Canadian Post Open Championships Day 2

Here are results from yesterday's 1500m A final at the Canadian Team Trials. Tania Vicent remains on top!

1500 Ladies
1. Tania Vicent, 2:30.037
2. Alanna Kraus, 2:30.141
3. Amanda Overland, 2:30.177
4. Chantale Sevigny, 2:30.281
5. Amelie Goulet-Nadon, 2:30.309
6. Kalyna Roberge, 2:30.363
7. Melanie Gagnon, 2:30.483

Speed Skating Canada notes that this is 27 year old Tania Vicent's 11th season on the national team. After leading for 9 of the race's 13 laps, Vicent said, 'I was actually praying at the end.'

1500 Men
1. Steve Robillard, 2:16.476
2. Jonathan Guilmette 2:16.798
3. Mathieu Turcotte 2:17.006
4. Daryl Rasmussen 2:17.912
5. Eric Bedard 2:18.484
6. Francois-Louis Tremblay 2:18.944
7. Jean-Francois Monette 2:37.904

Anne Maltais finished 4th in the ladies' B final, and Jeffrey Scholten won the B final on the men's side.

Canadian Post Open Championships, Day 1
Canadian Team Trials #2 got under way yesterday in Abbotsford, BC with the 777m time trials. This event is the second part of the selection process to choose the team that will represent Canada at the World Championships in March. The results from trials #1 in November counted for 33% of the overall score, whereas this weekend's competition is weighted at 66%.

As you may recall, Jonathan Guilmette thoroughly dominated on the men's side at Trials #1, and Tania Vicent was the overall leader for the women. Yesterday's time trials selected the top 32 skaters who will compete for the World team spots the remainder of this weekend but they do not count towards the final point standings. Here are the top 3 ladies and men from yesterday's time trials:

1. Charles Hamelin, Ste-Julie, Que., 1 :07.19
2. Jeff Scholten, Montreal, 1 :07.56
3. François-Louis Tremblay, Boucherville, Que., 1 :07.76

1. Tania Vicent, Montreal, 1 :11.62
2. Alanna Kraus, Abbotsford, B.C., 1 :13.06
3. Amanda Overland, Kitchener, Ont., 1:13.34

FYI, remaining World Cup team members, Jean-Francois Monette finished in 5th, Mathieu Turcotte was 7th, Guilmette 8th and Eric Bedard was 10th. Amelie Goulet-Nadon was 5th.

photo of Apolo in Marquette, courtesy of Susan G

via mercurynews.com
Multitracking: Chicago speedskater Shani Davis, 21, broke his own U.S. record in the long track all-around event last weekend in Calgary. In a meet that was the North America/Oceania regional qualifier for Feb. 7-8 world championships in Hamar, Norway, Davis was an easy winner for the second straight year.

After the worlds, Davis will return to short track (pack style) racing. He made the 2002 Winter Olympics as a short tracker.

"If he concentrated on long track, Shani could be the next Bonnie Blair or Dan Jansen," said Chicago attorney Fred Benjamin, ex-president of U.S. Speedskating. "But he wants to be the first to compete at the Olympics in both long track and short."

Cleveland peeps, here's a reminder from Lucinda about the deadline for reserving a hotel room at the group rate:

"We have reserved a block of 25 rooms between the dates of Feb 24 (Tuesday) - March 1 (Monday). I will need to know your arrival date as well as your departure date so we can get an exact count of how many rooms we are going to need for each day. The rate is $69 plus sales tax. This includes complimentary parking (which is otherwise $14.00 per night) and breakfast. I need to have an exact count no later than January 22nd (Thursday), also I need one credit card per room to reserve each room."

Email Lucinda for more info or to reserve or room!

New Photo Gallery: Calgary Day 3

The last photo gallery from Calgary is ready, with photos from the racing on Sunday as well as that night's festivities at Tantra. Thanks to Janet, Liz, Tiggie and Sonia for their contributions!

I think a couple of the Apolo will be new to OZers, but don't miss Fabio Carta, Li Jiajun and their teammates mugging with their stuffed animals on the relay podium!

Click the image below to go to the gallery:

New Video: Apolo discusses Canadian long track champion Catriona Lemay-Doan

Download here

US Short Track Championships VIP Ticket Packages

Here is the VIP ticket package info for next month's combined US Nationals/US Championships in Cleveland:

Package 1
- 10 Prime VIP Seats to all sessions Fri-Sun
- 10 Event Poster Autographed by team
- 10 Event Sweatshirt
- 10 USA Team Postcard
Total cost: $1,060.00

Package 2
- 5 Prime VIP Seats to all sessions Fri-Sun
- 5 Event Poster Autographed by team
- 5 Event Sweatshirt
- 5 USA Team Postcard
Total cost: $530.00

For additional information call 216-621-0600 and ask for Brandy or Belinda and mention the Ohno Zone group. Info on individual tickets is available at the event web site.

For more info about VIP packages and coordinating with others planning to attend, please visit the Yahoo planning group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/uschampionshipst/