Speed skating: Ohno wins overall title, Malone fourth at short track nationals07:43 AM CST on Monday, December 22, 2008
ST. LOUIS — Two-time Olympic gold medalist Apolo Anton Ohno easily won the men’s overall title at the U.S. Short Track Speedskating Championships on Sunday, while Denton native Jordan Malone recovered from a slow start to place fourth.
Ohno won four of the five events at the meet, which serves as a qualifier for two World Cup meets in February in and the World Championships in March in Austria.
On Sunday, Malone finished sixth in the 1,000-meter final and third in the 3,000 meters.
By finishing outside the top three places, Malone did not qualify individually for the World Championships but can compete on the U.S. relay team. He also will skate in the World Cup events in February in Bulgaria and Germany, and in the World Team Championships in March in the Netherlands.
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California is a speed skating hotbed6:45 PM, December 22, 2008
Maria Garcia Three speed skaters from Southern California were selected to the 2009 U.S. World team, and those three, plus Maria Garcia of Carson, were chosen for the 2009 U.S. World Cup team. The announcements were made following competition last weekend at the U.S. short track speed skating championships in St. Louis.
All are affiliated with Southern California Speed Skating, a very active and successful program that gets kids involved in the sport. Among its most notable products is Rusty Smith of Sunset Beach, a 2002 Olympic bronze medalist in the 500 meters and 2006 bronze medalist in the 5,000-meter relay.
JR Celski, a Lakewood High graduate; Jeff Simon of Lakewood and Jordan Malone of Long Beach made the U.S. World Team. Those three skaters and Garcia -- a 2006 Olympian -- made the World Cup team. Celski, Simon and Malone finished 2-3-4 in the men's competition, while Garcia was sixth overall among the women.
The next two World Cup events are in Bulgaria and Germany in early February. The World Championships will take place March 6-8 in Vienna and the World Team Championships will be held March 14-15 in the Netherlands.
Southern California Speed Skating welcomes anyone who would like to try the sport for the first time. More information is available at
www.socalspeedskating.org or
www.santaclaritaspeedskating.org or
www.demorra.com- - - - - -
PHOTOS (from STLtoday.com):
Caption: Cherise Wilkins (48) and Vicky Labourdette (40), take their first stroke off the starting line during the C group 500m finals of the U.S. Short Track Championship at the Hardee's Iceplex in Chesterfield, Mo. The C group was won by Carly Wilson (80) of Jefferson City who finished ninth overall in the event.
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Caption: Leading his group of four skaters in the 500m finals, Apolo Ohno (21) hits a block with his skate and slips in the final turn, taking out Jordan Malone (43) which gave the win to Travis Jayner (69).
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Caption: Apolo Ohno (front) is trailed by Jordan Malone (43) as they race in the 500m finals. Ohno slipped on the last turn, taking out Malone and giving the win to Travis Jayner (background).
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Caption: Jordan Malone (front) and Apolo Ohno (back) race in the 500m finals. Malone finished second and Ohno third in the event behind winner Travis Jayner.
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Caption: Travis Jayner (center 69) is sandwiched between Apolo Ohno (left) and J. R. Celski (right) in the 500m. This race was stopped at the discretion of the officials after three of the four skaters fell and the race was restarted from the beginning. The event was won by Jayner.
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Caption: Anthony Lobello (45) skates through a turn in the B group finals of the 500m. Lobello finished third in the B group and seventh overall in the event.
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Caption: Carly Wilson of Jefferson City (right) slips the tip of her skate ahead of Cherise Wilkins to win the C group finals of the 500m.
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Caption: Anthony Lobello (right) slips in a turn during the semifinals of the 500m event during the U.S. Short Track Championship at the Hardee's Iceplex in Chesterfield, Mo. At left is Apolo Ohno and in center is J. R. Celski; Ohno and Celski qualified for the finals where Ohno finished third and Celski fourth. Chris Lee | Post-Dispatch
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Caption: Katherine Reutter (22) crowds Maria Garcia (72) on the inside of a turn on the second to last lap as she tries to pass into second place in the semifinals of the 500m. The top two finishers in each group advance to the finals; Reutter was disqualified for impeding in the race and did not compete in the finals.
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Caption: Alyson Dudek (62) and Maria Garcia (72) compete in the semifinals of the 500m. Both skaters advanced to the finals where Garcia finished second and Dudek third.
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Caption: Anthony Lobello (far left) slips in a turn during the semifinals of the 500m event. Continuing the race are Apolo Ohno (front 21), J. R. Celski (57), Jeffrey Simon (33) and Levi Kirkpatrick (41).
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Caption: Kimberly Derrick (right) leads her group around a turn in the finals of the 500m. Derrick won the event with a time of 0:45.984 followed by Maria Garcia (72) second, Alyson Dudek (62) third and Allison Baver (46) fourth.
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Caption: Kimberly Derrick (right) leads her group around a turn in the finals of the 500m. Derrick won the event with a time of 0:45.984 followed by Maria Garcia (72) second, Alyson Dudek (62) third and Allison Baver (46) fourth.
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Caption: Skaters get a fast start at the beginning of a 500m semifinal heat.
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Caption: Allison Baver races in the semfinals of the 500m.
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Caption: Skaters, including Carly Wilson of Jefferson City (80), begin a semifinal heat of the 500m.
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Caption: Katherine Reutter of Champaign, Ill. (22) leads her group around a turn in a quarterfinal heat of the 500m. Reutter was disqualified for impeding in the semifinals and did not skate in the finals.
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Caption: December 20, 2008 -- Travis Jayner races in a quarterfinal heat of the 500m during the U.S. Short Track Championship at the Hardee's Iceplex in Chesterfield, Mo. Jayner won the event in the finals. Chris Lee | Post-Dispatch
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Caption: Katherine Reutter of Champaign, Ill. (22) skates in a quarterfinal heat of the 500m.
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Caption: Alyson Dudek skates in a quarterfinals heat of the 500m.
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Caption: Jordan Malone (43) and Levi Kirkpatrick race in a quarterfinal heat of the 500m.
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Caption: Kimberly Derrick (left) and Maria Garcia compete in a quarterfinal heat of the 500m. Derrick finished first and Garcia second in the event finals.
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Caption: Allison Baver competes in a quarterfinal heat of the 500m. Baver finished fourth overall in the event.
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. To add insult to injury, the announcer saw it and repeated (for the ump-teenth time) his reminder not to use flash... 
~Lori
The only one missing of the top ladies was Allison.
Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays to everyone here--thanks for the posts and the pictures and the friendship--olympia