Ohno, Reutter win on opening day of Short Track ChampionshipsDec. 19, 2008
CBSSports.com wire reports
ST. LOUIS -- Defending champions Apolo Anton Ohno and Katherine Reutter opened the U.S. Short Track Championships with victories Friday.
Ohno, winner of five Olympic medals and the current overall world champion, won the men's 1,500 meters in 2 minutes, 23.927 seconds, just ahead of Jeff Simon of Long Beach, Calif., in 2:24.029 and J.R. Celski of Federal Way, Wash., in 2:24.039.
Ohno took the lead with 4 laps remaining in the 13-lap event, but the three, along with Ryan Bedford, crowded each other to the finish line.
Reutter, a native of Champaign, Ill., who trains in Salt Lake City, won the women's 1,500 meters with 2:23.446. She skated in a pack through 12 laps with Kimberly Derrick of Caledonia, Mich., and Jessica Smith of Melvindale, Mich., before putting on a burst of speed and opening a 10-foot gap that she maintained to the end. Derrick finished in 2:23.888., Smith in 2:23.970.
Competitors earn points based on their finish in five events. The top five men and women will represent the U.S. at the World Cup events in February and the World Championships in Vienna in March.
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Champaign speedskater Katherine Reutter hopes to defend her title at U.S. Short Track ChampionshipsBy Kathleen Nelson
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
12/20/2008
CHESTERFIELD — Gliding almost silently around the ice, Katherine Reutter moves at breakneck speed. She was the fastest qualifier Friday in the time trials and won the first event, the 1,500 meters, at the U.S. Short Track Championships at Hardee's Iceplex. The irony for Reutter, the defending champion, is that real life moves in slow motion.
"I have time to take about three credits a semester," she said. "Maybe I have time for an 8 o'clock movie on a Friday. But that's about it. I'm behind in a lot of ways."
Speedskating has been nearly all-consuming since Reutter cast aside her figure skates at her home rink in Champaign, Ill., and replaced them with speed skates because she wanted to go fast.
A problem in switching is that her home club, Champaign Regional Speedskating, had just one hour a week of ice time. Seeking more time and coaching, Reutter and her father, Jay, traveled each weekend to St. Louis for extra work. "The coaches were so successful," she said. "I knew I could learn more from them."
Russ Owen, president of the Missouri Speedskating Association, said Reutter spent so much time training here, "We sort of adopted her as our own."
Except that her father never allowed her to get too comfortable.
"We'd drive in and back on a Saturday, then turn around and come right back on Sunday," she said. "We had plenty of offers to stay, but he didn't want to be a burden."
Despite the redundant commute, the time in St. Louis was time well-spent.
"She was a middle-of-the-road, hardworking skater in Champaign," said Jim Chapin Jr., a former Olympian and native St. Louisan who occasionally coaches area skaters. "She wouldn't have gone as far if she had trained only in Champaign. The coaches here made a difference."
Reutter made her first big splash in 2005, winning the 500, 1,500 and 3,000 meters in the world junior championships at age 17. Her sweep of the events at last year's nationals, though, caught everyone by surprise. The performance equaled that of only one other U.S. woman, three-time Olympian Bonnie Blair, a fellow native of Champaign.
She remained hot through the world cup season, winning two individual silver medals, one individual bronze and two bronze medals in the relay, and closed the season by finishing seventh overall at the world championships.
Yet Reutter was ready to write off the 2008-09 season to a sophomore slump after finishing no higher than fourth in any race through the first three events of the fall.
"After two world cups, I realized that I'd have a heart attack if I kept putting so much pressure on myself," she said. "My coach told me to relax and enjoy myself. He said skating was supposed to be fun. At first I thought, 'He's crazy.' Then I realized I was crazy and he was right. Now, it's fun again."
Attacking with a more relaxed attitude, Reutter finished second in the 1,500 in the most recent world cup event this month in Nagano, Japan.
"Every international event is a learning experience," she said. "Being an Olympic rookie, experience is a big deal. I want to go in with the best overall ranking. I was happy I learned so much. The medal was even better."
Hometown aside, Reutter is humbled by comparisons to Blair, the most decorated U.S. speedskater with six Olympic medals. They're premature, since she awaits her first chance at an Olympic medal 14 months from now in Vancouver, British Columbia. Until then, there's no place better to compete than St. Louis. Reutter said she'd have 50 members of her extended family making the trek to St. Louis, in addition to the fans she has picked up through years of training and competing here.
"It's definitely an advantage to skate in front of so many people who know me," she said, "because there's nowhere I'd rather be."
PHOTO:
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Reutter, Ohno win 1,500By Kathleen Nelson
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
12/20/2008
CHESTERFIELD — Katherine Reutter and Apolo Anton Ohno began defense of their national titles in style with victories Friday in the U.S. Short Track Championships at Hardee's Iceplex.
Reutter, a native of Champaign, Ill., won the women's 1,500 meters in 2 minutes, 23.446 seconds with a 10-foot gap on Kimberly Derrick of Caledonia, Mich., and Jessica Smith of Melvindale, Mich. The three skated together in a pack through 12 laps of the 13½-lap race before Reutter made a sweeping turn, showed a burst of speed and built a lead that she held through the final lap.
Ohno, winner of five Olympic medals and the current overall world champion, won a slower, more strategic men's 1,500, finishing in 2:23.927, just ahead of Jeff Simon of Long Beach, Calif., in 2:24.029 and J.R. Celski of Federal Way, Wash., in 2:24.039. Ohno took the lead with 4½ laps to go, but the three, along with Ryan Bedford, crowded each other to the finish line.
Earlier Friday, Ohno and Reutter were the top qualifiers in the nine-lap time trial, used to determine the seeding for the remaining events. Competitors earn points based on their finish position in five events, held throughout the weekend. The five men and five women who earn the most points will represent the U.S. at the World Cup events and world championships this winter.
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PHOTOS (from STLtoday.com):
Caption: December 19, 2008 -- Maria Garcia (72) slides her skate forward to edge out Allison Baver (46) for the second of two qualifying positions in the semi-final heat of the 1500m during the U.S. Short Track Championship at the Hardee's Iceplex in Chesterfield, Mo. Chris Lee | Post-Dispatch
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Caption: December 19, 2008 -- Apolo Ohno (left) leads Travis Jayner in their semi-final heat of the 1500m during the U.S. Short Track Championship at the Hardee's Iceplex in Chesterfield, Mo. Ohno won the event in the finals. Chris Lee | Post-Dispatch
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Caption: December 19, 2008 -- Katherine Reutter of Champaign, Ill. leads her semi-final heat around a turn in the 1500m during the U.S. Short Track Championship at the Hardee's Iceplex in Chesterfield, Mo. Reutter won the event in the finals. Chris Lee | Post-Dispatch
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Caption: December 19, 2008 -- Carly Wilson of Jefferson City (center) skates in the semi-final heat of the 1500m during the U.S. Short Track Championship at the Hardee's Iceplex in Chesterfield, Mo. Chris Lee | Post-Dispatch
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Caption: December 19, 2008 -- Skaters in a 1500m semi-final heat take off at the sound of the starter's gun during the U.S. Short Track Championship at the Hardee's Iceplex in Chesterfield, Mo. Chris Lee | Post-Dispatch
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Caption: December 19, 2008 -- Katherine Reutter leads her group in the finals of the 1500m during the U.S. Short Track Championship at the Hardee's Iceplex in Chesterfield, Mo. Reutter won the race with a time of 2:23.446 Chris Lee | Post-Dispatch
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Caption: December 19, 2008 -- Katherine Reutter is introduced before the start of the 1500m finals during the U.S. Short Track Championship at the Hardee's Iceplex in Chesterfield, Mo. Reutter won the event with a time of 2:23.446. Chris Lee | Post-Dispatch
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Caption: December 19, 2008 -- Apolo Ohno leads his group around a turn in the 1500m final during the U.S. Short Track Championship at the Hardee's Iceplex in Chesterfield, Mo. Ohno won the event with a time of 2:23.927. Chris Lee | Post-Dispatch
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Caption: December 19, 2008 -- J. R. Celski (57) gets bumped as he rounds a turn in the finals of the 1500m during the U.S. Short Track Championship at the Hardee's Iceplex in Chesterfield, Mo. The race was won by Apolo Ohno (right) with a time of 2:23.927. Chris Lee | Post-Dispatch
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Caption: December 19, 2008 -- Apolo Ohno (21) and Jeffrey Simon compete through the final laps of the 1500m as Ohno finished first with a time of 2:23.927 and Simon finished second during the U.S. Short Track Championship at the Hardee's Iceplex in Chesterfield, Mo. Chris Lee | Post-Dispatch
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