2008 Nationals, St. Louis, Dec 19-21

[aaosmts19]

wow, so ryan bedford is IN and ryan leveille is OUT

what happened to the penguins?

ETa; Actually,
Ryan Bedford and Jordan Malone are replacing
Anthony Lobello and Travis Jayner.

[LurkerB5]

Dec 21, 2008 15:32:33 GMT -5 dopeyrn said:

My son and I watched him closely and we are both diagnosing an ankle injury. Hoping it's not anything bad.

Join you in that hope...

[mellie]

Okay so I am not the only one that saw Apolo with a slight limp. I thought I was seeing things or that the step down was rather high, but now y'all say that y'all saw it too...I hope he is okay.

No penguins this time, but pillows and flags.

[chla22]

That's probably the answer to the question about him skating in the relay......hope he's O.K.

[aaosmts19]

Dec 21, 2008 15:46:25 GMT -5 chla22 said:

That's probably the answer to the question about him skating in the relay......hope he's O.K.

So IF he didn't skate in the relay for that reason, it must have meant there weren't enough for a 4th team...Jeff Simon wasn't on a team either, was he? Who else was missing?

Anybody in contact with the GA contingency on site who can give us some perspective?

[dopeyrn]

I was wondering why he didn't skate relay....

[chla22]

That's true, I wasn't paying attention, but Jeff didn't skate the relay(?). Hmmm maybe between Apolo limping and Jeff's obvious back pain yesterday maybe it was the smartest thing to do. Let the healing process begin!! They need to be 200% by the next WC.

[jenza123]

;D HI GA GIRLS, JUST DROPPED OVER TO SEE HOW YOU ALL ENJOYED THE WEEKEND RACES. IT LOOKS LIKE YOU DID. THEY WERE AWESOME EXCEPT FOR APOLO GETTING HURT. BUT THAT DIDNT STOP HIM FROM WINNING NOW, DID IT?
I ENJOYED THE PICS AND POSTS. THANK YOU ALL.

[aaosmts19]

www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/12/21/sports/SPE-Short-Track-Championships.php


Ohno, Reutter win national speedskating titles
The Associated PressPublished: December 21, 2008

CHESTERFIELD, Mo.: Apolo Anton Ohno won two more individual events Sunday at the U.S. Short Track Speedskating Championships to capture his eighth consecutive national title.

Ohno, the defending world champion and a five-time Olympic medalist, won the 1,000 and 3,000 meters to win the overall title with 4,140 points — nearly 300 more than J.R. Celski in second. Ohno has won every national title since 2001 and has 10 overall.

Jeffrey Simon finished third, followed by Jordan Malone and Ryan Bedford.

Katherine Reutter also swept the final two individual events to jump ahead of Kimberly Derrick and win her second consecutive national title. Reutter finished with 3,860 points and Derrick 3,640, followed by Jessica Smith, Allison Baver and Lana Gehring.

The top five men and women will represent the U.S. at the World Cup events in February and the world championships in March.

Celski set the pace early in both races, with Ohno taking the lead with two laps left both times. He won the 1,000 in 1 minute, 28.586 seconds and the 3,000 in 4:52.034.

Bedford took third in the 1,000 after Simon was disqualified for impeding with just more than a lap to go. Malone was third in the 3,000.

Reutter won the 1,000 in 1:32.885, just ahead of Derrick and Smith. She won the 3,000 in 5:08.676, with Baver second and Derrick third.

[Lori]

Re: the relay question - Ryan Leveille packed his toys and went home after it was apparent that he was out of contention; Jeff was in a lot of pain and it wouldn't have made sense for him to skate a relay that was basically for exhibition in his condition. They weren't going to be able to field that 4th team anyway, and since Apolo WAS limping this afternoon, he probably decided not to skate. The 4th skater that didn't compete in the relay was Joey Lindsey - he was healthy, but with no teammates, he ended up as a spectator.

[Lori]

Rumor was that Apolo's injury was a knee - he stayed after for quite some time mingling with the fans, and he lugged his equipment into the hotel, so it must not be too serious.

Also, the interpretation of the results:

On the ladies' team, Katherine and Kimberly will skate the individual events at the World Championships, and the other 3 (Allison, Jessica & Lana) will be there for the relay - Maria Garcia will be added to the roster for the remaining 2 World Cups, but she won't go to the World Champ's.

On the men's team, Apolo & JR will skate the individual events at the World Champ's, and Jeff, Ryan B & Jordan will help with the relays - Travis will be the sixth for the World Cups, but won't skate the World Champ's.

Last year they had the 'sixth members' (i.e., Travis & Maria) appear for the awards, but not this time - and no penguins...

EDIT: Jeff and Jessica will also skate the individual events - see the explanation in my post downthread...

[olympia]

thanks Lori--I always count on you to get the straight scoop--thanks for clearing up all the confusion--

[sk8on]

Thank you, Lori-- USS has the following information on their 'current news' section but it doesn't explain who is eligible to race individuals versus the relays, so your info is much appreciated.

Short Track Champions Retain Their Titles

Apolo Anton Ohno (Seattle, WA) and Katherine Reutter (Champaign, IL) retained their titles and were crowned National Champions as the 2009 U.S. Short Track Speedskating Championships concluded in St. Louis.

Ohno won both the 1000m and 3000m with J.R. Celski (Federal Way, WA) finishing a strong second in both races. Ryan Bedford (Midland, MI) was third in the 1000m and Jordan Malone (Denton ,TX) took home the bronze in the 3000 meters.

Reutter clinched her second consecutive National Title with commanding victories in the 1000m and the 3000m. Kimberly Derrick took home the silver in the 1000m with Jessica Smith (Melvindale, MI) taking home the bronze. In the 3000m, it was former National Champion and two-time Olympian Allison Baver (Redding, PA) claiming silver and Derrick claiming bronze.

The top five ladies and men in the overall standings make up US Speedskating’s World Team which will represent the United States at the World Short Track Speedskating Championships in Vienna, Austria March 6-8, and the World Team Short Track Speedskating Championships March 14-15 in Heerenveen, Netherlands.

Joining Ohno and Reutter on the World Team are Celski, Jeff Simon (Los Angeles, CA), Malone and Bedford on the men’s side. The ladies team will be composed of Reutter, Derrick, Smith, Baver, and Lana Gehring. Travis Jayner (Midland, MI) and Maria Garcia (Los Angeles, CA) will join with the World Team to make up US Speedskating’s Winter World Cup Team.

[chla22]

You gals are just TOO good!! Thanks for all the info. I was going to go this weekend but got grief from my family cuz tomorrow is my b-day. I wanted to use this trip as my "special gift" but it didn't go over very well. They wanted me around too. Ohhh well maybe another time. Someone sould get the word out to one of the skaters to make a blog like Michael Gilday's. It would be fun to read and follow the team. How great would that be??

[Lori]

After finding and reading the regs, it's all coming back to me...

Every team may enter 2 competitors in the individual events - those 2 skaters skate ALL the distances, and if they are among the top 8 competitors, they also get to skate the 3000M Super Final. The other team members are available for the relay.

However, if in the PREVIOUS World Championships, a country has more than 1 skater in the top 16 overall - and if at least 1 of those skaters got final points (meaning that they competed in a final in any distance), that country can enter 3 skaters in the individual distances.

We had Allison and Katherine in the top 16, with Katherine getting into a final - we also had Apolo, Ryan Leveille and Jeff in the top 16, with all 3 getting points in finals - SO, we get 3 for the ladies, 3 for the men this coming year!