US Champ's - Salt Lake City (Dec 16-19, 2010)

[debbief]

I just received an email from Breanna Bissell, Member Services Coordinator for US Speedskating. She said she just got the word from the Organizing Committee that the US Championships will be free of charge for spectators.

I sent my first email to Breanna yesterday and she responded that she was still waiting to hear from the Committee and would email me as soon as she received an answer. She got back to me this evening with the Committee's response.

I am very impressed with Breanna's speedy response to my question.

[Laura (Lori)]

Thanks, Debbie! I got a similar response from Linda Jager this afternoon. I suppose that the reason nobody knew was that nobody knew until just recently.

The US Championships - FREE? Cool!

[Deleted]

That's good news ladies. Thanks!

[susie]

Aug 20, 2010 9:05:21 GMT -8 mtnme said:

Note to all who are going to US Championships. If you want a glass of wine at night to unwind after a long day of watching short track, be sure to bring it with you! (and a corkscrew too, you won't be finding those either.)

And now I gotta rethink those job searches in Utah. Ya mean I can't just buy a bottle of wine at the grocery store???

After doing the de rigueur search for a Utah government liquor store AND a store that sells a corkscrew, my packing habits for short track meets were changed forever. I now roll a bottle of wine in bubble wrap, snuggle it among my sweaters, throw a corkscrew into the suitcase, and check my bag on through to wherever. It makes arrival so much more pleasant.

Oh, and mtnme, they also sell wine at grocery stores in Maine.

I wish I could see everyone at the Oval this month! I'll be back at some point.

[Laura (Lori)]

You will be MISSED, Susie!

The deadline has passed, and here is the final lineup for US Championships (What? No Jordan?) :

LADIES
Erin Bartlett
Sarah Burg
Sarah Chen
Kimberly Derrick
Alyson Dudek
Tamara Frederick
Lana Gehring
Morgan Izykowski
Kendal Pumphrey
Katherine Ralston
Katherine Reutter
Brittany Salmon
Kelsey Schiel
Emily Scott
Rachel Skrocki
Jessica Smith
Cherise Wilkins
Jerebelle Yutangco

MEN
Ryan Bedford
Adam Callister
Kyle Carr
Simon Cho
Mitchell Conley
Chris Creveling
Daniel Fiorenza
Jonathan Garcia
Kevin Geminder
Claude Gilbert
Landon Hatfield
Kyle Haun
Alexander Hopp
Travis Jayner
Levi Kirkpatrick
Cole Krueger
John-Henry Krueger
Robert Lawrence
Anthony Lobello
Brett Perry
James Rodowsky
Jeff Simon
Kyle Uyehara
Barry Winslow

Skate-In
Keith Carroll Jr.
Michael Burdekin

The 'skate-in' takes place on Thursday and allows skaters who have met certain criteria a chance to compete in a 9-Lap Time Trial. If they make the required time, they will be allowed to compete in Friday's 9-Lap Time Trial against the invited skaters.

Friday's 9-Lap Time Trial will determine the Top 16 per gender who will compete for the US Championship and slots on the World Cup 5 & 6 teams, as well as the World Championships in March.

It looks like the men have a full roster of 24 invited skaters, but the ladies only have 18, leaving only 2 who will not proceed to the Saturday/Sunday competition.

[Laura (Lori)]

An article today by USS shows the current start times as:

Friday, December 17, 9am-5pm
Men’s and Ladies’ 9-Lap and 4-Lap Time Trials

Saturday, December 18, 3-8:30pm
Men’s and Ladies’ 500m &1500m

Sunday, December 19, 10am-3:30pm
Men’s and Ladies’ 1000m & 3000m, Ladies 3000m Relay, and Men’s 5000m Relay

Read More:
www.usspeedskating.org/uptospeed/posts/top_us_short_track_speedskaters_to_compete_in_national_cham.php

Note that SLC is on Mountain Time, which is 1 hour later than Pacific, and 2 hours earlier than Eastern.

The same article mentions that Allison Baver will be competing, though her name doesn't show up on the signup list...

--------------------------------

One other thing of note: A skater named Keith Carroll Jr. is competing in the skate-in 9-lap time trial (Thursday) for a chance to compete on Friday against the invited entrants.

I mentioned him on the Future Stars board last July in the following post:

therockerforum.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=future&thread=525&page=1#4688

This is the first time I've seen him registered to compete on ice - good luck, Keith!

[Laura (Lori)]

Tony Chung is going to try to do a live U-Stream and chat from US Championships this weekend!

It could be a last-minute decision on Tony's part as to whether he'll be broadcasting, so keep checking his U-Stream, Twitter AND website.

Here are the links:

UStream
www.ustream.tv/channel/shorttrackhd

Twitter
twitter.com/shorttrackhd

Website
www.shorttrackhd.com for more info and links to his Twitter.

USS Results
www.usspeedskating.org

Feel free to chat here on Friday, Saturday and Sunday as you follow Tony's live feed!

I'll be at the event, taking notes and writing updates each evening, so stay tuned!

[Deleted]

All three skaters that skated the skate-in qualified for the time trials for US Champs. (Baver, Burdedkn, Carroll Jr.) --Tony Chung twitter

[aaosmts19]

If anyone's around at the moment and not aware, Tony is streaming LIVE at the moment, along with his LIVE commentary.

He is definitely upping his product! He has a spreadsheet open for sharing by everyone in which he's posting trial results live at the end of each race.

I'm at work. I am bad.... ;D

[mtnme]

Dec 17, 2010 9:14:21 GMT -8 aaosmts19 said:

I'm at work. I am bad.... ;D

There are some things that are just more important...like ST

Wow! Moving Pictures! 'Talkies' even!!! AND a spreadsheet!

I don't know if I can handle all this wealth of riches I may wet my pants with glee!

Well, really, it's just making it a little easier not to be there... (emphasis on 'a little'.) So close to it drive wise, but just couldn't manage it financially.

Thanks Tony!

[mtnme]

Here's the spreadsheet on how everyone is doing.


spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Ag-mxbofHcsudFZqekVDTWQwcllESEFQZjdWa0s1dkE&hl=en&authkey=CLaUs-YO#gid=2

[quietpirate]

I'm watching the live U-Stream. It's very exciting almost like being there but not quite. Tony Chung is a great webcaster and I love the live results by spreadsheet.

[Laura (Lori)]

Thanks for the link to Tony's spreadsheet - what a great idea!

Here's a recap from TeamUSA.org of yesterday's action:

Gehring and Cho Lead U.S. Championships Following Opening Day of Competition
by Linda Jager / December 17, 2010

KEARNS, Utah (December 17, 2010) - Elite speedskaters from across the U.S. kicked off the 2011 U.S. National Short Track Championships at the Utah Olympic Oval today. The U.S. Championships will also serve as the team trials naming the World Cup squad for the 2011 Winter World Cup season.

Today’s competition opened with the mens and ladies’ four and nine-lap time trials which determine seeding positions for the remaining races this weekend, while the skaters also have an opportunity to earn race points from the trials contributing to the overall weekend totals.

Following today’s races, 2010 Olympians Lana Gehring (Glenview. IL) and Simon Cho (Laurel, MD) topped the overall classification standings.

Read More:
pressbox.teamusa.org/Pages/SHORT-TRACK-SPEEDSKATING--Gehring-and-Cho-Lead-U-S--Championships-Following-Opening-Day-of-Competition.aspx

+++

Tags: Lana Gehring / Simon Cho / Katherine Reutter / Short Track Speedskating

Cho won both time trial races today, finishing the 444m race with a time of 36.969 and the 1000m at 1:25.285. “Coming back from the World Cup in China I was hesitant about how I’d feel, but judging from today’s results I did a better job than I expected,” said Cho. “While I posted some good results today, there are still two more days and four more events that I need be alert to keep my spot on the World Cup team.”

Gehring, who started the 2010-2011 World Cup season with several podium performances, won today’s 444m time trial with a time of 39.322. “Today went really well. I did better than I expected,” said Gehring. “Since I’m not in school this season, I’ve been able to focus more on training. I worked really hard with our coach during summer training and I feel like I’m building a good base for the next four years.”

Defending 2010 U.S. Short Track Champion and 2010 Olympic silver and bronze medalist Katherine Reutter (Champaign, IL) won today’s 1000m time trial (1:28.709) in a reskate, and finished 2nd in today’s overall standings. ”Falling in the first 9-lap time trial was a blessing in disguise,” said Reutter. “I felt like I performed better because the only option I had was to just do it.”

U.S. Short Track Head Coach Jae Su Chun was pleased with the performances in today’s time trials. “I really like the time trial format as it helps the athletes get stronger through this type of competition,” said Chun. “While I expected our top-level skaters to be strong today, I also saw a lot of young skaters show strong potential, which will be exciting to watch over the next two days of the competition.

The U.S. Short Track Championships continue Saturday, beginning at 3pm (MST). The event is free and open to the public. Complete event results are available at www.usspeedskating.org under the results tab. For additional event information, please call the Utah Olympic Oval at 801.968.OVAL (6825) or visit

[quietpirate]

I'm watching the U-Stream Live. One of the women fell in the 1500 semi second group.
What does booted out mean?

[mtnme]

Dec 18, 2010 15:37:16 GMT -8 quietpirate said:

I'm watching the U-Stream Live. One of the women fell in the 1500 semi second group.
What does booted out mean?

Booting out means that the skater's lean was so far over that the boot touches the ice ...which usually means that the blade that was gripping the ice looses touch with it...and skater goes flying.

Unfortunately Boots don't hold edges very well on the ice...

Ice contact: Blade =Good - - - - - Boot =Bad