SHORT TRACK SPEEDSKATING: U.S. Boys Finish in Top 25 at Jr. World Championships
// Melissa Scott // January 8, 2006
MIERCUREA CIUC, Romania (January 8, 2006) The U.S. junior short track speedskaters concluded a successful weekend at the 2006 World Junior Championships on Sunday.In the girls’ 1000 meters, Katherine Reutter (Champaign, IL) was unable to advance out of her preliminary heat with a third place finish in 1:50.040.
Lana Gehring (Glenview, IL) advanced out of the preliminaries into the heats where she finished fourth in 1:44.874.
Carly Wilson (Jefferson City, MO) advanced to the quarterfinals in the 1000 meters where she finished third in her heat in 1:37.195. She was unable to advance to the semifinals.
Jeff Simon (Newport Beach, CA) advanced out of the boys’ 1000 meters preliminaries with a second place finish to the heats where he disqualified for not finishing the race. According to U.S. Speedskating coach Adam Riedy, who is with the team in Romania, Simon was in a qualifying position with three laps to go when he was cross tracked and pushed to the inside. As a result of the incident, Simon fell through the turn, missing the first three blocks. He did not go back through them, which gave him the ‘did not finish’ status.
J.R. Celski (Federal Way, WA) advanced to the quarter-finals where he fell and hit the boards.
Ryan Bedford (Midland, MI) advanced to the semifinals where he finished third, one spot shy of the qualifying position. His time was 1:30.435.
In the boys’ 1500 meters super final, Celski was the lone U.S. skater and finished sixth in 2:25.510. No U.S. girls skated the 1500 meters super final.
In the girls’ 2000 meters relay, team USA (Wilson, Gehring, Reutter) finished fourth in their semifinal heat in 3:04.928. They did not advance to the finals.
“All in all, this was a superb competition for our skaters,” Riedy said. “The level of skating maturity and confidence these skaters demonstrated earmarks them for even greater success.”
RESULTS:
Girls’ 1000m:
1. E. Jung KOR 1:33.494; 2. J. Choi KOR 1:34.484; 3. Y. Zhou CHN 1:42.651; 4. S. Park KOR DQ
Americans: 12. C. Wilson; 27. L. Gehring; 41. K. Reutter
Boys’ 1000m:
1. M. Chataignier FRA 1:28.932; 2. J. Lee KOR 1:29.092; 3. F. Hamelin CAN 1:29.405; 4. J. Kim KOR DQ
Americans: 5. R. Bedford; 17. J. Celski; 33. J. Simon
Girls’ 1500m Super Final:
1. Y. Zhou CHN 2:28.361; 2. J. Choi KOR 2:28.714; 3. E. Jung KOR 2:28.827; 4. A. Fontana ITA 2:29.261; 5. J. Gregg CAN 2:36.489; 6. L. Kang CHN 2:55.851
Boys’ 1500m Super Final:
1. J. Lee KOR 2:24.075; 2. J. Kim KOR 2:24.247; 3. M. Chataignier FRA 2:24.337; 4. F. Hamelin CAN 2:24.407; 5. R. Seifert GER 2:25.471; 6. J. Celski USA 2:25.510; 7. D. Kulesza POL 2:26.610; 8. T. Sun CHN 2:27.417
Girls’ 2000m Relay:
1. CHN 2:55.124; 3. KOR 2:55.439; 3. HUN 3:00.872; 4. CAN 3:01.149
Americans: 8. USA
Boys’ 2000m Relay:
1. FRA 2:49.038; 2. CAN 2:49.501; 3. RUS 2:49.615; 4. NED 2:50.811
Americans: 21. USA (Bedford, Celski, Simon)
Girls’ Overall:
1. E. Jung KOR; 2. J. Choi KOR; 3. Y. Zhou CHN; 4. A. Fontana ITA; 5. J. Gregg CAN; 6. L. Kang CHN
Americans: 16. C. Wilson; 35. K. Reutter; 40. L. Gehring
Boys’ Overall:
1. J. Lee KOR; 2. M. Chataignier FRA; 3. J. Kim KOR; 4. R. Seifert GER; 5. S. Lee KOR; 6. D. Kulesza POL
Americans: 8. J. Celski; 20. R. Bedford; 23. J. Simon
SATURDAY’S Results that were not posted:
Girls’ 500m:
1. E. Jung KOR 45.559; 2. A. Fontana ITA 45.597; 3. J. Gregg CAN 45.881; 4. E. Krievane LAT 46.007
Americans: 8. C. Wilson; 31. K. Reutter; 33. L. Gehring
Boys’ 500m:
1. R. Seifert GER 43.539; 2. D. Kulesza POL 43.655; 3. J. Celski 50.260; 4. J. Kim KOR 54.889; 5. T. Sun CHN 54.895
Americans: 6. J. Simon; 14. R. Bedford