard:
overnight Friday, March 4/Saturday, March 5
- bracket 1 begins: 8PM ET/7PM CT/6PM MT/5PM PT
- bracket 2 begins: 12AM ET/11 PM CT/10PM MT/9PM PT
- repechage begins: 5:30AM ET/4:30AM CT/3:30AM MT/2:30AM PT
overnight Saturday, March 5/Sunday, March 6
- finals begin: 11PM ET/10 PM CT/9 PM MT/8PM PT
Posted by noelle at 9:20 AM | Comments (6)
March 2, 2005
New photo gallery: Faces in Milwaukee
The first gallery from Milwaukee is finished. I decided to devote this one entirely to candids since I had so many of them.
Here's a sample:
Apolo stares in wonderment and awe at a new skate
More of Apolo than anybody else, but lots of other skaters are there too. Hope you enjoy!
Faces at the 2005 U.S. Short Track Championships
Posted by noelle at 10:51 PM | Comments (23)
A couple of links: Worlds web site and a new article
[updated Thursday]
Thanks to Tiggie and Sonia for passing along this link for the World Championships web site: 2005 World Short Track Speedskating Championships
And speaking of worlds...
Denton (TX) Record-Chronicle | Malone earns trip to World Speedskating Championships
Denton speedskater Jordan Malone is headed to the World Championships. The past weekend at the U.S. National Short Track Speedskating Championship in Milwaukee, Malone grabbed a spot on the U.S. team for the World Short Track Championship on March 11-13 in Beijing, China. "It’s a big accomplishment for me, and I’m very happy," Malone said. "It’s a big thing for me."
Marquette Mining Journal | Two USOEC skaters head to worlds
Carly Wilson and Kristen Biondo of the United States Olympic Education Center speedskating team in Marquette have qualified for world competition later this month.
Posted by noelle at 10:38 PM | Comments (8)
March 1, 2005
Highlights from Apolo's medal ceremonies in Milwaukee
The Fab Five
2005 men's World Championships team: Shani Davis, JP Kepka, Apolo Ohno, Jordan Malone, Alex Izykowski
Click all of the following photos to enlarge them.
Senior age class champion medal ceremony
Apolo poses with the gentleman who sponsors the senior men's award
1000m medalists
Jordan Malone (silver), Apolo Ohno (gold), Shani Davis (bronze)
3000m medalists
Alex Izykowski (silver), Apolo Ohno (gold), Shani Davis (bronze)
500m medalists
JP Kepka (silver), Apolo Ohno (gold), Shani Davis (bronze)
World Team blooper photo
An idle moment on the medal stand
Posted by noelle at 8:27 PM | Comments (24)
February 28, 2005
Final results from Milwaukee
For a synopsis of the weekend's results as well as an explanation of the rule that disqualified Rusty from the World Team, see the US Speedskating recap:
Spills, Thrills, Tension and of course... World Class Skating!
Top 5 Men
Apolo Anton Ohno
J.P. Kepka
Rusty Smith
Alex Izykowski
Shani Davis
Top 5 Ladies
Hyo-jung Kim
Allison Baver
Brigid Farrell
Carly Wilson
Kristen Biondo
Complete results from the U.S. Championships are now available from US Speedskating:
- Senior (Elite) Overall Standings
- Age class overall standings
Senior and age class results are also available in time and classifications formats from US Speedskating.
Age class results of particular interest to OZers:
Juvenile ladies' champion: Morgan Izykowski, 14 year old sister of Alex - this earns her her category 1 status! Morgan's cousin and friend Meagan Chartier was 4th in this group.
Junior men: Barry Winslow, coming back from the terrible injury he suffered at this event last year in Cleveland, finished 8th overall.
Intermediate men's champion: Derek Gray won his age group.
COngratulations to all the skaters!
Posted by noelle at 11:14 PM | Comments (15)
2005 World Championship Team
[updated Monday] A happy ending for Izy
Here's your World Championship team!! (click image for full size)
back row: Shani Davis, Apolo Anton Ohno, Alex Izykowski, J.P. Kepka, Jordan Malone
front row: Derrick Campbell, Kristen Biondo, Carly Wilson, Hyo-jung Kim, Allison Baver, Brigid Farrell, coach Li Yan
Sorry for the delay in updating this. As you may have surmised, there was indeed an unexpected change to the lineup to the 2005 World Team. Since Rusty didn't skate the 3000m, he lost his spot on the team, which went to Alex Izykowski. Although the 3000 does not count towards points for making the World Team, the rules stipulate that skaters must skate every distance at U.S. Championships to make the World Team.
Men's World Team
Apolo Anton Ohno
J.P. Kepka
Jordan Malone
Shani Davis
Alex Izykowski
Women's World Team
Hyo-jung Kim
Allison Baver
Brigid Farrell
Carly Wilson
Kristen Biondo
Congratulations and good luck to all the skaters who will represent the USA next month in Beijing! They'll also be on the World Cup team for the 1st 2 World Cups next season.
[correction - Rusty is #3 overall for the weekend]
Top 3 U.S. men: Apolo Ohno, J.P. Kepka, Rusty Smith
Top 3 U.S. women: Hyo-jung Kim, Allison Baver, Brigid Farrell
articles:
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | Ohno goes 11 for 11
Chicago Tribune | Davis rallies to earn final spot for short-track world competition
My heart goes out to Apolo, winning his 7th U.S. Championship title in absolutely dominating fashion, winning every heat and race in the competition. Same goes for first-time winner Hyo-jung Kim who also dominated the competition this weekend on the women's side.
How about the meteoric rise of Jordan Malone? He said he was 13th at this event a year ago. Jordan is not without controversy, because his relative inexperience on ice leads to some fraught passing at times, but he has immense potential and a really humble demeanour that can't help remind you of our favorite skater. He's got it goin' on.
Posted by noelle at 12:37 AM | Comments (62)
February 27, 2005
Top 3 men and women for 2005 World Team
[correction to this item] - Rusty Smith is still 3rd overall, despite not skating in the 3000m in Milwaukee. These awards were evidently for the top 3 men and women on the World Team.
click to enlarge
Men: J.P. Kepka (2nd), Apolo Ohno (1st), Jordan Malone (3rd)
Women: Allison Baver (2nd), Hyo-jung Kim (1st), Brigid Farrell (3rd)
Posted by noelle at 3:30 PM | Comments (3)
1000m finals & 3000m in Milwaukee
3000m - Halie and Allison went out early and lapped the pack. The other skaters, with no interest in chasing, had no reaction at all to the leaders' move, so they were successful and finished yet again 1 and 2.
In the men's 3000, Jordan made an early move out front to lap the pack. The rest of the skaters picked up their pace and stayed in a bunch, while there was a small gap back to Apolo was alone at the very back. Eventually the pack caught Jordan but the race got intense and we wondered for a while if J.R. Celski would ultimately win the race. In the last lap Apolo got around the skaters ahead of him and won the race in impressive fashion. It's like Apolo could give up a one lap handicap and still win the race. Just awesome!
Photo on left shows men's 3000m medalists: Apolo Ohno (gold), Alex Izy (silver) and Shani Davis (bronze) - click to enlarge
1000m - Evidently J.P. Kepka was supposed to skate in the 1000m B final but after being disqualified in the semi he didn't know this, so only 2 skaters were on the line for the B final: Jeff Simon and Alex Izykowski. Alex took command of the race and seemed poised for victory when heartbreak struck -- Alex hit a block and fell. Although he's ok, he finished 2nd, costing him some important points and possibly a spot on the world team (not sure of the exact points involved). Another one of those 'that's short track' moments, but it has to be pretty disappointing.
Halie Kim won the women's A final, with Allison Baver 2nd, Bridie Farrell third and Kristen Biondo 4th. The race saw little passing and nothing unusual happened... which is a relief after the craziness taking place among the men.
As could be expected, the men's 1000m A final saw more craziness! I hope someone else can tell you what happened because I'm still not sure... lots of passing as usual, and Rusty Smith appeared to make a strong bid to make good on his vow to win today... however, a lot of movement took place at the end and Apolo once again seized the lead in decisive fashion. When they came to the line, it was obvious that Apolo won, and that DQs were yet to come. The order of finish was Jordan Malone, Shani Davis, and then Rusty and Travis Jayner (not sure what order).
Subsequently Travis was disqualified for impeding and Rusty for cross-tracking but this didn't affect the medals.
Posted by noelle at 3:25 PM | Comments (6)
Milwaukee Day 4 (1000m)
1000m semis
Allison Baver way out ahead during her 1000m semi
I missed the 1st ladies' semifinal. In the 2nd, Allison Baver went way out in front and held her lead to win the race by a wide margin. Bridie Farell was 2nd, so those 2 for sure are in the women's A final.
Apolo passes Alex Izy and Shani on the outside in their 1000m semi
Apolo raced in the first men's semi with Shani Davis, Alex Izy and Jeff Simon. Apolo started 3rd behind Shani and Alex, but soon decided that was no place to be and passed them on the outside to take the lead. Alex briefly regained the lead a couple laps later but after Apolo again passed to the front, Shani scramled past Alex.
Final lap of the semi: Apolo leads, Shani 2nd, Alex 3rd, Jeff Simon 4th
The 2nd semi was again a wild race... I just want to mention that just like in Budapest, Jordan Malone still stands on the start line clapping while his competitors are introduced... nice gesture! Travis Jayner and Malone were in the front with Rusty Smith last early in the race.
As you'd expect, Rusty asserted himself and took the lead, and then J.P. Kepka really had a battle with Malone and Jayner for 2nd. Things got hairy in the last lap or 2 and contact between Kepka and Malone sent Malone wide once again with no time to make up the gap this time. It appeared to be as Kepka passed Malone on the inside. Kepka finished 2nd, Malone 3rd and Jayner 4th. J.P. was then DQ'ed for impeding on Jordan as well as for kicking out at the finish. Malone advances to the A final.
1000m quarter finals
Thrilling, exciting, crazy -- that about sums up the elite men's quarter finals just now in Milwaukee!
The first race was the most insane and amazing of all. Rusty Smith came from the back of the pack to take the lead early on. Jordan Malone was then in the back and was looking to move up past Kyle Carr and Anthony Lobello.
Jordan Malone, in back, has some ground to make up (he finished 2nd)
At about the halfway point Jordan aimed himself for an opening between Carr and Lobello, but was squeezed out before he could pass, forcing Malone to the outside, where he lost a lot of ground. With Malone's pattern of DQs, the initial thought was he had caused the contact, but all the same, Jordan found that extra gear and by the last 2 laps or so he had caught up to Smith and Carr and then passed Carr to get back into qualifying position. It was an awesome, Apolo-esque display of strength and speed! After the race, Lobello was disqualified for cross-tracking so it's likely Malone would have been advanced if he hadn't made up the distance on his own.
Apolo skates in his 1000m quarterfinal
In the 2nd race, Ryan Cox led for a good few laps before Shani Davis came to the front. Alex Izykowski was in 3rd for several laps until he passed Cox to finish the race in 2nd. Austin Yun fell and finished 4th.
Apolo Ohno raced in the 3rd heat. He got off to a deliberately slow start, and Mike Kooreman took the early lead. After just a few laps Apolo moved to the front and he and Mike traded the lead at least one mroe time. Then Jeff Simon decided to make a statement and passed both Ohno and Kooreman for the lead. The pace was getting pretty fast at this point and Apolo took a little bit of time to work his way back to the front. Simon (from SOCal) looked to have the race of his life as he held off Kooreman to finish 2nd behind Apolo. J.R. Celski was 4th.
In the final heat, Travis Jayner led almost the entire way until J.P. Kepka charged to the front with about 3 laps to go. I believe Joey Lindsey was then 3rd and Chris Weaver 4th.
Women's results
Quarter final heat 1
1. Brigid Farrell, 2. Lezleigh Jaworski, 3. Sarah Lang (ADV), Jade Wheeler (DQ)
Quarter final heat 2
1. Halie Kim
Quarter final heat 2
1. Allison Baver
Quarter final heat 2
1. Kristen Biondo, 2. Carly Wilson, 3. Kira Fling, 4. Erin Gleason
Posted by noelle at 1:37 PM | Comments (1)