December 28, 2008
Short Track Speedskaters Provide Christmas for Families in Need
December 24, 2008—Salt Lake City, UT. For many Utah families, Christmas creates a financial dilemma. With unemployment on the rise and a struggling economy, the cost of providing Christmas gifts for children is more than some families can handle.
But members of the U.S. National Short Track Speedskating Training Program, based in Kearns, Utah, at the Utah Olympic Oval, decided to guarantee a happy Christmas for two families from the Utah Youth Village this year. Two-time Olympian Allison Baver organized the adopt-a-family program and enlisted the help of her teammates and the short track training program staff.
"There are so many families in need," Baver said. "If we didn't adopt them, they weren't going to have a Christmas."
The skaters shopped for five children between the ages of 8 and 16, plus two single mothers who are struggling to make ends meet. Although Baver expected her teammates to pitch in, she had no idea they would be so generous.
"I made a list of everything they would need," she said. "The 13-year-old wanted gymnastics lessons and we arranged that through a gymnastic place in Sandy. I made sure they got one item they really needed and then we got them one thing they wanted and one thing they could wear back to school."
Along with Christmas gifts, the speedskaters provided Christmas trees, Christmas dinner and even an electric stove and bed. The Utah Olympic Oval helped out by supplying the two families with a free annual family skating pass. The service project was organized during a busy season for the Short Track World Cup Team members who traveled to Nagano, Japan at the beginning of December for a competition.
"The girls, we were done and the Christmas presents were wrapped before we left for Japan. We were on top if it," Baver said. "The guys on the other hand. . ."
Apolo Anton Ohno, Travis Jayner, Anthony Lobello, Ryan Leveille, Simon Cho, Jeff Simon, Alex Izykowski, Jordan Malone, Ryan Bedford, Jessica Smith, Kimberly Derrick, Katherine Reutter, Lana Gehring, Carly Wilson, Mary Grace, Alyson Dudek and Baver participated in the service project. US Speedskating staff members also got involved including National Short Track Head Coach Jae Su Chun, strength trainer Shane Domer, High-performance Director Guy Thibault and short track coordinator Laurent Daignault.
"It was great coming together to give the kids a Christmas," Baver said, "I think this shows that if we can do this, then anyone can help."
For more information, contact:
Peri Kinder
801-417-5360
pkinder@usspeedskat ing.org
US Speedskating is a nonprofit organization recognized by the United States Olympic Committee and the International Skating Union as the governing body for the sport of Speedskating in the United States. To date, US Speedskating has won a total of 75 Olympic Medals, making it the most successful winter sport in the USA.
Posted by noelle at 8:13 PM | Comments (0)
December 27, 2008
Travis Jayner drops the puck at hometown hockey game
The Moncton (New Brunswick) Wildcats will welcome Travis Jayner, a Riverview native and Gold Medal member of the United States National Speed Skating Championship Team, to drop the puck to begin their game with the Halifax Mooseheads on Saturday, December 27.“The Moncton Wildcats are delighted to recognize people from our area who have excelled in their sport or community support” said team General Manager Bill Schurman. “Travis is a great role model for all people of New Brunswick. The Wildcats are pleased to pay tribute to him for his speed skating accomplishments in world competition.” More
Go Travis!
Mooseheads - what an awesome name for a hockey team!
Posted by noelle at 9:25 AM | Comments (0)
December 24, 2008
Nationals photos
Thanks to Phil Bedford for sharing these photos from St Louis - Merry Christmas, everyone!!
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| Nationals 2008 photos by Phil Bedford |
Posted by noelle at 2:10 PM | Comments (0)
December 23, 2008
500m final in St Louis - both of them (in HD!)
Here's high-def video from the races, courtesy of ShortTrackHD.com.
Those are some scary crashes - very grateful that no one seems to have been seriously hurt. Seems kind of miraculous.
It has to be said, and since the comments still aren't working, I'll say it - Jordan was robbed! No slight intended towards Travis, who won round 2 fair and square.
Posted by noelle at 8:04 PM | Comments (0)
December 21, 2008
Final results from St Louis [updated 12/23 with new links]
St Louis Post-Dispatch | Ohno, Reutter successfully defend title in U.S. Short Track Championships
Apolo Anton Ohno, a five-time Olympic medalist and reigning world champion, considered scratching before the races Sunday because of bumps and bruises he sustained in crashes Saturday, but instead wrapped his knee and earned his 10th national title."This morning was horrible," he said. "I felt like a truck ran over me. But it worked out fine."
After being disqualified in the 500 meters Saturday, [Katherine Reutter] dropped to second place, nearly 500 points behind Kimberly Derrick.
Reutter regained the lead with a victory in the 3,000 meters in 5:08.576. She smartly picked up an extra 150 points for being the leader on the ninth lap of the 27-lap race, a carrot that race organizers include as incentive to keep the pace lively for the longest of the meet's individual events. She took the lead for keeps with four laps remaining, slipping past two-time Olympian Allison Baver on the inside, then holding off Baver and Derrick, in that order.
"It was so important to me to win here," Reutter said. "I felt like I've been in a little of a sophomore slump, and there's so many expectations, so winning here was a really big deal."
Jeff Simon took the bonus points in the men's 3,000 meters, but J.R. Celski shot past him and built a lead of three-quarters of a lap with about a dozen laps to go.
"Typically, there's a chance for somebody to break away like that," Ohno said. "But when no one wanted to chase him, I felt like I had to do something."
Ohno and Jordan Malone broke away and chased Celski, catching him with four laps remaining. Malone held the lead until Ohno took over on the bell lap and held off Celski and Malone, respectively.
Times & Transcript | Travis Jayner wins U.S. title
Dateline: St Louis, Mississippi! Good to know the Canucks know as much about U.S. geography as we know about theirs.
AP | Ohno, Reutter win national speedskating titles
Congratulations to Apolo Ohno and Katherine Reutter, who repeat as national champions, and to all the skaters on their performances in St Louis. This is Apolo's TENTH national title. Way to go!
Overall standings - men
1. Ohno, Apolo 4140 points
2. Celski, J.R.3152 pts
3. Simon, Jeffrey 2456 pts
4. Malone, Jordan 2059 pts
5. Bedford, Ryan 1929 pts
6. Jayner, Travis 1756 pts
Overall standings - women
1. Reutter, Katherine 3860 pts
2. Derrick, Kimberly 3640
3. Smith, Jessica 2259
4. Baver, Allison 2104
5. Gehring, Lana 1916
6. Garcia, Maria 1884
- Women 1000m final results
- Men 1000m final results
- Women 3000m final results
- Men 3000m final results
Posted by noelle at 6:27 PM | Comments (0)
Results from day 3 in St Louis
Sounds like a wild and woolly men's 500m A final yesterday in St Louis. Sorry I missed it on the live feed! Here's hoping everyone involved in crashes is unhurt.
500m A final - men
1. Jayner, Travis 43.958
2. Malone, Jordan 44.498
3. Ohno, Apolo 45.015
4. Celski, J.R. 1:09.201
500m A final - women
1. Derrick, Kimberly 45.984
2. Garcia, Maria 46.032
3. Dudek, Alyson 46.126
4. Baver, Allison 46.422
Complete results from the 500m: Women | Men
Overall point standings: Women | Men
St Louis Post-Dispatch photo gallery
St Louis Post-Dispatch | That's speedskating
Drama surrounded defending champions Apolo Anton Ohno and Katherine Reutter on Saturday in the U.S. Short Track Championships at Hardee's Iceplex.Ohno finished third in the men's 500 meters — the second time around. Referees stopped the first attempt at the race on the third of 4½ laps with Ohno about to pass Jordan Malone for first place. Ohno stumbled and fell, causing J.R. Celski and Travis Jayner to fall into the boards as well.
Confusion ensued before the restart, while referees determined whether Ohno should be disqualified. After being allowed to race, Ohno took the lead on the first lap and held it until the end of the final turn, when his skate clipped one of the blocks used to determine the inside boundary of the track. He fell again, taking Malone with him. Jayner skated around the sprawled pair and won the race in 43.958 seconds. Malone crossed just before Ohno.
"The second race sucked because I was five feet from winning another gold," said Ohno. "But like I said, the goal was top 3 in each race."
Ohno maintained his lead in the overall standings. Celski is in second and Jeff Simon is third.
Reutter was disqualified in the semifinals of the women's 500 for impeding an opponent. Kimberly Derrick finished first in the final in 45.984, ahead of Maria Garcia, Allison Dudek and Allison Baver. Derrick moved ahead of Reutter in the overall standings with three events remaining Sunday.
AP | Jayner, Derrick win 500-meter finals
Posted by noelle at 11:22 AM | Comments (0)
December 19, 2008
Live webast from St Louis - 2008 U.S. Nationals
You can watch the races live all weekend via US Speedskating. Click the link, then go to Competitions, Events, & Results > Broadcast/Webcast.
Seems to work best with Internet Explorer and maybe not at all with Firefox.
Posted by noelle at 9:03 PM | Comments (0)
