In Green Bay last weekend, Kendal was second overall going into the last event of the American Cup Final - the 1500M Superfinal. In her semifinal race, she clicked blades with another skater and tweaked her back badly enough that she had to be transported by ambulance shortly after the race. Thankfully, it was just a bad sprain, and she'll be back to training without too much down time!
S.C. Teen Tears Up the Ice in Speed SkatingSan Clemente Patch / March 22, 2012
Photo Credit: Jerry Search
Kendal Pumphrey, 17, of San Clemente, is one fast young lady.
Fast, that is, while wearing a pair of custom molded pearl-white and apple-green fiberglass boots with 16-and-a-half-inch sharpened blades attached.
Kendal is a Short Track Speedskater. The kind that races in what is called "pack-style" in the same genre as Apolo Ohno and JR Celski. Kendal just returned Monday from skating at the American Cup Series Final in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
The top 16 ranked American Senior ladies and men are invited to this event to prove their speed and endurance in a three-day meet, racing on slippery, cold, hard ice.
At the conclusion of the event, Kendal had earned a Bronze medal in the 1500 meter, a Bronze in the 1000 meter, and a Silver in the 500 meter race length. A slight slip in her last race caused Kendal to be rushed by ambulance to the local hospital to treat a badly sprained back. Without even racing in the final race, Kendal ended up 4th over-all for the American Cup Final ladies division.
When in the hospital, upon hearing of her final over-all result, she exclaimed, "oh man! " in dropping down two spots from her second-place lead over the weekend. She was able to fly home on Monday and will be resting for a few weeks before starting training for next season.
In February, Kendal skated for the USA at the World Short Track Junior Championships in Melbourne, Australia. She and her three other teammates on the USA ladies relay team came in sixth. Kendal was ranked 18th in the 500 meter, and was 21st over-all in the world in her individual races.
This was Kendal's second time going to Junior Worlds. Last year, she skated in Courmayeur, Italy as the fourth member of the relay team.
Racing in Salt Lake City, Utah in January 2012 at the USA Short Track Speedskating Championships, Kendal was "on the line" with four current USA Olympians. As the youngest Senior level female skater finishing the Championships, Kendal ranked a very respectable 10th over-all. This was a remarkable improvement from her previous debut at the US Championships when she was 15th over-all in 2011.
A former student at San Clemente High School, Kendal is finishing her high school classes through her scholarship to Ashworth College, an on-line academic institution. The online schooling has enabled Kendal to travel to race in Ohio, Missouri, Utah, California, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Australia the last six months.
However, with all of her traveling, she is always happy to come back home and meet up with her friends to enjoy T Street, the Pier, and Del Mar Avenue just like a regular San Clemente teenager![/img]
Read the entire article:
sanclemente.patch.com/announcements/sc-teen-tears-up-the-ice-in-speed-skating+++
Tags: Kendal Pumphrey / Short Track Speedskating