by Stéphanie Lambert

The most highly contested distance was the Men’s 1000m in which three of the four spots were already taken by Joey Cheek, Davis and Casey FitzRandolph. Unlike the other sprint distance, the 500m where both races are combined to see who was fastest, this spot would be determined based on the fastest time from both 1000m races. On the first day of 1000m racing, Nick Pearson posted the fastest time of 1:08.61 edging Chad Hedrick out by .01 sec. Kip Carpenter finished in third place with a time of 1:09.02. On the final day of racing, December 31, Joey Cheek posted the fastest time with a personal best time of 1:07.29. Second place was earned by Chad Hedrick with a time of 1:08.23, also a personal best and third place was Nick Pearson in a time of 1:08.62. Since Cheek was pre-qualified, the open spot went to Hedrick. Afterwards, visibly upset about not making the team, Nick Pearson said, “All four guys have a chance to medal” when referring to the guys who had qualified in front of him.

The final race of the day was the 10,000m pairing between Hedrick and KC Boutiette. Earlier in the week Chad had predicted he would break the World Record in the 10000m, and he came through after lapping Boutiette and posting a time of 12:55.11. In true Hedrick fashion he stated that he has a lot to improve on and could have gone faster. To sum up his week, he stated, “I’m happy, but it wasn’t a good day.”

The US has until January 15 to nominate it’s full Olympic Squad, but as of January 1 they have nominated Margaret Crowley, Kristine Holzer, Maria Lamb, Elli Ochowicz, Catherine Raney, Jennifer Rodiguez, Amy Sannes, Chris Witty on the ladies side and KC Boutiette, Kip Carpenter, Joey Cheek, Shani Davis, Casey FitzRandolph, Tucker Fredricks, Chad Hedrick, Charles Leveille, Clay Mull, Derek Parra on the men’s side. They can still nominate up to two ladies for the Team Pursuit if they feel it’s necessary.

Photos from Day 1

Elli Ochowicz & Eva Rodansky - First 500m	Kip Carpenter - First 500m	Parker Vance & Andrew Love - First 500m	Joey Cheek after crossing the finish line is the first 500m
Joey being helped up by Derek Parra after hitting the wall. He wound up with a sprained ankle	Derek & Joey leaving the ice after the crash	Eva Rodansky - Second 500m	Amy Sannes & Elli Ochowicz - Second 500m
Chris Witty & Jen Rodriguez - second 500m	Elli Ochowicz & Tucker Fredricks hugging before the medal ceremonies	Chad Hedrick skates his 500m

Photos from Day 3

Chad Hedrick in his 1500m	Joey Cheek & Hedrick in their 1500m	Casey FitzRandolph skates his 1500m	Charles Leveille & Ron Macky in the 1500m
Derek Parra & Chris Callis in the 1500m	Clay Mull after his 1500m	Sarah Elliott & Erica Hawke in the 1500m	Chris Witty & Jen Rodriguez in the 1500m
Catherine Raney & Maria Lamb in the 1500m	Eva Rodansky in her 1500m	Nick Pearson in his 1500m	Derek Parra warming up for thw 1500m
Clay Mull & Paul Dyrud in the 1500m	Carla Langenthal and Coach Dave Tamborino	Maria Lamb speaks to the press after his 1500m qualification for the Olympics	Joey Cheek speaks to the press after his 1500m qualification for the Olympics
Derek Parra speaks to the press after his 1500m qualification for the Olympics

Photos from Day 4

Kip Carpenter & Donald Stewart in the first corner of the 1000m	Kip Carpenter in the 1000m	Chad Hedrick in his 1000m that qualified him in his fifth distance	Tucker Fredricks warming up for his second 1000m
Tucker Fredricks racing his 2nd 1000m	Todd Porter, , setting up the electric timing system	Nancy Swider Peltz, Jr in her 2nd 100m	Amy Sannes & Chris Witty in their 2nd 1000m
Elli Ochowicz warming up	Elli Ochowicz & Eva Rodansky in the 2nd 1000m	Eva Rodansky (1:17.39) & Elli Ochowicz (1:17.58) at the finish of their 2nd 1000m	Brent Ausprung in the 10K
KC Boutiette in his 10K	Chad Hedrick at the finish line of his WR breaking 10K, 12:55.11

Photos: Casey FitzRandolph skates his 1500m
Credit: Stéphanie Lambert

For complete results of the event, see US Speed Skating