« September 21, 2008 - September 27, 2008 | Main | October 12, 2008 - October 18, 2008 »

October 3, 2008

Comments down

Hey all - everyone - commenting is down temporarily. Our web host had to disable the comments due to more spam attacks and to alleviate the performance and web site accessibility issues that result when this happens. Very sorry for the inconvenience!

Posted by noelle at 8:42 PM | Comments (0)

October 1, 2008

Latest short track news

Moncton Times & Transcript | Riverview native makes U.S. team

Riverview's Travis Jayner earned a place on the United States World Cup short-track speed skating team here last weekend.

This marks the fourth season that Jayner, 26, will skate for the U.S. World Cup team. He secured a spot on the six-man U.S. team that will compete at International Skating Union World Cup competitions in Salt Lake City, Utah Oct. 17-19, Vancouver Oct. 24-26 and Beijing, China Nov. 28-30.

Jayner finished fourth overall in the season opener American Cup 1 event here last weekend to make the U.S. team. He raced to a silver medal in the 1,500-metre event with a time of 2:25.298 and added a bronze medal in the 1,000m race. He was also fourth in the super 1,500m and eighth in the 500m event.

The long-rumored plan to convert Team Canada's training base at Montreal's Maurice Richard Arena to a dedicated short track facility is in the news this week as well:

Canadian Press | Short-track speedskating team to get full use of arena to prepare for 2010

Hockey boards - a hazard for skaters who crash on turns - will be taken out and replaced by a cushioned barrier around the international-size ice surface. The surface will also be built to the same specifications as the rink in Vancouver.

"One of the main changes will be the installation of a self-standing mat system, ensuring greater security of our athletes in training and competition," Jean R. Dupre, director general of Speed Skating Canada, said in a statement.

Also:

Vancouver Sun | Scheduling conflicts force 2010 short-track athletes to use Montreal's Richard Arena

Posted by noelle at 8:07 AM | Comments (1)

September 28, 2008

U.S. World Cup Team & American Cup 1 Overall Results

Congratulations to the following members of the U.S. short track World Cup team! These are the teams that will represent the U.S. at the first 3 World Cups of the season in Salt Lake City, Vancouver and Beijing:

Women
Allison Baver – Reading, PA
Kimberly Derrick – Memphis, TN
Allyson Dudek - Hales Corner, WI
Maria Garcia – Carson, CA
Lana Gehring – Glenview, IL
Katherine Reutter – Champaign IL
Jessica Smith
update: Word is that Maria Garcia has declined her spot on the team and will be replaced by Jessica Smith.
udpate 2: Latest word is that Maria is declining her spot for the SLC World Cup only, but will skate in World Cups 2 and 3. Jessica will therefore take Maria's spot in SLC.

Men
J.R. Celski – Long Beach, CA
Apolo Anton Ohno – Seattle, WA
Travis Jayner – Midland, MI
Charles Ryan Leveille – Atlanta, GA
Anthony Lobello- Tallahassee, FL
Jeff Simon – Las Vegas, NV


American Cup 1 Overall Results

Women
1. Katherine Reutter - 3640 points
2. Kimberly Derrick - 2928
3. Allison Baver - 2752
4. Lana Gehring - 1890
5. Alyson Dudek - 1594
6. Maria Garcia - 1577
7. Jessica Smith - 1086
8. Mary Grace - 716
9. Lezleigh Jaworski - 705
10. Kristen Biondo - 668

Men
1. Jeff Simon - 3210
2. Anthony Lobello - 2480
3. JR Celski - 2290
4. Travis Jayner - 2162
5. Ryan Leveille - 1459
6. Ryan Bedford - 1418
7. Shani Davis - 1091
8. Simon Cho - 1011
9. Robert Lawrence - 1003
10. Levi Kirkpatrick - 963

Complete results available from US Speedskating.

Posted by noelle at 5:36 PM | Comments (20)

American Cup 1 results - 1500m SF & 1000m

1500m A super final - Men
1. Jeff Simon
2. JR Celski
3. Anthony Lobello
4. Travis Jayner
5. Ryan Bedford
6. Ryan Leveille

1500m A super final - Women
1. Katherine Reutter
2. Allison Baver
3. Lana Gehring
4. Alyson Dudek
5. Maria Garcia
6. Kimberly Derrick


1000m A final - Men
1. Anthony Lobello
2. Ryan Leveille
3. Travis Jayner
DQ Shani Davis

1000m B final - Men
1. Levi Kirkpatrick
2. Robert Lawrence

The results indicate JR Celski and Jeff Simon didn't start in the B final. I don't get how skaters are still awarded points and qualify for a team if they don't show up for their race. What am I missing?

1000m A final - Women
1. Katherine Reutter
2. Kimberly Derrick
3. Maria Garcia
4. Allison Baver

1000m B final - Women
1. Lana Gehring
2. Jessica Smith
3. Alyson Dudek
4. Mary Grace

Complete results available from US Speedskating.

Posted by noelle at 5:30 PM | Comments (1)

Bay City Times | Speedskating event no longer money in the bank

Tough economic times and the fact that skaters more than fans appear to be the only ones subscribing to the "if you build it, they will come," mentality, has caused Al Izykowski to rethink his desire to host "big" state and national speedskating events.

"It's been in a word ... brutal," said Al Izykowski, trying to come up with new fundraiser ideas as sponsorship dollars appear to be on ice. "This time around we have fewer and smaller sponsors than ever and for the first time face going in the red."

This year's nationals, which will determine the three men and women representing the U.S. at the World Junior Championships in Sherbrooke, Canada Jan. 9-11, will be one of the best speedskating events the arena has ever hosted.

Still, it will be hard to top the 2003 U.S. Championships, featuring gold medal Olympian Apolo Anton Ohno.

"What a thrill that was for Bay City! We introduced a number of innovations in hosting a meet that are now the standard," Al Izykowski said.

Posted by noelle at 7:29 AM | Comments (0)