Here's an article from the Green Bay Press-Gazette about the 2009 AmCup3 weekend, which includes a couple of quotes by Kathleen:
www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20090124/GPG0101/901240611/0/ADVShort Track Speedskaters Storm Cornerstone IceAshwaubenon rink hosts American Cup 3 competition
Andy Nelesen - January 24, 2009 ASHWAUBENON — The world of short track speedskating will be focused on the Cornerstone Community Center this weekend as some of the country's top skaters compete in the American Cup 3 championships.
The World Cup and Olympic seedings aren't on the line this weekend. Instead, athletes are racing for points and standing that can affect national rankings and other races for the rest of the year.
Top short track speedskaters cover 111.12 meters — 364½ feet — in about eight seconds, reaching speeds of 28 mph on the oval ice track. Races range between 4½ laps for a 500-meter race to 27 laps for a 3,000-meter event. Most short track events are raced in heats, with the winners of individual heats advancing to a final round.
Short track racing is close-quarters and dangerous. Falls and crashes can lead to serious injury. And while victory can be decided by a fraction of a second, the time is not at issue; first one to the finish line wins the heat and advances.
"It's NASCAR on ice," said Don Chilson, manager of the Cornerstone center. "When they crash, it's something."
This is the first national event on the Cornerstone's Olympic-sized 100-foot wide rink.
The $4.3 million facility opened in February 2008 and augmented the center's two 85-foot wide ice sheets. The new ice made the event possible, said Shannon Holmes, American Cup 3 director and coach of the Cornerstone's local short track racing team.
"The racers are going so fast that without the extra room, it just wouldn't be safe when they are coming out of the corners," Holmes said. "It's a matter of safety."
Chilson said he hopes this meet will be the first in a series of national events at the Conerstone's Resch Olympic Pavilion. Only a handful of Olympic-sized ice rinks are in the state, he said.
The bulk of the world-class skaters on the rink this weekend hail from the Marquette, Mich., National Olympic Training Center. Many have prospects of making a World Cup or Olympic team in the future.
Wausau's Dan Fiorenza, 17, has been skating since he was 5. He finished high school a year early and now trains at the Marquette rink.
"I hope to make the Junior World team for next year and then my goal is the 2014 Olympics," Fiorenza said after a workout Thursday. "It's full devotion to this sport. You're always training."
Fiorenza is one of seven Wisconsin skaters competing in the weekend event. The weekend also holds the Cheese Cup, a meet for the Midwest's club teams.
Fiorenza draws parallels between stock car racing and speed skating.
"It's the same thing, except on ice," he said. "We're constantly drafting and passing. It's all about the strategy of the sport and there's speed involved … and there's crashes. It can be intense."
Skaters talk about the rush of racing.
"There's definitely adrenaline involved at the starting line," said Kathleen Russell, 16, of Petoskey, Mich., another member of the Marquette team.
"It can be scary," she said. "It's a kind a mystery, too. You never know what's going to happen at the next turn."
