March 8, 2010

A small contingent of Puget Sound skaters made their way to Wausau, WI., for the U.S. National Age Class Championships - Saree Han was competing in the Pony girls group, Aaron Tran skated with the Midget boys, Edwin Park participated in the Junior Mens class and Jan Zurcher, skating in the Masters 50-59 age class rounded out the group. When all was said and done on Sunday afternoon, our club had claimed a National Championship (Saree), 4 new national records (Saree) and three 2nd place overall finishes.

Saree's first event was the semi-final for the 333 m. distance. In her first race, Saree bested the national record with a time of 00:35.525 - a little more than 3/10ths of a second better than the record set last season. In the final for this distance, however, Saree found herself behind Maame Biney as she crossed the finish line. She had claimed her first medal - a silver - but she was hoping to win the overall championship and knew that she would have to skate hard in the next races to meet her goal. Next came the 500 m. distance. Saree easily qualified for the final finishing nearly 3 seconds ahead of the second place qualifier in her semi-final. In the final, Saree skated a strong race, finishing first in a time of 00:51.676. This was faster than the existing record of 00:53.530 by nearly 2 seconds. To put this in perspective, this time was faster than the 500 m. times skated in the finals by most of the Junior and Intermediate ladies - skaters aged 14 - 17 as opposed to Saree's skating age of 10. Saree and Maame were now tied in points for the overall championship. Going into the 222 m. race, Saree was nervous. However, she easily made it through the preliminary round and found herself standing on the starting line right next to Maame. The girls challenged each other in the quick 2 lap race with Saree crossing the finish line first with another gold medal, first place points and another new record (24.109 as compared to the old mark of 24.871 set by Andrea Chung last year). The final race of the competition was the 777 held on Sunday. Saree and Maame both made it to the finals. If Maame won this race, she and Saree would be tied on points but Maame would win the overall championship because of a rule that says that in the event of a tie in points, the winner of the longest distance wins the overall championship. Saree and Maame had a great race with Saree taking and holding the lead throughout the race. However, as she tired toward the end of the 6th lap, Maame came close to overtaking her. Then the bell rang signifying the girls were on their last lap. Saree dug deep and retained her lead to cross the line just 3/10s of a second ahead of Maame to claim her 3rd gold medal, her fourth record (Saree skated the distance in 01:21.791 vs. the former mark of 01:24.918) and the overall championship. Awesome job, Saree!

Aaron, coming off great success at long track nationals, was looking forward to similar results at short track nationals. There were 21 boys entered in the Midget class, so this meant skating two qualifying rounds to make it to the finals. The first distance was the 777 m. race - 7 laps around the track. Aaron made it through both the quarter finals and the semis to skate in his first final of the competition. He skated extremely well and came in second behind a skating dynamo from Virginia named Thomas Hong. Thomas, a 12 year old skater, has been skating for over 8 years and has the technique and speed of a much older skater. Aaron completed the distance in a time of 01:15.308 - a time faster than the existing record of 1:15.751 set by another skating phenom at the U.S. Short Track Nationals in 2008 - John-Henry Krueger who, this season, represented the U.S. at the World Junior Championships as a member of the Junior National team. Given that Aaron is skating times faster than John-Henry skated as a Midget boy, the skating future looks bright for Aaron. The second distance for the Midget boys was the 500 m. Aaron made it through the quarter finals but his semi-final was wrought with strange happenings. In an earlier race, when a skater fell and did not get up quickly the race was stopped. In Aaron's race, a skater fell and did not get up because his skate got caught in the protective mats covering the rink boards. A track steward went to help the stuck skater and two of the boys heard someone tell them to stop, so they slowed down. However, some of the other skaters, recognizing that the referee had not told them to stop kept racing. Aaron was now in the middle of a pack. He started to pick up speed and clashed skates with a boy beside him. He raced away to catch up and caught the pack on the next corner and made a pass into third place. Unfortunately, the boy whom he had passed fell down and Aaron was disqualified for impeding. He would not be going on to the final in this distance. The third distance for the Midget boys was 333 m. Aaron made it to the final without incident. This time, he finished very close on Thomas' heels which surprised everyone including Thomas who is used to dominating the competition. Aaron finished with a time of 00:32.125 - again, a time faster than the existing record (00:32.726) held by John-Henry Krueger. The final race was 1000 m. Off the line, Aaron and another skater clashed skates and the race was recalled to the starting line. When Aaron took off from the line, his skate blade felt funny and he was having trouble skating but he tried to put that out of his mind, accelerated and caught back up to and passed the pack. He chased Thomas for the remainder of the race. Again, the finish saw Thomas cross the line first with Aaron in 2nd place with a time of 01:47.320. Aaron claimed 3 silver medals and accumulated enough points to finish 2nd overall. In addition, his times bested national records in two of the four distances he skated. Great skating, Aaron!

Because we come from the west coast and Edwin has not competed in some of the higher profile competitions for skaters his age, Edwin was a bit of an unknown to the other skaters coming into this competition but he made his presence known with a vengenge. In the first race, the 1500 m. distance, Edwin skated in the 2nd seni-final and claimed the 3rd qualifying position. In the final, Edwin skated most of the race on the outside of the pack - sometimes close to the front, sometimes close to the back - but mostly on the outside being unable to find his way into the pack. On the last lap, it looked like Edwin was going to be out of the medals when he cranked up the gears and passed most of the pack on the outside to push his skate across the line in first place with a time of 02:30.254 - just 11/100ths of a second ahead of the second place finisher. He had a gold medal and those all important first place points. In the 500 m. distance, Edwin skated a stong race and claimed the 2nd qualifying position. Unfortunately, in the semi-final, he had a bit of bad luck. He ended up going a bit wide on the final turn and was nosed out at the finish line for the 2nd qualifying position. His best time in the two qualifying events was 00:45.796 which actually was the third fastest time for this age group in all of the rounds (including the final). Unfortunately, if you don't make it to the final, you don't get championship points. Edwin now had a bit of an uphill battle in his drive for the overall championship medal. This was important to him because the top finisher in the age group automatically gets a Category 1 classification and all of the perks (such as invitations to special training camps, a U.S. speedskating racing suit, etc.) that go with it. Edwin skated well in the next distance - the 1000 m. race - and made it to the final. Again, the skaters had a very close battle to the finish line. This time, however, it was Edwin who was inched out at the finish, missing 2nd place by 7/1000s of a second and just 1/10th of a second out of first place. However, a bronze medal was his. The final event for this age class was the grueling 3,000 m. distance - 27 laps around the track. This was skated as a super final - that is, only the top 8 skaters (or those with points), get to skate this race. Six Junior men stood at the start of the race. When the gun went off, the skaters started but V-E-R-Y slowly. Edwin led the pack at a leisurely pace for close to 9 laps and then dropped to the back of the pack. The next skater to lead followed Edwin's suit and continued with the slow pace. The race did not really start to heat up until there were about 8 laps to go. Edwin was mainly at the back of the pack. But, again, right at the end, he hiked himself into high gear and made a sweeping outside pass around all of the other skaters to claim first place in a time of 05:24.116 - just 2/10ths of a second ahead of the next skater. Edwin had his 2nd gold medal of the competition. He finished with 2 gold medals and 1 bronze medal. Unfortunately, because he did not pick up any points in the 500 m. distance and but for a finish in the 1000 m. race that was not8/1000s faster, Edwin finished in 2nd place in the overall championship points - by a mere 3 points! Edwin, you skated amazingly well. Congratulations!

Jan skated in the Masters 50-59 class which, for racing purposes, was combined with the 60-69 class featuring the phenomenal Carole Moore. The Masters skaters were relegated to skating prior to the other skaters even showing up at the rink for their warm-ups, so they were at the rink at 6:15 a.m. and finished their racing day by 9:30 a.m. The competition began with the 1000 m. distance. Jan came second to Karen Verrone with a time of 02:919 - less than 6/10ths of a second behind. While not a personal best, this was faster than Jan has skated the distance in a couple of years. It was also the 3rd fastest time posted by any of the master ladies skaters (age classes 30 through 69), so was a satisfying result. In the 777 m. distance, Jan did not keep up with Karen as well as she would have liked and finished in a time of 01:34.389. Again, not a personal best but comparable with recent results. Saturday morning saw the masters back on the ice early once again to finish out their last two distances. Jan was hoping to do well in the 500 m. but intended to focus on skating more technically well - shoulders down, hips tucked in, etc. She finished well behind Karen with a time of 01:00.716 - a bit of a disappointing time. However, again, it was the 3rd fastest time posted by any of the ladies skating in the competition. The final distance was the 1500 m. superfinal. Jan skated close to Karen for the entire race but could not find the acceleration to pass, so finished in 2nd place again with a time of 03:05.177 (a personal best) just 1/10th of a second behind and again, the 3rd fastest time of all of the ladies.. In all, Jan claimed 4 silver medals and 2nd place overall.

February 16, 2010

With the new format, it is often difficult to tell how well you are doing against your peers while you are racing. This was even more complicated by the fact that the North American Competition was combined with American Cup #3. However, Edwin was pleased with his results in Utah; and, in the end, based on samalog points, Edwin finished in 8th place overall in the Junior B boys all around group. He was the 2nd ranked U.S. skater. Nathan Tomkinson was the topped ranked U.S. skater finishing in 2nd place overall behind a Canadian skater. Places 3 through 7 all went to Canadian skaters.

In the first distance - the 500 m. - Edwin finished with the 5th fastest time of all the competitors in his group. He crossed the line in 39.48 which is a personal best time for him. He was the second fastest U.S. skater finishing just 2/100s of a second behind Luke Tweddale. The second distance of the competition was the 3000 m race. Edwin finished in 10th place overall with a time of 4:20.35. Again, he was the 2nd fastest U.S. skater with Nathan being the only U.S. skater that finished with a faster time. In the 1500 m. distance, Edwin clocked the 11th fastest time in his group - 2:03.42. This time, he was the 3rd fastest U.S. skater - Nathan and Luke placed 5th and 6th respectively. The final distance was the long and gruelling 5000 m. distance. Edwin crossed the finish line in 7:40.48 for a 9th place finish overall. Again, that time was the 2nd fastest for any U.S. skater. The only U.S. skater to finish ahead of Edwin was Nathan who posted the 2nd fastest time in the competition. Given that this is the first time that Edwin has ever skated a 5000 m. race, he had an amazing finish time.

Edwin also chose to skate the Sprint Competition (comprised of two 500 m. races and two 1000 m. races). In the first 500 m. distance and the first 1000 m. distance, Edwin finished in 4th place overall in the Junior B class with times of 00:39.48 and 01:18.44 respectively. The second time at each of the distances was a bit slower - 40.07 and 01:19.12 - but still great results after a long weekend of skating. Edwin's combined times (samalog points) placed him in 5th place overall in the sprint competition and the 2nd ranked skater for the U.S. Connor Slivocka was the top ranked American skater in this class.

Congratulations, Edwin! Well done.

February 12, 2010

Edwin Park will be the only skater from our club who will participate in the North American Long Track Age Class Speedskating Championships. The competition will be held on the Utah Olympic Oval in Salt Lake City this coming weekend. Good luck Edwin!

February 12, 2010

Jan returned home from Milwaukee and the World Master Sprints on Monday, February 8, 2010, with a second place trophy in hand and a cold/flu that would keep her down for the next several days. Feeling the effect of the cold during the races, Jan did not post the kind of times she would have liked at the event but still came out in second place in her age class behind Silvia Tessaro of Italy. Third place went to a Canadian from Ontario.

The first race was one of the 500 m. distances. Jan had the outer lane paired against Silvia. She was hoping for a good race. She and Silvia raced against each other in Calgary a couple of years ago and were very close. Unfortunately, Jan was not feeling comfortable at the start and did not get off the line very quickly. With little energy and no zip in her step, she was unable to keep pace with Silvia and finished in a time of 0:53.01 - not a great time for indoor ice. The second distance was the first of the two 1000 m. races. Jan was on the inner lane this time and paired with a much slower skater, so had no one to pace against. She crossed the finish line in 1:45.53 - well ahead of her pair but still only good enough for second place in the class (about 2 seconds - or 20 m. behind Sivia's results). On Sunday, the skaters skated the same distances again. Starting with the 500 m. (in which Jan was paired with a skater from a younger age class) Jan got off to a much better start in this race but still lacked the energy to skate well. She did manage to finish first of the pair and the time was fast enough to hold her place in her age class. She finished this second 500 m. attempt in a time of 0:52.90 - again, a 2nd place finish. Starting to be beaten down by the on-coming cold, the 2nd 1000 m. race was a disappointment - a time of 1:46.75 - again, only good enough for 2nd place and well behind the time posted by the first place finisher.

February 11, 2010

The KOMO 4 TV News story appeared last evening. If you missed it, you can see it at this link:
http://www.komonews.com/home/video/84081697.html

February 9, 2010

Look for Puget Sound Speedskaters on the KOMO 4 TV news between 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 10, 2010.

February 4, 2010

Just 4 days after returning from the U.S. National Long Track Age Class Championships, Jan will be heading back to the mid-west to participate in the Masters World Sprint races. This event attracts skaters from around the world to challenge for the title of World Sprint Champion in their age classes. At this event, which is held under ISU rules, the Masters classes are in 5 year age groups. Jan will skate in the 55-59 age group. A sprint championship involves skating 4 sprint distances - two 500 m. races and two 1000 m. races - all skated olympic style (that is, only two skaters on the ice at a time with each skater in his/her own lane). The winner of the world championship is the skater with the lowest total time for all 4 distances.

February 3, 2010

Puget Sound claims 3 National Championships, three second places, a 3rd place and a 4th place. On his way to winning the championship, Aaron set 4 new National records for his age class; Saree set new records for Pony girls in all 5 distances! Congratulations skaters and thank you Coach Lee for all your effort to help us hone our long-track skills.

Saree Han dominated the Pony girls class, winning every distance by a wide margin. In most of the races, Puget Sound skater, Allie DiNardo crossed the line in second place. Starting with the 500 m. distance, Saree crossed the line in a blistering time of 0:50.790 - claiming her first national record. Allie was second with a time of 54.530 - about 1.5 seconds ahead of the 3rd place finisher. The second distance for this age group was the shortest one - 1/2 lap or 200 m. Saree hit the finish line first with a time of 0:21.752 - a second National record went to Saree; Allie crossed in 2nd place in a time of 0:23.840 - about 1 second in front of the 3rd place finisher. The third distance was the 400 m. race - 1 time around the track. Once again, Saree dominated the field, claiming another record in a time of 0:42.017. Allie was 2nd with a time of 0:45.240 - again a full second ahead of the 3rd place finisher. The 4th distance was the 300 m. sprint. Saree finished in 1st with a record breaking time of 0:30.930. This time, however, Allie was nosed out of 2nd place by a skater from the Badger club. Allie finished in 3rd place with a time of 0:34.790 - just 8/100s of a second behind. The final race was the longest for the Ponies - 600 m. Again, Saree showed her great speed finishing in 1st place with a time of 1:02.610. For Allie, the race was a disaster, she fell in the 2nd corner and slid into the mats. With tears of frustration and disappointment streaming her face, she got up and finished the race in 6th place. She was devasted thinking that she had lost her 2nd place overall finish. But, when the points were totalled up, she finished in 2nd place overall. Saree claimed the championship medal for the Pony Girls class for 2010 and 5 gold medals. Allie came away with 3 silver medals and a bronze. Well done, girls!

Kai DiNardo was our only entry in the Pony Boys class. This was a large class which meant that Kai had to skate semi-finals to qualify for the medal round in each distance. In the 500 m. race, Kai claimed a qualifying spot in the final by placing 2nd in his semi-final. In the final, he claimed the bronze medal with a time of 0:56.460. The Pony Boys tackled the shortest race next - the 200 m. Kai claimed a qualifying spot in the semi-final and moved on to the final where he finished in 5th place with a time of 0:24.560 - just 1/10th of a second out of the medals but claiming valuable points for the overall title. The last race on Saturday for the boys was the 1 lap race. Kai qualified for the final easily and finished in the final with a time of 0:46.650 to claim 4th place and an Iron medal. Going into the second day of competition, Kai was tied for 3rd place overall on points. The first race on Sunday sealed Kai's fate. In the 300 m. seni-final, he missed a qualifying position by 7/100th of a second and would not earn any points for the distance. Undiscouraged, Kai skated a great final set of races. He claimed the last qualifying position in the semi-final despite a fall and in the final came within 6/100ths of a second of the bronze medal. In the end, Kai finished in 4th place overall and took home 3 medals - 1 bronze and 2 Iron. The good news is that Kai still has another year to skate in the Pony Boys age class. He'll be ready in 2011.

One of our Midget boys - Aaron Tran - were the talk of the competition. Aaron has such amazing technique and just flew down the ice - dominating the races in every distance except one... the 500 m. which had a surprise start. Aaron was standing at the start line prior to the race but did not know that he should have his jacket off before he was called to the line. Then, to make matters worse, when he tried to get his jacket off, his glove got caught and it took him some time to get to the line. He was given a false start. Then, for reasons, unexplained, he was ordered off the start line and he had to stand and watch as the first race started without him. Isaiah was also representing our club in this semi-final and he blasted off the line to finish in 1st place in his semi-final and qualify for the final. Isaiah finished first in the 500 m. final with a time of 0:50.730 in a photo finish with two other skaters - less than 2/10s of a second separated the top 4 finishers. The situation changed greatly in the next race. Undaunted by his disqualification in the 500 m., Aaron was a boy on a mission. In the semi-final of the 400 m. race, Aaron finished nearly 4 full seconds ahead of the next finisher (Isaiah) with a record breaking time and in the final skated to first place and a National record in a time of 0:36.429 (breaking his record from the semi-final). Spectators were agog at the technique of this kid from a short track club who had never skated on a long track prior to arriving in Roseville two days before. It was truly amazing to watch the almost perfect form. Unfortunately, Isaiah did not have a very good race and finished out of the medals in 5th place. In the 600 m. distance, Aaron and Isaiah were in the same semi-final and claimed the top 2 qualifying positions. In the final, Aaron again skated away from the pack and finished the 1.5 laps in a time of 0:54.566. Isaiah finished in 2nd place with a time of 0:58.980 - about 1/2 second ahead of the next two boys who tied for 3rd. Aaron smashed the existing record for this distance as well. The question people were asking was: If he can skate 600 m. in 0:54, how fast could he skate the 500 m. distance? At the end of the first day of racing, the Puget Sound skaters were in great positions. Even with the disqualification and earning no points in the first distance, Aaron was in 1st place on points (68) and Isaiah was second (60 points). Sunday morning started with the boys skating a semi-final in the shortest race for this age group - the 300 m. This time, Aaron and Isaiah were in different qualifying rounds. Aaron qualified in 1st position and Isaiah took the second qualifying spot in his semi-final. The final saw Aaron take the win with a time of 0:28.532 and another National Record. Unfortunately, Isaiah finished in last spot in the final although he was close - there was only about a total of one second between the 2nd and 6th place finish. In the final race - the 800 m., Aaron continued his record smashing ways. Both Aaron and Isaiah made it through the preliminary rounds and stood on the start line of the final together. As in the other races, Aaron took off and dominated the track. He finished in a record breaking time of 1:14.089 - a full 5 seconds ahead of 2nd place. Isaiah took the bronze medal in a time of 01:19.660 - missing silver by just 3/10ths of a second. Had he been able to finish 2nd in this race, he would have finished in 2nd place overall behind Aaron. In the end, Aaron claimed 4 gold medals, 4 National records and the overall National Championship for Midget Boys. Isaiah took home 1 gold medal, 1 silver and 1 bronze and a 3rd place finish overall. Good job!

This year, Clare Jeong moved up to the Juvenile Girls class. Unfortunately, there were not a lot of challengers in this class this year, so the girls only got to skate each distance once and it was a final - which meant no room for error. The Juvenile girls skate 5 distances - 500 m., 800 m., 1000 m., 300 m. and 1500 m. In each event, Clare led for most of the race while Shelby Comeau drafted behind her and then pulled out after the last corner for the pass. In each case, these two girls had very close finishes and were well ahead of the rest of the pack. In the 500 m. race, Clare finished with a time of 0;48.440 - 4/100s of a second behind Shelby. In the 800 m. distance, the margin was about the same - Clare finished in 1:21.820 to Shelby's 1:21.767. In the 1000 m., Clare led most of the way and finished in a time of 1:34.780. This time Shelby crossed the line about 6/10ths of a second ahead. In the 300 m. race, Clare crossed the line just after Shelby in a time of 0:29.770. The frustration continued in the final race as Clare led for much of the 1500 m. distance but could not hold Shelby off in the end. She finished with a time of 2:31.340. Despite her disappointment, Clare skated very strong races and finished in 2nd place in the country claiming 5 silver medals AND she has another year to skate in this age class. Congratulations, Clare. This was a great finish.

Edwin Park skates in the Junior boys class this year. Again, the number of participants was small, so there were only finals in each distance. Edwin's experience was much like Clare's - at the end of each race, he found himself in 2nd place behind Nathan Tomkinson. The first race was the 1000 m. Edwin finished in 2nd place with a strong time of 1:26.880 - 1/100th of a second behind Nathan. The 800 m. race was also a close finish with Nathan just edging out the win. Edwin finished with a time of 1:10.540. Next came the the 1500 m. race. Again, Nathan crossed the line just in front of Edwin who finished with a time of 2:28.250 - about 3/10ths of a second after Nathan. by the end of the day, Edwin had a lock on 2nd place but he was frustrated with not being about to take a win. On Sunday morning, he was determined to change that. When the gun went off at the start of the 500 m. race, Edwin took advantage of his strong start and surged into the lead. At the finish line, he was still in front and took his first gold medal of the competition completing the 1 and 1/4 laps in 0:42.930 with Nathan about 1 second behind. The final race for the Junior Boys is a 3000 m. distance - 7.5 laps around the track. The wind was picking up and Edwin did not have the experience to keep up with Nathan. He finished well back but still in 2nd place with a time of 4:44.710. In all, Edwin brought home 1 gold medal (500 m.) and 4 silver medals and was 2nd in the country for his age class.

Jan skated in the Masters III class (ages 50-59) which turned out to be the most hotly contested class of all the masters (and of much of the competition). Jan was just glad to be able to skate at all. After the Wednesday night practice, she suffered a severe muscle cramp in her left leg which remained painful to the touch through all of Friday. However, by Saturday, although it was touchy, she was able to skate. Because there were very few masters ladies, the Masters II class and the Masters IV class were combined with Jan's class for the races. The first race was the 1000 m. distance and Jan made a tactical error by leading more of the distance than she should have and waiting too late for the final move to pass. As a result, she finished in 2nd place with a time of 1:50.02 - about 12/100ths of a second behind. So close that neither skater knew who had won. The 800 m. distance was next with Jan taking first place in a time of 1:25.03. Surprisingly, the time margin was another 12/100ths of a second. The third race of the day was the first of two 1500 m. This race was won by a strong skater from the East Coast. Unfortunately, Jan finished in 3rd place with a time of 2:44.850. The points were close. Each of the top 3 skaters had 1 win. In the other two races, Jan had a 2nd and 3rd; Karen had two 2nds; and, Kathy had two 3rds. Jan was behind Karen for top spot by 8 points. To win the Championship, Jan would have to claim at least a win in one of the final two races and a second in the other. On Sunday morning, the first race was the sprint - 500 m. Jan was ready at the start line when the gun sounded and she sped off. At the end of the race, Jan had claimed 1st place with a time of 0:53.620 - finishing about 1.5 seconds ahead of the next place finisher. Now it came down to the finish in the last race - a second crack at that 1500 m. distance. If Jan could finish 2nd or better, she would claim the championship. The start was intense. Jan pulled the first part of the race and then pulled out to let someone else lead for a bit. Luckily, she was able to pull back in in second place behind Kathy. And that's the way the race finished. Kathy finished in 1st place, Jan took second with a time of 2:51.570 and Karen was just a slim 13/100s behind for 3rd place. Jan had won the National Championship by a very slim margin indeed! Congratulations to Kathy and Karen on skating some great races. It was a lot of fun. Also, congratulations to Carole Moore who moved into the Master IV class this year and set 4 new National records for that age class.

January 29, 2010

Little did they know what they were getting into. When the skaters from the Pacific Northwest arrived at the outdoor Roseville Oval on Wednesday afternoon, they were faced with temperatures around 5 degrees Farenheit and a wind from the North. When they hit the ice for the second practice after 9:00 p.m. and the sun had gone down, it felt even colder. But they were enthusiatic and focused in their practice as they tried to adapt to the larger track.

January 26, 2010

Ice time changes:
There will be no skating practices from Wednesday, January 27, 2010, through Sunday, January 31, 2010. The next ice session will be on Tuesday, February 2, 2010. Why?

Because on Wednesday, eight skaters will head off to the colder climes of Roseville, MN, to represent the Pacific Northwest at the U.S. National Age Class Long Track Speedskating Championships. These races are skated pack style and allow the best skaters from across the country to challenge each other in a 5 distance, total points competition. Age classes for younger skaters are in two year spans and for masters, they are in 10 year spans. Saree Han and Allie DiNardo will represent us in the Pony girls class (skaters aged 10 and under); Kai DiNardo will skate in the Pony boys class. In the Midget boys, we will be represented by Aaron Tran and Isaiah Oliver. Clare Jeong will skate with the Juvenile girls - her first year in this class; and, Edwin Park will compete in the Junior boys - also his first year in the class. Rounding out our group of eight is Jan Zurcher who will skate in the Masters 50-59 class.

The group is heading out a couple of days early to give the skaters a chance to skate on a long track oval in advance of the competition. While the other skaters have participated in long track competitions in prior years, this will be the first time on the big track for both Aaron and Isaiah.

Good luck to all the skaters.

January 20, 2010

Olympics years are always good ones for our little known sport. As the interest in the Olympics and athletes from this area peaks ahead of the opening of the games, so does the drive for the media to find local interest stories. This year, the Puget Sound Speedskating Club is one of those local interest stories. KOMO 4 TV came to our club on Sunday and spent about 3 hours taking video of our practice and doing interviews with some of our skaters. The resulting story will air on KOMO 4 TV Dinner Time News sometime before the Olympics.

December 28, 2009

Our short track skates have been tucked away for the time being and the rink is filled with the "clop, clop, clop" of long track skates. Eight skaters are preparing to participate in the U.S. National Long Track Championships that will take place in Roseville, MN. at the end of January, 2010. It's a challenge to train for racing on a 400 m. oval by skating in a short track rink but Coach Lee has lots of ideas about how to help us get ready.

December 23, 2009

Just a reminder that there will be no ice time on Friday, December 25.

December 23, 2009

Merry Christmas to everyone. Our 4th Annual Puget Sound Challenge Cup races are over. A great time was had by all. Thank you parents for all the great food! Thank you to all our volunteers - timers, place judges, starter, track stewards, clerk of the course and recorders. Without your support, this event would not be possible. And, thank you to the Puget Sound Hockey Center staff for giving us great ice for this event. Many skaters skated personal bests. And, for many of our new skaters, this was their first opportunity to put their technical skills to the test in real races. You all did great!. To see your times, check out the results.

In terms of the Challenge Cup races - there was one race for the top 6 men and one race for the top 6 women. On the boys side, Puget Sound skaters swept the top 3 positions. Edwin Park took the first place cup finishing in a time of 1:38.27; Jimmy Han finished in 2nd place with a time of 1:42.20 with Aaron Tran close on his heels at 1:43.00. On the girls side, Clare Jeong won the covetted first place trophy with a time of 1:46.56. The second place cup went to Nicole Majesa of British Columbia who finished in a time of 1:49.86. Taking the 3rd place trophy was Saree Han who finished in a time of 1:57.59.

December 17, 2009

Just a reminder to skaters and parents that our annual interclub competition is this weekend. Skaters should be at the rink for registration and warm-up by noon. On ice warm-ups will begin at 12:00 noon with racing to take place between 1:00 p.m. and 4:20 p.m. The awards ceremony will follow in the upstairs room at the rink about 30 minutes after the final race is completed and mats have been removed from the ice and stacked.

December 5, 2009

Just a reminder to skaters to get their registrations in for the 4th Annual Puget Sound Challenge Cup. This is a fun event with lots of racing, food and prizes!

November 24, 2009

Only two of our skaters - Edwin Park and Saree Han - went north to Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, this past weekend to participate in the POCO Interclub Meet being held there in conjunction with their B.C. Winter Games qualifier races. Edwin finished as the top ranked male skater amongst a strong group of about 35 Juvenile, Junior and Intermediate skaters. The first race was a 777 m. distance. Edwin crossed the line in fourth place with a time of 1:13.23 - a fast time but not the result he was looking for in terms of place. The second event was the 1000 m. race and Edwin was very happy with his first place finish in a personal best time of 1:31.97. Next came the short sprint - the 500 m. race. Edwin excels in this distance because of his very fast, strong starts. He finished the race in first place with a time of 45.65 - a personal best by nearly 1 second. The last race was the longest - 13.5 laps - and while Edwin won the distance, there was some confusion in the timer's box and none of the skaters in his heat received their times for this race.

Saree Han also had a great competition. Although she skates as a Pony in the U.S. (that is, with skaters aged 10 years and under), at this competition, she skated with skaters ranging in age from 10 to 17). After all the races were finished, Saree was the 4th fastest girl in the competition - only 3 Intermediate skaters (ages 16-17) were ranked higher than she was. Saree finished the 777 m. distance in 1:27.11. To put this in perspective, the next fastest girl in her age class clocked in at 1:31.90. Had they been in the same race, Saree would have been about 1/2 lap ahead in a 7 lap race. In the 1000 m. race (a distance not typically skated by skaters Saree's age), her skate crossed the line in 1:50.68 - the third fastest time for all of the girls in the competition and less than 3/10s of a second behind a 17-year old boy. Michelle Moreira, a 17 year old skater had the fastest time with a clocking of 1:47.98. The 500 m. distance was next and Saree had a somewhat disappointing time of 0:55.09 - no where near her personal best of 52.00. The final distance for Saree's group was another 1000 m. race. Again, Saree posted a great time with 1:52.26.

Congratulations to these two skaters on their great performance and attaining new personal bests.

October 20, 2009

• Mark your calendar! The 4th Annual Puget Sound Challenge Cup Competition is scheduled to take place on Sunday, December 20, 2009.

October 20, 2009

• Seven Puget Sound skaters - Clare, Edwin, Jimmy, Aaron, Isaiah, Saree and Jan - attended the first short track races of the season sponsored by the B.C. Speedskating Association. This event was billed as an Age Class sprint event, gender separated and was meant to allow skaters to obtain early season times to use as qualifying times for other meets this season. Over 125 skaters from all over the greater Vancouver area came togerther in Mission, B.C. for this competion. Clare, Edwin, Jimmy and Aaron skated in the Juvenile (12 years) and up class. While Saree and Isaiah were our representatives in the Midget (11 years) and younger class. Jan skated with the Masters. The competition was well run and a lot of fun. We hope that we will have the opportunity to attend some other competitions as a group this season. For complete results, see the meet protocol.

Although only a first year Juvenile in the U.S., Clare is a second year Juvenile skater in Canada. In the first 1000 meter race, Clare skated in the second group and led the pack out to a very fast time. She ended up finishing second in the race with a time of 1:44.49. This was the second fastest time for the 1000 meter distance posted by any of the girls in the competition. Here next race was a 500 m. sprint. She fiinshed in 1st place in her group posting a time of 00:51.13 which was the fastest time for any of the Juvenile aged girls (12 and 13) and the 7th fastest time overall. In the second 500 m. race of the day, Clare skated a great race and made an excellent inside pass. Unfortunately, she was ruled to have cross-tracked and was disqualified. Unofficially, her time was 00:50.22. In the final race of the day, another 1000 m. distance, she fell early in the race. In all, she finished in 10th place o f the 31 girls skating in the division.

Edwin, in Canada, is a second year Junior. He skated with a very fast and competitive group of young skaters. Unfortunately, his competition did not get off to a great start. Although, based on his seed time, he started in the top group of male skaters, he fell in the first 1000 m. distance with just 2 laps to go and then again in the first 500 m. distance. This left him sitting low in the overall rankings. However, in the 10000 m. up to the time of the fall, he was skating very strong and consistent laps; and, in the 500 m. distance, he had a 12.5 second opening lap - very fast. In the second 500 m. race of the day, the now disappointed Edwin skated a relatively slow (for him) race finishing first in his group with a time of 00:40.67. In the final 1000 m. race, he finished in 1st palce in his group with a time of 1:40.36 which turned out to be the 3rd fastest time of all the skaters and the 2nd place time amongst Junior aged skaters.

Jimmy and Aaron skated in the same division as Edwin. Jimmy had some great races. In the first 1000 m. distance, he finished with a personal best of 1:42.61 taking 1st spot in his group (and the 2nd fastest Juvenile overall for the distance). In the first 500 m. race, Jimmy clocked in at 00:50.15; in the second, he crossed the finish line in a slightly faster time of 00:50.09. In the last distance, the second 1000 m. race of the day, he finished just behind Edwin with a time of 1:43.29. This was the fastest time posted by any Juvenile aged skater in the second 1000. Jimmy finished in 12th place overall for all the boys aged 12 to 19.

Aaron was close on Jimmy's heels in each of the races as both boys skated in the same group throughout the competition. In the first 1000 m. distance, Aaron finished in a time of 1:42.80. This was the 3rd fasted time posted by any Juvenile skater which is a great result considering that, in the U.S. Aaron is still classified as a Midget skater. In the two 500 m. races, Aaron clocked in at the exact same time - 00:50.22 - just 10ths of a second behind Jimmy. Again, this was the 3rd fastest time amongst the Juvenile boys. In the final 1000 m. distance, Aaron had a disappointing fall. He ended up in 14th place overall for the division.

Saree, skating in the Midget girls class, dominated the ice. In the first race of the day - the 333 m. distance - Saree skated to a half lap lead finishing with a time of 00:36.06 (with the second lap timed at 10.96 seconds - very fast for a 10 year old skater) - a full 6.5 seconds faster than the 2nd place finisher. This was repeated again in the second 333 m. race in which Saree clocked a time of 00:36.51. The next two distances were both 500 metre races. Saree won both - the first in a time of 00:55.77, the second with a time of 00:56.33. Each race, she was nearly 10 seconds ahead of the second place finisher.

Isaiah skated with the Midget boys. In the first 333 m. race, he was leading when he stumbled just before the finish line, fell head first across the line and ended up with a second place finish. It's when the skates cross that counts. His time turned out to be 00:38.09. In the second 333 m. distance, he finished in first place in the first group clocking the fastest time for all the boys at 36.89. In the first 500 m. distance, he finished in 3rd place with a time of 00:55.35 (a virtual tie with the second place finisher). In the final distance of the day - another 500 m. race - Isaiah fell. However, despite the 2 falls, he finished in 5th place amongst the 33 competitors in his division.

Jan also had a bit of a disappointing competition. First, there were no other Masters ladies entered in the competition, so she had to skate with 6 Master men. In the first 777 m. distance, she found herself without a lot of energy and ended up with a quite slow time of 1:37.33 - although it was good enough for second place. The next race was a 500 m. distance which she finished in 1:01.52 - about 2 seconds off her personal best set last December at North Americans. The second 500 m. was better. The leader fell with just 1.5 laps to go and Jan won the distance with a time of 1:00.90. In the final 777 m. distance, all of the skaters were placed in the same heat and it was difficult to skate around the slower skaters who were skating side by side across the ice on the straight aways, some of whom were lapped twice. As a result the time for the second attempt at this distance was even slower than the first - 1:38.26.

September 15, 2009

• Ice times for the coming season will be changing. The Tuesday sessions will be focused on our beginning skaters. Starting the first weekend in October, we will be giving up our first ice session and starting an extended second session. Ice time on Sunday will now run from 2:20 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. with dryland to follow.

August 30, 2009

• Clare Jeong has returned from her skating summer in South Korea looking trim, fit and very grown up. She has also grown in her skating skills after spending all summer with some of the best young skaters in South Korea. We are very glad to have her back in the fold. On a disappointing note, Julia and Kevin Nam have decided not to return to skating this fall. Kevin is pursuing swimming and tennis while Julia is taking a break from the rigours of athletic training. They will both be missed.

July 15, 2009

• The Puget Sound Club is pleased to welcome its newest skaters: Rebecca, Rachael, Jane, Jessie, Josh and Shawn. Coach Lee will be working with these beginner skaters over the summer as we all prepare for a new skating season.

June 30, 2009

• Ice sessions are going to be a bit empty over the course of the next 2 months as several of our best skaters head off to spend all or part of the summer skating in South Korea. Clare will be gone for all of July and August skating twice a day, 6 dfays a week with a strong club of young skaters. Jimmy and Saree will spend the month of July with a club in South Korea that spends about 8 to 9 hours per day training. Julia and Kevin will be travelling to South Korea with their mother this July and Edwin will be going to South Korean to study for the SAT and will skate a couple of times per week with the same club Clare will be visiting.

May 3, 2009

• The summer training season is about to move into full swing. Starting in May, Tuesday skating sessions will recommence. Ice time is from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. with dryland to follow. In addition, this season, starting in May, Coach Lee will be running time trials and practice races during the second ice session on the last Sunday of each month. The purpose for this is to give the skaters more opportunity to skate in "race-like" situations. For many, the lack of race experience impacted their results at the U.S. Nationals.

March 14, 2009

• Although no National Championships were won, Puget Sound skaters did very well at the U.S. Shhort Track Age Class Nationals. We all want to thank Coach Lee for his tireless efforts getting us ready for this competition.
• Day 1 saw Saree compete in the 500 m. distance for the Pony Girls.  There were 17 competitors in this age class, so to make it to the medal round required winning a qualifying position in both the quarter-finals and the semi-finals.  Saree skated in the first quarter-final and finished easily in 2nd place to move on to the second round.  In the semi-final, Saree skated in the first heat which turned out to be a very fast one.  Four out of the five skaters skated the distance faster than the 1st place finisher in the second semi-final heat.  Unfortunately, although she skated a time of 00:54.389, Saree missed qualifying for the final.  On Saturday, the Ponies skated their 333 m. distance and the preliminary rounds for their shortest distance – the 222 m. race.  In the 333 m., Saree easily qualified for the semi-finals by taking 2nd.  In the semi-final, Saree also placed 2nd to move into the medal round.  The final was a very close race in which 2nd and 3rd were actually credited with the exact same time of 00:36.548.  Saree finished in 5th place with a time of 00:36.819 – less than 3/10th of a second behind.  The 222 m. race was not so successful, Saree took a spill during the quarter-final and did not move on.  On Sunday, Saree’s only race was the longest distance – the 777 m.  She skated a great time in her semi-final – 01:28.736 – but missed qualifying for the final by about ½ of a second.  Overall, Saree took home 1 Iron medal and finished the competition in 7th place but she still has another year to skate in this class.
• The Pony Boys class was very large – 29 skaters in all.  Seoul was in the last of the 5 quarter-final heats.  He was skating a very good race when he fell on a corner and went sliding into the mats.  Wet and disappointed, his first day of competition was over early.  On Saturday, Seoul skated the 333 m. distance first.  Anxious to do well after the disappointment from Friday, Seoul was nervous and was skating too forward on his toes.  Unfortunately, this caused him to fall during the race and he did not move on to the second round.  Hoping to redeem himself in the next race, Seoul was over anxious on the line.  He fell right off the start.  Often when this happens, the starter will stop the race and restart it.  However, he did not do that in this case.  Amazingly, Seoul got up, got going again and skated two absolutely amazing laps to basically catch the pack by the finish line.  Even with the fall, he finished the race with a time of 00:28.702.  If you allowed just 5 seconds for the fall, Seoul actually skated his two laps faster than the fastest time skated for the distance – 00:24.713.  The coaches in the coaches’ box commented on their  amazement at the skill, speed and determination that Seoul showed in coming back in this race.  Perhaps small consolation to a disappointed 11 year old but a great skate  nonetheless!  On Sunday, Seoul was a “boy with a mission” – he was going to qualify for the next round of the last distance – the 777 m. and he did.  The race was close at the line with just 6/100th of a second separating 1st, 2nd and 3rd.  Seoul finished in qualifying position to skate in the semi-final for the distance.  In the semi-final, Seoul skated a strong race to finish in a time of 01:26.912 – two seconds faster than in the quarter final.  Unfortunately, although his time was faster than even the 1st place time in the second semi-final, he finished in 4th place in his semi-final (by a mere 14/100th of a second) and only the top 3 moved on.  However, he did post the 4th fastest time of any skater in his class in any round for this distance.  Congratulations, Seoul, on a great race.
• The Midget Ladies class was slightly smaller with a total of 14 skaters but they too had to skate two rounds prior to the finals.  Clare was our team member in this class.  The first race was the 777 m.   Clare easily qualified for the semi-finals.  The semi-final was a more challenging race for Clare and though she did claim a qualifying position, the finish was very close between her and the third place skater.  Clare skated a smart race in the final, staying out of trouble when two skaters collided and went sliding towards the mats.  She finished in second place with a time of 01:20.143 claiming a Silver medal and the all important 2nd place points.   On Saturday, Clare skated in the 2nd quarter-final heat for the 500 m. distance and finished in the 2nd qualifying position with a relatively leisurely pace.  The semi-finals were a bit more challenging with Clare finishing in 4th place in her heat with a time of 00:51.782 – just missing qualifying for the final by 9/100th of a second.  The girls also skated the preliminary rounds for their shortest distance – the 333 m.  Clare finished second in her quarter-final and 3rd in her semi-final, claiming a spot in the final by being the fastest 3rd place finisher of the two semi-final heats.  In the final, Clare found herself boxed in on the inside and was unable to make the pass, so finished in 5th place with a time of 00:35.358 – only 5/10th of a second behind 1st place.  Clare’s final distance was the 1000 m. race.  Clare prefers distance races, so was anticipating a good result.  Clare finished first in her semi-final with a time of 01:49.874.  In the final, she bettered that time to 01:44.761 – less than 6/100th of a second behind 3rd - to claim a 4th place finish, another Iron medal and points towards the overall championship.  Overall, Clare won a Silver medal, an Iron medal and placed 5th in the 333 to finish in 5th place in total points.
• Aaron participated in the Midget Boys class which had a total of 22 skaters competing.  Aaron had an easy skate in the quarter finals easily moving on to the next round.  The semi-final was more of a challenge and Aaron ended up getting boxed in by the pack.  He finished in 4th place out of a qualifying position (by 15/100th of a second) with a time of 01:19.738.  On Saturday, Aaron also skated the 500 m. distance.  He easily skated to a qualifying position in the quarter-final with a time of 00:50.921.  Unfortunately, the semi-final was not so successful.  Aaron fell on a corner about halfway through the race.  He was slow getting up and holding his leg.  After the race, we found that his blade had scraped off a strip of skin on his leg about ½ inch wide and 7 inches long.  Fortunately, there was no actual cut – just the scrape and some bruising.  With his skin suit taped together, Aaron was ready to show his stuff in the final race of the day – the first qualifying round for the 333 m. distance.  Aaron was in the first quarter-final and easily claimed a qualifying position, as he did in the semi-final.  The final was a challenge and Aaron had a hard time finding a lane in which he could pass.  He ended up in 4th with a time of 00:34.027 and won an Iron medal for the distance.  In the final race, in the quarter-final, two of the boys fell early in the race and Aaron coasted to an easy finish in a qualifying position.  In the semi-final heat, Aaron was in the 2nd qualifying position when he made a risky pass going into the final corner.  We were all concerned about whether there would be an impeding call but the referee judged the pass to be clean and Aaron moved on to the final.  Aaron was anxious to claim another medal and so, took the lead as early as he could and finished well ahead of the pack to claim a gold medal in a time of 01:41.404.  Overall, Aaron finished the competition with an Iron medal and a Gold medal and was tied for 3rd in points.  This is Aaron’s first year in this age class, so he has another year to improve his overall standing as a Midget Boy.
• Julie skated in the Juvenile Girls class along with 15 other skaters.  Julia easily skated to a qualifying position in the 1000 m. quarter finals.  The semi-final was much more of a nail biter.  Julia finished in 3rd place in her semi-final heat.  Only the top two skaters from each heat plus the next fastest skater from either of the semi-final heats would qualify for the final.  Fortunately, Julia’s heat was the faster of the two and Julia’s time turned out to be faster than the 1st place time in the second semi-final heat.  She was going on to the final!  The final was a very close race with less than a second separating the top 4 skaters.  Julia crossed the line in 4th with a time of 01:42.576 – about 1/10th of second behind the 3rd place finisher.  This did, however, earn her an Iron medal and 4th place points towards the overall title.  Julia’s first race on Saturday was the quarter-final in the 777 m. distance. She qualified in first position in her heat to move on to the semi-finals.  Unfortunately, in the semi-final, Julia finished in the third spot and only 2 skaters would move on to the final.  Her time of 01:19.165 was just 11/100th of a second slower than the second place finisher.  In the quarter final rounds for the 500 m., Julia qualified in the second place position in another close finish.  Colby was close behind crossing the line just 1/10th of a second later.  The semi-final was a hard-fought race.  Only two people from each semi-final would move on to the final.  Julia skated a great race finishing in a time of 00:49.960 – her first sub-50 second time in this distance.  Unfortunately, even though this was faster than the winning time in the second semi-final and about 1/10th of a second behind the 2nd place finisher, Julia could only watch the finals from the sidelines.  The final distance for the Juvenile Girls was the grueling 1500 m. (or metric mile).  Julia finished first in her semi-final with a time of 02:49.821 – the fastest time recorded by any Juvenile Girl in the competition.  However, in the final, she made an “iffy” pass about half-way through the race and was disqualified for impeding finishing with no time and no points.  Overall, Julia won an Iron medal and finished in a tie for 5th place in total points.  She, too, is a first year skater in her class, so this is a very good showing.
• Edwin skated the competition with a very strong group of 22 Juvenile Boys.  He skated a great first round, easily claiming the first qualifying spot for the semi-final with a time of 01:38.520.  Unfortunately, in the semi-final, he made a bad pass and was disqualified for impeding – that is, getting in the way of the skater he was trying to pass.  His first day of competition also ended with a disappointment.  In the 777 m. race, the boys had to skate an extra round of preliminaries.  Edwin easily placed in the first qualifying position in his heat.  In the quarter-final, it was not so easy.  Edwin placed 3rd with a time of 01:12.532.  The only way he would move on to the next round was if his time was one of the two fastest of those who did not place either 1st or 2nd in their heats.  Fortunately, Edwin’s heat was the fastest of any of the others and Edwin claimed the next qualifying position by 2 seconds.  Unfortunately, in the semi-final, Edwin fell.  He was slow getting up and was nursing the knee that he had hurt at practice just the week before Nationals.  As he slowly finished his race, another skater, who had already finished, inadvertently skated onto the track into Edwin’s path.  Both skaters went down hard.  Once again, Edwin had to pick himself up, restart and cross the finish line.  By the time the heats for the 500 m. distance came around, however, Edwin was ready.  He won his heat easily with a time of 00:48.136.  In the quarter-final rounds, he skated his fastest lap ever – a 9.6 second lap – and finished with a time of 00:46.977 – the second fastest time of any Juvenile Boy in any round for that distance.  Edwin moved on from the semi-final to move on to his first final of the competition.  On Sunday, he finished in 2nd place with a time of 00:47.436 to claim a Silver medal.  He was also hoping for good results in the 1500, the final race of the competition.  In the quarter-final, he and his heat mates skated a comparatively fast time.  Edwin finished with a time of 02:35.398 in the 3rd qualifying position.  In the semi-final, however, he was skating strong and was about to pass the 3rd place skater (only the top 3 moved on) when they clicked skates and both boys went down.  Edwin was disqualified as a result.  Overall, Edwin won a Silver medal in the 500 m., skated the 2nd fastest time of any Juvenile Boy in any of the rounds in the 500 m. distance and finished tied for 5th place on total points.
• Jan started her competition with a really bad cold.  The Masters skaters competed early in the morning on Friday and Saturday, completing two distances a day.  The first race was the 1000 m. distance.  This is one of Jan’s favorite distances.  She got off to a great start and led the pack for the first few laps.  Carole Moore passed her with a few laps to go but Jan decided to try to skate a tight track to force Karen to have to make the harder outside pass.  This tactic worked and Jan finished in 2nd place with a time of 02:01.273 – just 2/10th of a second ahead of the third place finisher.  While not a particularly fast time for Jan, it was the 2nd fastest time posted by any of the Master Ladies skaters from any of the age groups (30+).  The 500 m., the second distance raced on Friday turned out to be a bit of a disappointment.  Jan did not get a good start this time and ended up in third.  She was very close to the second place skater throughout the race and was planning an inside pass on the exit corner to the finish line.  Unfortunately, she slipped going into the second last corner, ended up going wide exiting the corner and was unable to make up the distance for the pass.  She ended up in 3rd place by 3/10th of a second with a time of 01:00.176 (again not a personal best time).  On Saturday, with the cold even worse and Jan wondering if she would even be able to finish the races, she went to the line for the 777 m. distance.  Again, she got off the line first and led the pack for a couple of laps.  Carole went by with about 4 laps to go but Jan managed to stay ahead of Karen for the remainder of the race.  She finished in 2nd place with a time of 01:32.655 (a personal best) – just 5/1000s of a second ahead of Karen.  The 1500 m. was the final distance.  Jan led the first 7 laps when both Carole and Karen went by.  Jan did not have the energy to move up and finished in 3rd place with a time of 03:08.992 (about 3 seconds slower than her personal best but a time consistent with the past couple of seasons and the 5th fastest time of all Master Ladies skaters.  Overall, Jan finished with 2 Silver medals;  2 Bronze medals and tied for 2nd place overall on points.  Carole Moore won the overall championship winning every race in the Master III Ladies class.

March 9, 2009

• Seven Puget Sound skaters will participate in the U.S. National Short Track Age Class Championships in Midland, MI. On the boys side, Seoul will skate with the Ponies, Aaron will participate in the Midget class and Edwin will skate in the Juvenile class. We have a girl participating in each of these age classes as well - Saree (Ponies), Clare (Midget) and Julia (Juvenile). Jan rounds out the group and will be skating in the Master III Ladies class. Missing will be David, who is still suffering from a knee problem and Jimmy, who broke his wrist at the practise on Friday afternoon after stepping on a puck and sliding into the boards.

February 23, 2009

• This past weekend saw the completion of the 2nd Masters International Canadian Open Long Track Championships. While, again, the registration levels were not as high as organizers had hoped, 24 women and 66 men vied for one of the coveted top 3 overall spots in their age classes. Jan skated in the 50 - 54 class which had the largest number of ladies competing. Saturday began with the 500 m. distance. Jan skated one of her fastest opening times all season (00:13.43) but finished with an overall time of 00:51.340. This was the 7th fastest time overall for the ladies and the fastest in her age class. The second distance skated on Saturday for the ladies was the 1500 m. race. Jan was paired up with Keltie Ross (35 - 39 class) and they finished close to each other. Keltie appeared to have taken the win but it turned out that Keltie changed lanes on the home stretch instead of the back stretch and skated an extra inner corner (a shortened distance) which resulted in her being disqualified. Jan finished in 6th place overall with her best time of the season for the 1500 m. - 02:37.61. This time was the fastest time posted by anyone in her age class, so she added to her lead in the overall points.
• Sunday morning began with the 1000 m. race. Jan was hoping for a good time but did not have a good pairing to challenge her and was feeling tired so ended up finishing the distance in a time of 01:43.40. A bit faster than her finish in Milwaukee but not what she was hoping for. It was, however, good enough for a 7th place overall finish and first place in her age class. The final official race of the competiton was the 3000 m. event. Jan did not have a close pairing and skated a somewhat slow time of 05:42.95. This was the 7th fastest time and the second fastest time in her age grouping. However, it was good enough to maintain her lead in the overall points. The final race of the day was a demonstration 100 m. event. Jan skated a time of 00:13.63 - slightly slower than her opener in the 500 m. the day before. In the 50 - 54 age class, Kathy Kealey claimed the bronze medal; Lyse Fournier from Quebec took the silver and Jan won the gold. Now, it's back to short track skates and prepartion for the National Short Track Competition scheduled to take place in Midland, Michigan, in the middle of March.

February 16, 2009

• Jan attended the 2009 Masters International All Around Long Track Championships in Milwaukee over the weekend - skating in the Masters 50 - 54 class.. Although attendance was down significantly from previous years, those who skated had a great time. This is one of the best competitions of the season because it offers lots of racing in a short period of time. Saturday morning races began at 8:00 a.m. with a 500 metre time trial followed by a 1000 metre time trial. Jan was paired with a somewhat slower skater in the 500 m. distance and ended up with a time of 00:51.61. In the 1000 metre race, she was paired with a much faster skater and was hoping to finish with a good time but ended up with a very slow time of 01:44.39.
• After the time trials the pack style races began. Since the meet was short of volunteers, there were no times kept for the pack style races. The pack style distances included a 300 m., 500 m., 800 m., 1000 m., 1500 m., 3000 m and a "fun" 5000 metre race. Two pack distances were skated on Saturday with the remaining five skated on Sunday between 8:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Jan won each distance with Donna Eckert following close behind. The 3000 m. distance was a fun race - all of the ladies were combined with the two men skating in the 40 to 49 age class. Suzy Osum (Masters 45-49) finished in first and Jan skated to a very close third place finish just behind one of the guys. Her unofficial time for the race was 05:20. As a result of winning all of the individual distances, Jan was declared the overall champion and awarded the gold medallion. Donna Eckert was second and Mary MacDonald finished in third place overall.

February 10, 2009

• Under the rules followed by Speedskating Canada, only two of our skaters were old enough to skate at the North American Long Track competition held in Calgary, Alberta, this past weekend. These are now single distance events, so the skaters can choose in which distances they will compete and how many events in total they will skate. Julia and Edwin both skated in the Juvenile C category. On Friday, Julia skated the 500 m. distance finishing in a personal best time of 00:44.00. This placed her 37th amongst the 62 Junior aged competitors (that is, skaters aged 13 to 19) in the distance. The second distance of the day was the 1500 m. event which Julia completed in 02:18.12 - another personal best by about 6 seconds - for a 45th place finish amongst the 59 skaters who tried this distance.. On Friday, the Junior Men skated three distances. In the 500 m. event, Edwin clocked a time of 00:40.63 - a personal best and very close to his pre-competition target time of 00:40.00. This placed Edwin 52 in a field of 72 skaters. Next, the men skated the 1000 m. race. Only 39 Juniors participated in this event. Edwin completed the distance in 01:24.38 - a time consistent with his finish at Nationals last weekend. The final race of the day for Edwin was the 3000. He finished the 7.5 lap event in 04:36.50 - a great time for his first ever 3000 m. race in competition.
• On Saturday, the Junior Ladies began with the 1000 m. distance. Julia finished in a time of 01:29.34 - about 6 seconds faster than her time at North Americans last season. The Junior Ladies also skated the 3000 m. distance on Saturday but Julia was not registered for that event, so her day was done after the 1000 m. and she could cheer on Edwin and the other U.S. Junior C skaters. Edwin's skating day started with the 1500 m. race and a disappointment. He ended up being disqualified in the distance and so got no time. The second distance for the Junior Men on Saturday was the gruelling 5000 m. race. Edwin was not registered to skate in this distance, so his day ended early as well.
• On Sunday, Julia was in the 8th pairing for the second of the 1000 m. races. She completed the race with a time of 01:30.82 - just slightly slower than her time from the day before. She also skated the second 500 m. race as part of the 15th pair and finished in a time of 00:44.63 - again, just a bit slower than her initial time of Friday. Edwin skated in the 18th pairing in the second of the 1000 m. races. His time was 01:22.10 - 2 full seconds faster than his first attempt at this distance on Friday. He also competed in the second of the 500 m. races finishing with a time of 00:41.25.
• Overall results split by age class are not available to date.

February 2, 2009

• Puget sound skaters returned home late Sunday night - tired but victorious. Julia Nam and Jan Zurcher claimed the overall Championship Medallion in their respective age classes (Junior C Girls and Master III Ladies). Saree Han and Ally DiNardo finished 2nd and 3rd in the Pony girls class overall based on points gathered over the course of 5 distances; Seoul finished in 2nd place overall in the Pony boys class with Kai completing the competition tied for 5th place overall. Clare was 2nd overall in the Midget girls event. Representing us in the Midget boys class were Jimmy Han and David Lee who finished 2nd and 3rd in overall points. Edwin Park and Hanul Lee rounded out our team - competing in the Junior C category. By the end of the competition, Edwin has enough points to finish in 3rd place overall in this highly competitive and talented class of skaters. All the skaters wish to thank Coach Lee for his instruction and dedication to their success.
• The Pony boys was one of the largest classes in the competition, so for each of their races, they had to skate qualifying rounds in order to skate in the finals for the medals. Seoul, who claims not to have good stamina for the longer distances, came off the line like a shot and skated to a first place finish in his heat - setting a new National Standard for Pony boys at this distance: 01:03.641. Kai, skating in the same semi-final heat, claimed the last qualifying spot. He and Seoul would both compete in the final. In the final, Seoul was edged out of first place by a margin of 13/100ths of a second. He finished with a Silver medal but, as the time of the winner in the final was slower than Seoul's time in the semi-final, the National standard for this distance now belongs to Seoul. Kai finished in 6th place in the final with a time of 01:08.738 - a very respectable finish for a skater who has another 2 years to skate in this class. The next distance was 400 m. Again, Seoul and Kai were in the same semi-final and both qualified for the final. This time, in the final, Seoul skated to the win - slipping across the finish line just 26/100th of a second ahead of Dominic Bruno (the winner of the 600 m. event). Seoul had won his first gold medal and set another National standard for Pony boys. Kai finished in fourth place with a time of 0:46.606 to claim his first medal - an Iron medal. The 300 m. distance was next. There were 13 boys in the competition, so for the shorter distances, they had to skate two preliminary rounds to make it into the final. Both Seoul and Kain qualified through these rounds. In the final, Seoul finished in 2nd place (0:31.640) - just 1/100th of a second behind Bruno. It's a good thing there was photo finish. That race was one of the closest of the entire competition! Kai came in with a time of 0:34.190 to finish 6th and claim important points for the overall standing. Saturday ended for the Ponies with the qualifying rounds in the shortest distance - the 200 m. Both Seoul and Kai qualified to skate in the final on Sunday morning. With a fresh start Sunday morning, Seoul led the pack around the track to finish in first place in the 200 m. final with a time of 00:21.760. Kai did not have quite as good a race, finishing last in the final with a time of 00:23.839 - about 2/100ths of a second behind the skater in front of him. That finish moved Kai into 5th place overall. Going into the final distance - 500 m., Bruno - the skater from Wisconsin - and Seoul were tied for first in the overall points. Whichever boy crossed the finish line ahead of the other in the final race would win the championship. Both Seoul and Kai made it through to the final. The boys raced well but Seoul finished just behind Bruno with a time of 00:50.821 to claim another silver medal. Kai crossed the line in fourth with a time of 00:56.041. In all, Seoul collected 2 gold medals and 3 silver to finish a close second in overall points. He also established new time standards for the Pony boys in 3 distances - the 600m., the 400 m. and the 200 m. These are not yet considered records because this is the first time that the National Long Track Age Class Championships have been skated indoors since the age class changes were made two years ago. Kai ended up with two iron medals (4th place) and finished tied for 5th in overall points.
• In the Pony girls category, Saree and the eventual winner, Hannah Bosman, finished very close in every race - for most of the distances, the difference in their finish times was separated by less than 2/10ths of a second. The Pony girls class was a much smaller group, so the girls skated only finals. The first race was the longest for the Pony girls (all aged 10 and under) - a 600 m. race. Saree (a young Pony with 2 years left to skate in the class) finished in second place (01:01.460) - less than 2/10ths of a second out of first place - to claim the Silver medal. Ally, with a time of 01:06.870 was a solid 3rd place finisher completing the distance about 4 sedonds ahead of the 4th place skater. A Bronze medal was hers. The next distance for the girls, as with the Pony boys, was the 400 m. race. Again, Saree finished in the Silver medal position with a time of 0:40.670 - about 15/100th behind Hannah. Ally had another Bronze medal performance finishing the distance in a time of 0:45.184. The final race on Saturday for the girls was the 300 m. race. Again, Saree finished in second (0:31.351) - less than 1/4 of a second behind Hannah. Ally won her third Bronze medal of the day with a time of 0:33.958. Sunday brought two more distances and two more similar finishes - Saree finished in second place in the 200 m. race with a time of 00:22.108 less than 1/4 second behind Hannah. Ally was third with a time of 00:24.472. The last race for the Pony girls was the 500 m. distance. Saree skated to another close 2nd place finish with a time of 00:50.987. Unfortunately, Ally fell in the final corner of the race to finish last. However, she had enough points to finish in 3rd place overall - collecting 4 Bronze medals through the competition.Saree finished in 2nd place overall and took home 5 Silver medals. These are amazing results for skaters who will be back in this class next year as well.
• The Midget Boys class has 10 skaters overall - a bit smaller than is typical for a National competition. The first distance skated by the boys was the 600 m. David started the competition out with a bang - posting the fastest qualifying time of all skaters. Jimmy also easily qualified for the final. In that final, Emery Lehmann was the winner with Jimmy close on his heels (0:54.489) and David, who is suffering from a painful right knee condition, was a close 3rd (0:55.246). Jimmy had a Silver medal and David a Bronze after the completion of the first race. The 800 m. race - the longest for Midget skaters was next. Both Jimmy and David made it through the qualifying rounds to the final. This time, Jimmy was the winner (1:12.429) - by a margin of 14/1000ths of a second. Another photo finish and a new National standard for the distance set by Jimmy. David posted the 4th fastest time (01:13.221) to claim the Iron medal for the event. The next race was a short one for these skaters - just 300 m. Jimmy got off to a blazing start and finished in first place with a time of 0:41.068 a new National standard for this age class with Emery just 3/100ths of a second behind. These boys were certainly giving the photo-finish judges something to do! Saturday finished with the qualifying rounds for the 400 m. distance. Both David and Jimmy qualified to skate the final on Sunday with David posting the fastest qualifying time. In the final, Emery Lehman crossed the finished line first with Jimmy (2nd - 00:36.693) and David (3rd - 00:38.065) both close behind. The tension mounted. Jimmy and Emery each with two first place finishes and two second place finishes were tied in overall points. The final distance - the 600 m. - would decide the overall championship. It was a battle to the end and another photo finish with Emery edging out the win by just 4/100ths of a second. Jimmy was 2nd (00:45.259) and David, still fighting pain in his knee was 3rd (00:45.703). Overall, in the competition, Jimmy claimed 2 Gold and 3 Silver medals plus set two new national standards - in the 800 m. and 300 m.. David returned home with 4 Bronze and one Iron medal.
• Clare was our only representative in a class of eight Midget girls. As with the Midget boys, the 600 m. race was first. Clare, who prefers longer distances, finished in second in this sprint with a time of 0:54.776 - just half a skate blade (14/1000s of a second) behind Sarah Warren. Yet another photo-finish which was to be the story between these two for the remainder of the competition. In the 800 m. event - the longest - Clare shone through to win her first Gold medal of the competition with a time of 1:13.369 - just 1/4 of a second ahead. The girls skated semi-finals in the 300 m. distance. Clare qualified for the final with the second fastest time but in the final, did not get a good start and ended the race in third place to take the Bronze medal with Sarah Warren taking second place and Mary Kate Hodor claiming the Gold. These girls all qualified in the 400 m. semi-finals. Going into Sunday, Clare was still in the running for the overall title. In the final of the 400 m. Sarah was victorious with Clare crossing the line behind her by less than 6/100ths of a second with a time of 00:38.13. There was one more distance - the 500 m. Clare could still win the overall championship title if she finished in first and Sarah finished in third place or lower. Clare did everything she could and crossed the line first with a time of 00:45.881. But Sarah was second, close on her heels and claimed the overall title. However, Clare did very well - taking home two Gold, two Silver and one Bronze medal and setting two national standards for the Midget Girls class - one in the 800 m. and one in the 500 m. distance..
• We had two skaters participating in the Junior C Boys category (skaters aged 13 and 14) - Edwin and Hanul competed in this class of 13 skaters (one of the largest in the competition). The first race was the 1000 m. distance. Hanul skated in the first semi-final and posted a time of 01:38.357 - a good time but not enough to move on to the final. Edwin won his semi-final crossing the line 3/10ths of a second in front of the next finisher. In the final, Edwin finished in the Bronze medal position with a time of 01:26.930 - about 4/10ths of a after the first place finisher (Andrew Astalos). The 800 m. event was next. Hanul was in the first semi-final and just missed qualifying by half a second with a time of 01:13.614. Edwin qualified in second place in his semi-final. Again, the results in the final were similar with Andrew finishing first and Edwin in 3rd (1:07.502). In the next event - the short 300 m. race - the skaters had to qualify through quarter finals and semi-finals. Edwin made it through both preliminary rounds and finished in 3rd place in the final with a time of 0:26.833. Hanul made it into the semi-finals but finished just short of qualifying for the final with a time of 00:29.412. The boys then faced one more set of preliminary races before the end of the Saturday racing - quarter finals in the 500 m. Both Hanul and Edwin qualified for the semi-finals but Hanul failed to claim a spot in the final finishing in the semi-final in 6th place with a time of 00:47.406. Edwin would skate the final on Sunday morning. In that final, he finished in 3rd place to claim yet another Bronze medal with a time of 00:42.435 - a respectable time for Milwaukee ice and less than 6/10ths of a second behind first place. The final event for the Junior C Boys was the 1500. Hanul finished 5th in his semi-final with a time of 02:34.811. His competition was over for this year. But he has another year in this age class. Edwin, Andrew and Luke Tweddale skated a very close race. Edwin again finished in third with a time of 02:11.986 which was less than 2/10ths of a second behind the first place finisher - Andrew. Edwin came home with some great times and 5 Bronze medals.
• Julie represented Puget Sound in the Juvenile C Girls category. This was one of the smaller classes comprising only 6 skaters so the races were all finals. Shelby Comeau skated to first place finishes in the first two events with Julia skating right behind her. Julia's times in the 1000 m. was 01:35.822; and, in the 800 m. was 01:16.893 - another photo finish - just 6/100ths of a second behind Shelby. In the third distance of the day, the 300 m., Julia was revved up and crossed the line in first with a time of 00:28.957 - this time with Shelby on her heels. Sunday brought 2 more distances and an opportunity for Julia. In the 500 m., Jaclyn Rowe took first place and Julia came in second (00:46.004) with Shelby finishing in third place. The stage was set. If Julia placed ahead of Shelby in the final race, she would win the overall title. The final race was 3 and 3/4 laps - the 1500. Julia skated a smart race and crossed the line in first place (02:35.869) just slightly ahead of Shelby. Julia ended the weekend with the Championship medallion, the coveted Championship penquin, two Gold medals, three Silver medals and two new national standards in her name. In addition, Julia is a first year Juvenile C skater, so has another year in this age class.
• The other Puget Sound skater in the competition was Jan, skating in the Master III Ladies class. While there were four skaters registered in the class, only three skated. Jan and her closest competitor - Donna Eckert - were fairly evenly matched but Jan ended up leading at the finish line in each of the five distances. The first race was the first of two 1500 m. races. Jan led all 3 and 3/4 laps to finish with a somewhat disappointing time of 02:46.120. Donna finished in second and Dianne Crossfield, a relative newcomer to the sport, finished a distant third. In the 800 m. distance, Jan led off the start line and held the lead to the finish completing the distance in a time of 01:22.764. Next came the 1000 m. distance. The finish time of 01:44.566 was a bit slower than Jan would have liked but good enough for the win. Sunday saw two races for the Masters III Ladies. The 500 m. was first. Jan got a great start and crossed the line with a time of 00:50.950 - her fastest time of the season and 3 seconds ahead of the 2nd place finisher. The final race of the competition was the second 1500 m. race. Jan decided to focus on technique instead of trying to go fast. Again, she led the entire distance with Donna close behind but tried to concentrate just on the skating technique and keeping the tempo reasonable. Although the focus was not on speed, the time was faster than the day before - 02:42.454 - and another personal best for the season. Jan finished the competition in first place overall so took home the Championship medallion, the coveted penquin and 5 Gold medals.

January 27, 2009

• Reminder to all skaters: There will be no practices on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday this week due to the fact that many skaters along with Coach Lee will be in Milwaukee for the U.S. National Age Class Long Track Championships.

January 26, 2009

• Eleven Puget Sound skaters will be going to Milwaukee in the middle of this week to participate in the U.S. National Age Class Long Track Speedskating Championships. Kai, Seoul, Ali and Saree will participate in the Pony class; Clare, David and Jimmy in the Midget class; Julie, Edwin and Hanul will compete in the Juvenile class and Jan will skate in the Masters III age group. Overall, we have one of the largest contingents of skaters in the event this year - making up about 10% of the total entrants. Everyone here wishes the skaters good luck in the event.

December 15, 2008

• Our Club hosted the third annual Puget Sound Challenge Cup Competition last weekend. Unfortunately, the number of participants was quite small and the inclement weather prevented a number of skaters from making their way to the South Sound. However, the despite the cold weather, the competition was hot and the skaters had a great time with most of them skating personal bests in one or more distances. One of the notable results was that Ali broke the 1:00 milestone for the 500 m. distance.

December 15, 2008

• Only two skaters participated in this year's North American Age Class Short Track Championships. This is a new time slot for this competition which in the past has always been held shortly after the National Short Track Championships in March each year. The change was made in an effort to increase participation from both Canadian and U.S. skaters. Overall, the competition was well attended and the folks in Madison, WI, did a great job hosting the competition.. Aaron Tran skated his first major competition in a very strong Midget boys class comprising 16 skaters. Aaron started strong winning a gold medal in the 666 m. event with a time of 01:09.476. The next distance was the 333 m. Aaron qualified for the final easily and finished a close 2nd in 0:37.735 to collect his second medal - a silver. The next race was the 500 m. distance. Aaron had a challenging start position and ended up behind the leaders at the beginning of the race. He did an amazing job on catching up and was taking the lead when he set his skate in a bad position and took a slide into the boards. He ended up with a 5th place finish and out of the medals. The final race was the 777 m. Aaron had been struggling all morning with leg muscle pain and despite a long off-ice warm-up, very shortly after the start, it was clear that his legs were not going to hold out for him through the whole distance. He finished in 01:26.094 - a mere 5/100th of a second out of third place. On total points, Aaron finished 2nd in the competition and was the top finishing American skater.
• Jan also skated in the competition. Unfortunately, there were only 3 Masters Ladies in the competition - one in the 30 to 39 class and two in the 50 - 59 class. Jan placed first in all four distances. The time in the 777 m. was 01:35.796 - not a personal best but a good time for Jan in this distance. The 1000 m. came next and Jan broke the 2 minute mark (01:59.83) for the first time in a year. The more important aspect of the race was that Jan skated technically well, staying low and keeping her chest down and shoulders square. These are technical elements that she has been working on this season. The 500 m. was also satisfying with a finish in just under a minute - 00:59.217. The final race was the 1500 m. which Jan finished in 03:15.487 - much slower than her usual time for this distance.

October 28, 2008

• The Puget Sound Speedskating Club is pleased to announce that it will be hosting its 3rd annual Puget Sound Challenge Cup competition. The details of the event are as follows:

Date: December 14, 2008(Sunday) from 11:00 a.m. until ~ 4:00 p.m.
Location: Puget Sound Hockey Center, 1918, Stewart Street, Tacoma, WA, 98421

CHECK IN: 10:00 am ~ 10:40 am (2nd Floor)
WARM UP: 11:00 am ~ 11:30 am
RACING: 12:00 pm ~ 4:00 pm

ENTRY FEE: $30 per skater ($70 maximum per family)
ENTRY DUE DATE: December 8, 2008 (Monday before the competition.)

All skaters must be members of U.S. Speed skating or Speed skating Canada.

NOTE: This is NOT a U.S. Speedskating sanctioned competition.

Meet Director: Chang Ho Lee (Club Coach)

Please e-mail Jan Zurcher for an entry form.

October 10, 2008

• Three Puget Sound skaters travelled to Vancouver, B.C. to participate in an interclub competition. Clare did very well winning most of her events. Aaron Tran, an inline skater who just made the transition to ice this summer, impressed the spectators with his great short track technique. Thorsten Askervold was the third participant. Results are not currently available.

September 12, 2008

• Stacey Michel has made it official. After spending a year at the University of Utah training with the development long track team, she has decided to retire from competitive skating. She is returning to live in Tacoma and will take up classes at the University of Washington in January where she will take classes leading to a career in business or the legal profession. She has promised to come and skate with us on occasion and participate in dryland sessions.

August 28, 2008

• Fifteen skaters participated in the first Puget Sound Speedskating Club Summer Camp. The Camp was a challenging combination of technical learning, speed training on ice and dry land endurance and strength training.
• At the end of the Camp, the skaters all received prizes for participation.

March 20 2008

• Milwaukee, WI, was also the site of this year's North American Age Class Short Track Championships. David and Jan stayed in Milwaukee for the week while the rest of the skaters returned home. Jimmy Han joined the team on Thursday - just before the competition began.
• Both Jimmy and David skated in the Midget Boys class. For North Americans, the age classes are different by a full year, so David was a second year Midget in this competition and looking forward to success. Unfortunately, he caught the flu on Thursday and was not at his best for the weekend.
• As luck would have it, in the first event - the 666 m. - David and Jimmy ended up in the same semi-final. David finished first with a time of 01:07.736 with Jimmy close on his heels at 01:07.940. Both moved on to the final. In the final, David was impeded by another skater attempting a pass and went into the mats. Jimmy finished in 3rd place to claim the bronze medal with a time of 01:10.171. In the 500 m. race, again David and Jimmy were slotted into the same semi-final. David finished 1st in a time of 00:51.359 with Jimmy just 1/10th of a second behind (00:51.448). Both skaters moved on to the final in which Jimmy finished second (00:51.609) and David 3rd (00:52.370). For the 333 m distance, David and Jimmy were again competing for qualifying positions in the same semi-final. Jimmy won the semi-final (00:35.138) and David, who fell, was disqualified for impeding. In the final, Jimmy placed 5th with a time of 00:35.448. The final event of the competition was the 777 m. Both David and Jimmy skated in the A Final and both skated very well. Jimmy finished in 1st place with a time of 01:21.569 and again, David was disqualified on an impeding call. Based on total points for the 4 distances, Jimmy finished in 1st place and was declared the 2008 Midget Boys North American Champion. Well done, Jimmy. Even with the disqualifications, David still finished in 6th place overall in the Midget Boys class.
• Jan also skated - but not in her class and not even in her gender. There were no other ladies registered for the competition and Jan was required to skate with the Master III (aged 50 - 59) men. Undaunted, she stood at the line dwarfed by her "competition". In the first event - the 777 m., Jan chased from behind for the first 4 laps but finally managed to pass and finished in 2nd place with a time of 01:34.724 - a time consistent with the previous week. The 1000 m. distance was next and, unfortunately, there was a miscommunication with the referee on a lapping call and the time ended up slower than what it might otherwise have been (02:05.393) but still good enough for a second place finish in the race. In the 500 m. race, Jan was out-powered off the start and ended up finishing in 3rd with a time of 01:00.768 - a disappointing result. Finally in the 1500 m. Jan skated to a 03:09.716 time to finish in 2nd place. Because she was really in the Masters III Ladies class, she was awarded with gold medals for each of her finishes and was declared the 2008 North American Master III Ladies Short Track Champion.
• Thanks to Coach Lee for his dedication to the skaters and support of their efforts.

March 5, 2008

• Milwaukee, WI, was the site of this year's National Age Class Short Track Championships. While not as many skaters attended Short Track Nationals as attended Long Track Nationals, our club was still well represented. Jessica Chong skated in the Pony Girls class; Julia Nam competed in the Midget Girls class; and, Jan in the Master III Ladies (50 - 59) class. On the boy's side, William Chong, Seoul Lee and Kevin Nam competed in the Pony class; David Lee and Hanul Lee competed in the Midget class. Cody Young, who skates with the Everett Club skated in the Intermediate Men Class.
• The Masters skated their competition separate from the main event - with ice time on Friday and Saturday mornings from 7:00 a.m. until 10:00 a.m. The first day saw competition in the 1000 metre distance and the 777 metre distance. In the 1000 metre race Jan and the leader got tangled up a bit with a couple of skaters being lapped, so the time was a very slow 2:05.081. The 777 was a much better event with Jan skated close to a personal best (finish time was 01:34.509). In each race, Jan finished in 2nd place behind Carole Moore, a great skater out of New York. On Saturday, the final two events were skated. In the 500 metre, Jan finished in a time just under 1:00 for the first time this season (00:59.862) and the 1500 metre distance saw her finish in a time of 3:08.820 very close to her personal best. In all of the distances, even though Jan finished the competition in 2nd place overall in her class, bringing home four silver medals, her times were faster than the next younger class - the Masters II Class.
• The Pony Girls class was quite large with a total of 15 skaters. The first day of competition involved just the 333 m. distance - a very short distance. Jessica skated very well but her lack of competitive experience caused her to make a pass that resulted in her being disqualified. Very early, her first day of national competition was over. On Saturday, the skaters again skated only one distance - this time, the 500 m. Again, Jessica skated extremely well - her technique was excellent and she was well able to keep up with the competition. Unfortunately, she again attempted a pass that failed and was disqualified. In the shortest distance, the 222 m., Jessica finished in a qualifying position for the semi-fianl with a time of 26.273. In the semi-final, she skated the distance a split second faster and qualified for the final. In the final, she earned a bronze medal with a great skate and a personal best tme of 25.927. The final race of the competition for the Ponies was a 777 m. race. Jessica finished second in her semi-final with a time of 01:28.909 - her personal best for the distance. In the final, she finished in 4th place - to claim her second medal of the competition (an Iron medal). Despite her rocky start, Jessica finished in 6th place overall. (All photos courtesy of Jerry Search.)

• The Pony Boys class - skated by Kevin, William and Seoul - was one of the largest classes with 26 skaters, so there were several rounds of skating in each distance before the final winners were declared. When the points were all sorted out, Kevin finished in 2nd place overall and won 3 silver medals and William finished in 4th taking home two bronze medals. In the 333, Seoul skated very well finishing in a time of 00:39.591. Unfortunately, he did not finish in a qualifying position for the next round and his day was done. Kevin and William both moved on to the semi-finals. William finished 2nd in his semi-final to advance to the final but Kevin fell and did not qualify for the final. In the final, William was disqualified for impeding. Kevin's best time for the distance was 00:36.531 and William's was 00:37.651. On Saturday, the 500 m. distance was the challenge. Both Kevin and William advanced out of the quarter-finals. Seoul finished in 4th place in his heat after a fall that left him out of the running. Kevin and William both qualified for the final and challenged each for the first three laps but Kevin ended up winning the silver (00:54.493); William the bronze (00:55.802). Next was the very short 2 lap race. Seoul skated extremely well finishing 3rd in his heat with a time of 00:26.654, just 3/10th of a second out of a qualifying position. Kevin and William both moved on to the semi-finals. Willima finished in 3rd place in his semi-final, so did not qualify for the final. His fastest time for the distance was 00:25.806 (quarter-final round). Kevin posted his fastest time in the final with a 2nd place finish in a time of 00:25.437. Finally, on Sunday came the long distance - 7 laps. Seoul skated a very strong race and finished 2nd in his quarter-final to qualify for the semi-final. Kevin and William also made it through the first round. In the semi-fianl, Seoul placed 4th with a time of 01:34.574. Kevin won that semi-fianl and William placed 2nd in his semi-final round. Once again, Kevin and William were in a skate-off for the medals. In the end, Kevin finished in 2nd with a time of 01:28.892 with Willliam close behind with a time of 01:28.892.

• Julia skated in the Midget Girls class along with 14 other skaters. Their competition started with the 777 m. distance. Julia easily won both her quarter-final and semi-final events. Unfortunately, in the final, she did not get a great start and ended up towards the back of the pack. In trying to pass, she was called for impeding and was disqualified from the event. On Saturday, the girls started the day with their 500 m distance. Again, she qualified easily through the preliminary rounds. In the final, she was up against some very strong competition including Sarah Chen out of Southern California. Julia finished in 3rd place with a time of 00:52.845 claiming her first medal of the competition - a bronze. Her fastest time in the distance came in the quarter-final - a 00:52.153. The next event for the girls was the 3 lap race. Again, Julia qualified easily through the preliminary rounds. In the final, she finished in 4th place with a time of 35.198 to earn an Iron medal. Her best time in the distance was in the semi-final - a fast 34.799. The final distance for the Midgets was the 1000 m. Julia won her semi-final with a time of 1:49.950. In the final, she and a number of other competitors fell - Julia was second across the line at the end and claimed the silver medal. Based on total points over the four distances, Julia was tied for 3rd place with Sarah Warren.

• There were 24 Midget Boys competing for the National Championship titls. The event began with the 777 m. distance. Hanul finished 3rd in his quarter-final round with a time of 01:28.768 - not quite fast enough to move on to the semi-final. David finished first in his quarter-final (01:22.600) and qualified to skate the semi-final. In his semi-final, he finished 3rd with a tie of 01:20.590 - a personal best but not enough to take him to the final. In the 500 m. event, both David (00:52.487) and Hanul (00:55.301) placed well enough in their quarter-finals to move on to the semi-finals. David had an unfortunate semi-final which left him finishing in last place while Hanul finished 4th in the same event. Neither skater advanced to the final. In the 333 m. event, Hanul skated to a 4th place finish in the quarter-final (00:36.814) and did not advance. David finished in 2nd in his quarter-final round (00:35.324) in a close race. Although finishing the semi-final in a time of 00:35.113, it was not enough to move on to the final. The last event was the 1000 m. distance. David finished 2nd in his quarter-fianl with a time of 01:45.311. Hanul finished in 4th place in his quarter-fianl with a very impressive time of )1:49.116 - just 16/100ths of a second away from a qualifying position. In a strange race with multiple falls, David finished 3rd in this semi-final to move into the final. Finally, success. With a time of 01:44.458, David claimed an Iron medal. Based on total points, David finished 7th in the nation for boys aged 11 and 12 - not bad for a first year Midget.

• Cody skated in what is called the "Intermediate" Class. Normally, this class is for young men aged 17 and 18. However, at Nationals, it has become a "catch all" class for the age class skaters and all skaters over the age of 16 up to age 30 who did not qualify for one of the top 16 spots to compete in the elite class. This meant that Cody was competing against skaters who were on the National Elite Senior team, former Olympic team members, members of the Junior National team and skaters much his senior in experience and age. In the 1500 m. quarter finals, Cody finished in 5th place with a great time of 02:36.939. In the 500 m. event, Cody had the misfortune to fall and finished last in his heat. In the 1000 m. race, again, Cody did not have a great race and finished last in his quarter-final with a time of 01:42.774. Because he did not accumulate any points, he was not able to participate in the 3000 m. superfinal, so his season was over with a bit of a disappointing finish.
• Thanks to Coach Lee for all his hard work in preparing the skaters for the competition, in coaching at the competition and for his endless hours of sharpening skates between every race for 7 skaters. It was a never ending task.

February 22, 2008

• While the other skaters were back at home reacquainting themselves with Short Track, Jan made one last sojourn for a long track competition - this time to Milwaukee for the Masters International Long Track Competition. The turnout in the ladies divisions was not as high as would be hoped, however, everyone had a great time. This competition is one of the most fun and challenging of the year. On the first day, within a 4 hour period, skaters skate at least 4 races - a metric 500 and a metric 1000 and then two pack style races - in this case, the 300 m. distance and the 3000 m. distance. If there are a lot of skaters in the class, for the pack style distances, the skaters also have to skate qualifying rounds.
• In the metric 500 metre distance, Jan finished in 0:52.630 - a slow time on what seemed to be slow ice. The 1000 m. metric race timed out to 01:45.820. Both big disappointments - especially after Calgary. Jan felt better in the pack style races and finished the 300 m. distance in 0:31.520 - the second fastest time for all the ladies and only 6/10s of a second behind the leading time. In the 3000 m. distance, Jan and Suzy Osum had a good race going, well ahead of the pack, when, with 2.5 laps left to go, Jan tripped and fell on the back straight away. After sliding about 30 metres, she managed to get up and get restarted. She finished with the second fastest time of all the ladies (05:59.880) but it was still a disappointment after the great start. On Sunday, the skaters skated a total of 5 distances - 1000 m., 800 m., 500 m., 1500 m., and a "fun" (i.e., not for points) 5000 m. distance. Sunday was a better day for Jan - in the 1000 m., her time was about 01:40.30 (consistent with Calgary but on slower ice); in the 800 m. distance, her time was a respectable 01:23.590; the 500 m. was finished in 00:49.540 (again a good time for Milwaukee ice); and the 1500 m. was a comparatively slow 2:43.700. Overall, Jan finished in 2nd place for all of the ladies competing (from age 30+) and was first in her age class. This was a great way to finish off the long track season.

February 13, 2008

• Right on the heels of the U.S. Nationals Championships, 5 of our midget skaters (Julia, Clare, David, Sangho and Thorsten) went to Milwaukee to participate in the newly reformatted North American Championships. All of our skaters skated in the Junior D Class (skaters aged 11 and 12). The North American Championships are now metric, single distance races (versus the former pack style) with awards for overall sprint champions (that is, the best total time for two 500 m. races and two 1000 m. races) in the Junior D Class.
• Julia claimed the Midget Girls Championship medal placing 1st in both 500 m. races (with times of 46.31 and 45.55 respectively) and finishing with a 1st (01:32.70) and 2nd (01:35.57) in the 1000 m. distance. In the 1500 m. distance, Julia skated to the finish line in 02:27.75 to claim the silver medal. Her times compared very well with the next older age class in which she will skate next season and put her consistently in the top 6 to 8 U.S. Junior girls skaters (of all ages), so this bodes very well for next year.
• Clare finished in 3rd place overall. Her 500 metre times were 47.94 (bronze medal) and 48.170 (bronze) for the first and second races respectively; and her 1000 metre times were 01:33.94 (just 1/100 of a second behind second place) and 01:36.48. She also won a gold medal in the 1500 m. race finishing in a time of 2:24.57. This is an amazing time for a skater who is still under 12 years of age; it was the 6th fastest time posted by any U.S. Junior girl (skaters aged 11 to 19) and all of her times were within the top 10 for U.S. Junior Girls (aged 11 to 19).
• David, who turned twelve just prior to this competition and was one of the youngest competitors, finished in 2nd overall in the Midget Boys class. His times for the 500s were 46.170 (silver medal) and 46.120 (silver); for the 1000 m. distances, they were 01:33.15 (silver medal) and 01:33.50 (bronze medal). David skated a fast 02:24.15 in the longest distance - the 1500 m. - to claim another silver medal.
• In the 1500 metre race, Thorsten took home the bronze medal with a time of 02:32.40. He finished in 5th place overall. His 500 m times were 48.450 (5th place behind Sangho) and 48.600 (4th place) and his 1000 m. times were 1:41.96 (5th place) and 01:46.56 (5th place) .
• Sangho skated consistently and finished in 4th place overall. His times were 500 m (1) - 48.030 (4th place); 500 m (2) - 49.250 (5th place); 1000 m (1) - 01:40.40 (4th place); 1000 m (2) - 01:40.16 (4th place) ; and 1500 m - 02:35.39 (4th place). Well done every one.
• While the younger skaters were in Milwaukee, Jan went to Calgary to participate in the 1st Canadian Open Masters Competition. She finished in 5th place amoungst all of the ladies skating and claimed the overall silver medal in her age class finishing second in her class in each distance. This was an "All Around" competition and her times for the 4 distances skated were: 500 m - 00:49.94; 1000 m. - 01:40.65; 1500 - 02:36.99; and, 3000 m. - 05:30.76. The winner of the class, Joanne Johnson, who skates out of Calgary, set a new Canadian record in each of the four distances.

February 3, 2008

• Puget Sound skaters had a fun and successful time at the U.S. National Long Track Age Class Championships held in Lake Placid this past weekend. In all, 21 people (parents and skaters) made their way to the 1980 mecca of speedskating - home of the famous Eric Heiden. The skaters, many of whom had never seen a long track before, got an opportunity to practice on the large racing surface on Thursday and Friday where they were challenged by wind, cold and - on Friday, rain. Racing began on Saturday.

• In the Pony boys class, we had 4 skaters who skated against 9 other 10 and unders from across the country. By the end of the competions, Puget Sound skaters had won the 1st, 2nd and 3rd places overall. Kevin Nam won each of the 5 distances for his age class and claimed the overall championship medal. He also got his name in the records book in the 400 metre distance. Daniel Assumpcao was 2nd overall, just edging out William Chong in points who finished 3rd overall. Daniel won silver medals in the 600 m., 400 m. 300 m. and 500 m. distances. A fall in the semi-finals prevented him from qualifying for the final in the 200 m. race. William clained a silver medal in the 200 m. race and bronze medals in the 400 m and 500 m distances. Seoul Lee, our smallest skater, won an iron medal (4th place) in the 200 m. race and finished in 7th place overall.
• 
• We had two skaters competing in the Pony Girls class. Jessica Chong finished in 2nd place overall in a group of 7 girls. She brought home a gold medal in the 300 m. distance; silver medals in the 600 and 400 m. races; and, a bronze medal in the 200 metre race. Saree Han wond a bronze medal in the 500 and claimed the iron medal in each of the other 4 distances to finish in 4th place overall.
• In the Midget Boys class, we were again represented by 4 skaters. David Lee, a first year midget, was challenged by some much larger older boys but still managed to hold his own. He tied for 2nd in the 600 metre race; claimed bronze medals in the 800 m, 400 m. and 500 m. distances and placed 4th in the 300 m. race. Based on the consistency of these finishes, David claimed 2nd place overall. Also skating in the Midget class were Sangho Han, Hanul Lee and Thorsten Askervold. Sangho finished in 7th place overall making it to the finals in 4 of the 5 distances and Hanul in 9th (qualifying for the final in the tow longer distances - the 600 m. and the 800 m.). Thorsten had a rough competition with several falls and was unable to qualify for any finals.
• Julia Nam and Clare Jeong competed in the Midget Girls class which saw a total of 9 girls challenging for the Championship. Julia skated very consistently and finished 2nd in each of the 5 distances skated. This gave her 2nd place overall in the class. In all cases, she was just a split second behind the leader (7/100s in the 600 m.; 4/10s in the 300 m. 5/100s in the 400 m; and, 5/100s in the 500 m.). Clare had very strong showings in her semi-finals but had a couple of unfortunate falls in the finals. Despite this, she won iron medals in the 600 m., 800 m. and the 400 m. distances. In the 600 m. race, although Clare placed 4th, she was only 2/10 of a second behind the 1st place finisher - it was a very close race. In the 800 m. distance, Clare skated the second fastest time of the competition in her semi-final race.
• Rounding out our competitors were our two Masters skaters. Young Kim skated in the Masters II class. She claimed gold medals in the 1500 m., 500 m. and 3000 m. distances and silver medals in the 800 m. and 100 m. races. She also claimed a new record in the 500 m. race finishing in a time of 00:48.552 - a full 1.5 seconds faster than the old standard. Two other skaters also bested the old record. Jan skated in the Masters III class. On the first day, she did not skate smart pack style - leading the 1500 m. race for the 1st 3 and a half laps and then getting passed by two other skaters to finish in the bronze medal position. Undaunted, she led most of the 800 m. race - aiming for a record in the distance but again was passed just prior to the final turn to finish with another bronze. On Sunday, she decided to skate more with a pack-style mentality and did not lead in the 1000 m. Using this strategy, she finished in 2nd place. In the 500 m. race, Jan had a very fast start and claimed the silver medal in this distance as well. In the final and longest distance, Jan got caught flatfooted when the leader accelerated early in the race and could not catch the lead pack. Following in the second pack, she finished the race in 3rd to finish the competition in 3rd place overall.
• All in all, the team did very well - nearly all skaters claimed one or more medals in individual races. Plus, we finished with two overall Champions (Kevin and Mrs. Kim); three 2nd places overall (Daniel, Jessica and David); two 3rd places overall (William and Jan); and, a 4th and 5th finish overall (Saree and Clare). Out of 14 skaters, many of whom have only been on long track skates for a month, we did very well.

January 25, 2008

• Fourteen skaters - the biggest ever contingent of skaters from the Pacific Northwest - will travel to Lake Placid, NY, next Wednesday to participate in the U.S. National Age Class Long Track Championships. We have 4 midget boys - David Lee (Pony Champion last year), Thorsten Askervold, Jimmy Han, and Hanul Lee; 4 pony boys - Kevin Nam (a contender for the Pony Championship this year), William Chong (a skater with a strong start and good sprinting ability who will do well in the short distances), Daniel Assumpcao (competing in his first long track races) and Seoul Lee (our youngest boy attending the competition). On the girls side, in Midget class, we have Julie Nam (last year's Midget Champion) and Clare Jeong (one of our strongest long distance skaters); and, in the Pony class, we are represented by Jessica Chong and Saree Han (both in their first long track competition). To round out the team, Mrs. Lee will be competing in the Master II Class and Jan Zurcher will compete in the Master III Class. Our skaters have been working hard since moving to long track skates just after Christmas to get ready for this competition and we are looking forward to lots of personal bests, weather permitting. Thanks to Coach Lee for all his hard work and dedication to making all of the skaters the best that they can be.

January 10, 2008

• Jan travelled to Milwaukee, WI, the weekend of January 5-6 to participate in the First Annual Masters International Sprint Speedskating Championship. About 45 masters skaters from across the U.S. and Canada participated in the event and a good time was had by all. The competition was a sprint format where the lowest total points over two 500 m. races and two 1000 m. races in each age class was declared the champion. On Saturday, Jan had the fastest openers in both the 500 m. and 1000 m. races for all ladies and finished with a personal best for skating on Milwaukee ice in the 500 m. distance with a time of 52.06 (a time slower than her outdoor time at -35 in Winnipeg at North Americans last year - 51:46) and 1:47.17 in the 1000 m. She was disappointed with the 1000 m. time but the ice seemed to be slow and most times were slower than what most skaters expected. On Sunday, Jan improved her time in both distances finishing with a time of 51.19 in the 500 m. and 1:46.26 in the 1000 m. Overall, Jan finished in 2nd place for all the lady competitors and was first in her age class.

December 16, 2007

• A total of 34 skaters participated in the 2007 Puget Sound Speedskating Challenge Cup Competition. Skaters ranged in age from 8 to 55 and came from the Vancouvers to the north and south of us as well. The competition saw many skaters skate personal bests in as many as 4 distances. This year's cup winners were Sebastian Gagnon - Junior (POCO Club) in first; David Lee - Midget (Puget Sound) in second; and, Edwin Park - Juvenile (Puget Sound) in third for the boys. In the girls division, Julia Nam - Midget (Puget Sound) took first, Michelle Majeria - Junior (POCO) took second and Clare Jeong - Midget (Puget Sound) claimed the third place cup. Congratulations to all the skaters and many thanks to the parents and others who volunteered their time and brought all the food. We look forward to an even bigger and better event next year. Results are now posted. Photos will be posted on this web site iwhen available.

December 14, 2007

• Thanks to a generous loan agreement with Managed Reliability LLC, Puget Sound Speedskating Club now has a complete set of mats. An additional 54 used mats were recently purchased from the DeMorra Speedskating Club and arrived today - just in time for the 2nd Annual Puget Sound Challenge Cup Competition.

December 5, 2007

• Puget Sound is pleased to host its second Challenge Cup Competition. Skaters of all ages and abilities are welcome. The competition will take place on Sunday, December 16th with registration at 11:30 a.m., warm-ups and races to follow. The competition will be run in a modified ability meet format. All skaters will skate 3 distances and will be heated for each race based on ability. The top 8 male skaters and the top 8 female skaters (based on the 500 m and 777 m distances) will be eligible to skate for the Challenge Cup in the 1000 m distance. Medals will be awarded. Be sure to register now. To do so, e-mail Jan Zurcher at jan.zurcher@weyerhaeuser.com.

July, 2007

• The Club said it's tearful goodbyes to one of our long standing members towards the end of the month. Stacey Michel has been admitted to the Long Track Skating program in Salt Lake, Utah, as well as her educational program of choice at the University of Utah. She will be moving to Utah at the end of the month to start her season's training at the great Utah Oval. We will all miss Stacey very much and wish her the best in her new life.
  

June, 2007

• The Puget sound Speedskating Club wishes to thank Sprinker Arena for selling them a number of speedskating mats. Under an agreement worked out between Bob Celski and Sprinker, the Club has been renting the 11 mats for the past yer. When it came time to renew, the manager at Sprinker offered to sell the mats to the Club for the equivalent of one year's rent. This was a great opportunity for the Club.
  
• J.R., after a year off skating, has again decided to pursue his Olympic dreams by training in California with Wilma Boomstra. He and his father will be moving to California at the end of the school term. We wish J.R. all the best.

February 26, 2007

• While Jan was in Calgary skating on the fastest long track ice in the world, several skaters from the Puget Sound area travelled to Cleveland, Ohio, this past weekend to participate in the U.S. National Age Class Short Track Championships. In the Pony Boys division, we were represented by David Lee, Thorsten Askervold (Everett Club) and Daniel Assumpcao. Julia Nam participated in the Midget girls class. Cody Young (Everett Club), a Junior attending his 4th U.S. Nationals, rounded out the contingent from the Pacific North West.
• There were 22 skaters in the Pony Boys division from around the country, so the boys had to skate each distance several times before making it to the finals.
• • In the 333 metre event, both David and Thorsten qualified in the first position in their respective quarter finals. Daniel had a fall and finished out of the semi-finals with a time of 49.936. David and Thorsten ended up in the same semi-final and finished first and second. David ultimately won the final with a time of 35.815 and Thorsten finished a close third behind Jeremy Via with a time of 37.445.
  • Next came the 500 metre event. David qualified in first place in both the quarter finals and the semi-finals. Thorsten was the second qualifier in each of his qualifying rounds. Daniel did not make the semi-finals but skated an amazing personal best of 58.477 to become a member of the "under a minute club". This turned out to be the 11th best time for the 21 skaters. Well done, Daniel! In the final, David finished in 1st place and set a new national record for his age group with a time of 51.586. Thorsten finished in a time of 55.306 to claim his second bronze medal of the competition.
  • Next came the short, snapper race - 2 laps around the track as fast as you can go. Once again David and Thorsten made it easily through the opening rounds. Daniel placed 4th in his quarter final with a personal best time of 27.479. In the final, David finished in first place to claim a third gold medal with a time of 24.329. Thorsten finished in third place with a time of 26.106.
  • Based on their results in the first three events, both David and Thorsten qualified for the superfinal - a 777 metre distance. David continued his domination of the class with a first place finish in a time of 1:25.600. Later on Sunday, David was awarded the class champion medallion for Pony Boys. Thorsten ended up in third once again with a time of 1:28.747 - just 4/1000 of a second behind second place finisher Evan Opeka. What a close finish!
• Julia skated with a large (21 skaters) and competitive group of 11 and 12 year olds. Based on points, she finished in 2nd place overall.
• The Midget girls started with the 777 metre distance. Julia qualified in first position in her quarter final with a time of 1:25.818 but was disqualified during the semi-final. The event was eventually won by Sarah Chen of Southern California with a time of 1:19.596. Her time in the quarter final was the 7th fastest skated by any of the competitors through the qualifying rounds and final.
• The second distance was 500 metres. Julia qualified in first in her quarter final. In the semi-final, she was heated with Sarah Chen and finished in the second qualifying position. Out for a win, Julia skated hard during the final and came out victorious with a first place finish in a time of 51.240. Julia had a personal best and a gold medal, as well as those all important first place points for the distance.
• The third distance for the Midget Girls was the 333 m. event - an all out 3 lap sprint. Julia again qualified for the final through the preliminary rounds. Unfortunately, she fell and finished in last place in the final with a time of 43.697 and with not much likelihood of claiming the overall championship. Her fastest time in the distance came in the semi-final with a time of 35.730 which was the 4th fastest time skated by any of the girls through all of the qualifying rounds and finals.
• Based on the total points earned in the first three races, Julia was in the top 6 and qualified to skate the 1000 metre superfinal. She finished in 3rd place with a time of 1:49.433 - another personal best.
• Cody Young was up against several strong competitors as many of the skaters who did not make the top 16 cut in the Senior Elite class moved back into the age class ranks.
• The first event for the Juniors was the 1500 metres. Cody, skating in a very fast group, finished third in his quarter final heat with a time of 2:36.814 and qualified for the semi-finals. Unfortunately, in the semi-final, he finished in 6th with a time of 2:46.178 and did not move on to the final. However, in the time classification, Cody's tie in the quarter final was the 8th fastest time skated by a Junior male in this distance.
• In the 500 metre distance, Cody again had a very fast heat and although he skated a time of 48.097, a personal best by more than a second, he did not qualify for the next round. The time was good enough to place him in 11th place in the time classifications.
• Cody's final race was the 1000 metre distance. He finished fourth in his quarter final heat with a time of 1:42.351 - a time that placed him in 12th based on the time classifications.

February 26, 2007

• Jan Zurcher decided to forego this year's National Short Track Championships to participate in the 15th World Masters Speedskating Competition. This event had 353 registered masters skaters from around the world. Jan's class - the 50 - 54 class - was the largest women's group with 14 skaters.
• On Friday, the first event was the 500 metre sprint. This was the one distance that she thought she might have some possibility of getting close to the record and finishing in the top three. However, it was not to be. Jan finished in 5th place in the 500 metre event with a time of 49.22 - not the personal best that she was hoping for. The event was won by a skater from the Nederlands - Noor van der Ster - and all of the top 4 finishers finished in a time that was faster than the existing world record for the distance - 46.93.
• In the 1500, Jan was fighting the ice all the way and ended up in 8th place overall with a time of 2:33.67 - again not a personal best. Again the event was won by the Dutch skater in another record shattering finish - about 7 seconds faster than the previous standard.
• Saturday was a better day. Jan was paired with a skater from Italy who was about her speed and they carried each other to personal best times. Jan finished in 1:37.70 for a 6th place finish - less than 17/100 of a second behind. She was very pleased with this result and encouraged that she felt smooth and strong in the race. Again, the record was shattered by the winner of the event who finished a full 5 seconds faster than the previous mark.
• Based on total points for the first 3 distances, Jan was in the top 8 skaters and qualified to skate the 3000 m. event. Jan has only skated a metric style 3000 m. race once before. Although she started out strong, she could not maintain the pace and ended up with a time of 5:22.58 - a personal best for skating without a pack. This was the 8th place finish in the event but Jan had enough points from the earlier events to finish in 7th place overall. Given that this was only the third time that she had skated on long track ice this season, Jan felt that she had a reasonably successful competition. Once again, the record for the event fell a long ways - 18 seconds - but this time the winner was a strong Russian skater, Galina Petrova.

February 16, 2007

• Fifteen Puget Sound Club skaters participated in the interclub competition held in Everett this past weekend. Many set personal bests and a good time was had by all. Results will be posted when available.

February 8, 2007

• Jan Zurcher was the only Puget Sound skater to participate in the North American Long Track Age Class Championships held this year in Winnipeg. Saturday morning greeted the skaters with a temperature of -37 degrees C. and a wind chill of -44. The race organizers decided that in light of the very cold temperatures, they would race the two shortest races on Saturday. Jan was the only entry in the Master III Ladies class, so was grouped with the Master III men for the competition. In the 500 metre distance, despite the ice being very slow, Jan placed 3rd in the race with a time of 51.460 - just 7/10ths of a second shy of the existing outdoor record. The 800 metre race was held in the afternoon. Although the temperature had risen to about -32, the ice was slow and so hard that there was barely any grip. Jan was third across the line with a time of 1:26.800.
• Sunday, although sunny, greeted the skaters with a temperature of -39 degrees C. and a wind chill of -53. The start of the competition was delayed for over three hours and finally, shortly after 11:00 a.m., the Chief Referee announced that he had taken the decision that the weather was too cold to continue the competition. Since only two distances were skated, no champions will be named for 2007 - a key disappointment for the skaters. See results.

January 30, 2007

• Puget Sound speedskaters performed extremely well overall at the National Long Track Championships this past weekend. In all, the skaters claimed 3 Age Class Championships (David, Julia and Isreal), two 2nd place overall titles (Stacey and Edwin), two 3rd place overall finishes (Kevin and Jan) and 1 fourth (Clare). We all want to thank Coach Lee for his on-going guidance and support. This would not have been possible without him. Below is a photo of the skaters, Coach Lee and the parents who came to cheer us all on. See results.

• Stacey started the competition by skating in the Junior National Championships. She did not have the start that she was hoping for. In the very first race - the 500 metre sprint - she was disqualified before the race began as a result of two false starts. Truly a disappointment. However, she was allowed a reskate for the purposes of the Age Class Championships and qualification for Category 1 status. In the reskate, she skated a strong race finishing with a very respectable time of 00:46.65 (a personal best for a metric race outdoors). The second distance skated was the 1500 metres. This is a tough race and Stacey finished with a time of 02:30.690 - good enough for 5th place in the Junior B Class in the Junior Nationals. Day 2 was the 1000 metre distance which Stacey finished in a time of 01:40.790 (5th place) and the gruelling 3000 metre distance (made even more gruelling by the cold temperatures and high winds) for which her time was 05:42.640 (a 6th place finish).
• Stacey also skated in the Age Class Competition which required her to skate two more distances on Sunday - the 500 m. and the 1500 m. Going into the competition, Stacey was in second place for Junior B Ladies based on points earned in the metric races. To claim the championship, she would have to claim first in both races. Unfortunately, it was not to be. Gun-shy after the two false starts on Friday, Stacey was last off the line in the 500 m. She was catching up on the straight away when about mid-way, her blade set poorly on the ice and she stumbled. She fought back valiantly but finished in 2nd with a time of 00:48.490 - just 1/10th of a second back of first. In the 1500, Stacey was out to show her stuff. She skated a very smart tactical race and finished first with a time of 02:43.330. Stacey took home a silver and gold medal for her efforts.
• In the Pony Girls event, Clare got off to a bit of a rocky start as well... with a slip at the start of the first race (200 metres), she was behind the pack right from the beginning and did not finish in a qualifying position for the finals. In the second distance (300 metres), Clare fell early in the semi-final race and was well behind the pack when she got up and caught up to the rest of the group managing to finish in the third qualifying spot. In the finals in the 300 metre distance, she finished in 6th place. The longer distances are where she really shines. Clare tends to pick up speed over the course of the race, so the longer the distance, the faster she gets. In the 500 metre distance, she finished in 3rd place with a time of 00:55.630 - claiming a bronze medal; in the 600 metre race, she finished in second place with a time of 01:08.040. Overall, Clare finished tied for 4th place in the nation for girls aged 10 and younger! And, all of that after just 3 weeks on long track skates!
• In the Pony Boys group, we were represented by two very strong skaters - David Lee and Kevin Nam. David was by far the fastest skater in his group and claimed first place in each of his 4 distances. On the first day of the competition, he finished the 200 metre race in 00:21.560 (over 2.5 seconds faster than the second place finisher) and the 300 metre race in 00:31.770 (4 seconds faster than the rest of the pack). He qualified for the final in a time of 30.960 which was a new record for the distance. On the second day, the Ponies skated the 500 metre distance and the 600 metre. David finished the 500 metre race in 00:50.680 - a full nine seconds faster than the pack; and, in the 600 metre race, he crossed the line in 01:03.020 - despite getting boxed in at the start and having to take the first turn on the outside of the pack. In each distance, David set a new National record. At the end of the competition, David was declared the Pony Boys Champion for 2007. Congratulations, David!
• Kevin Nam, who is a year younger than David, also skated very well. He claimed the silver medal in the 200 metre race with a time of 00:24.200. In the 300 metre race, he finished the semi-final in 1st place but was disqualified for cross tracking at the start of the race. In the 500 metre distance, Kevin finished in 2nd place behind David with a time of 00:59.400 - crossing the line just half a second in front of A.J. Bruno. Fortunes were reversed in the 600 metre final as A.J. beat Kevin by just 3/100ths of a second and Kevin had to settle for bronze. Due to the disqualification, Kevin ended up in third place overall for the competition. But he has another year to skate in the Pony Boys class and we know that he will do even better next year.
• Julia Nam skated in the Midget Girls class. She dominated the class finishing first in every distance, winning 4 gold medals and claiming the National Championship for Midget Girls. Dressed in a unique, slick red racing suit, Julia was a red streak as she crossed the finish line. In the 600 metre distance, she finished in 01:00.160 - nearly a second and a half ahead. In the 300 metre race, Julia crossed the line first in 00:30.610. In the 500 metre distance, several of the girls fell shortly after the start. Julia got off the start line first and was well ahead of the falling skaters and finished with a time of 00:50.350 - about 5 seconds ahead of the 2nd place finisher. In her final race - the 800 metre distance - Julia claimed first place with a time of 01:22.100 finishing about 2 seconds ahead of the 2nd place skater. These impressive results earned Julia a Class Champion medallion. Way to go, Julia!
• We also had two skaters in the Midget Boys class - Isreal Kim and Edwin Park. This was the largest class with 17 competitors and the boys were kept busy skating quarter finals, semi-finals and finals in each distance. Isreal won each distance with Edwin close on his heels. In the 600 metre race, Isreal won with a time of 00:59.670. It looked as though Edwin claimed third place at the line but the finish judges saw it differently and gave him the 4th place time of 01:01.60. The next race was the 300 metre sprint. Isreal, with a blazing fast start, finished first in the final in 00:29.740. Edwin finished in 2nd place at 00:30.000. The 500 metre distance was next with Isreal finishing the final in a time of 00:47.370; Edwin claimed the silver with a time of 00:48.590. The final event was the 800 metre race. Isreal finished in 01:18.150; Edwin was in second place with a 01:18.680 clocking. Isreal was declared the 2007 Midget Boys Champion and Edwin finished in second place overall. Well done, boys!
• Jan skated in the Masters II Ladies class. Since there were not any other skaters registered in her age class, she was moved into the Master II class which was dominated by several younger skaters - Suzy Osum, Cathy Carrabre (a former National team skater) and Kaari Cox. The Masters only got to skate one distance on Saturday - the 1500 metre distance. Jan finished in 4th place in the class but in doing so, beat the Masters III class record (which has stood since 1993) by over 3 seconds with a time of 02:40.410. Sunday started with the 1000 metre distance and while Jan finished in 3rd place, the time was not as fast as she would have liked - 01:46.340 (although it was less than 2 seconds behind the winner). The 500 metre was a bit of a disappointment. One of the skaters slipped going into the first corner and Jan was forced to slow down and never regained tempo. The time was still a respectable 00:51.840 - good enough for another bronze medal but not a personal best. In the 3000 metre distance, the third race of the day, Jan ran out of gas on the 5th lap and dropped behind the pack finishing in 4th place with a time of 05:46.240, well off her personal best of about 05:35. However, based on points, Jan finished in 3rd place overall!

January 24, 2007

• After skating around in very small circles (for long track skates) for the past 4 weeks, nearly half of the club will head to Roseville, Minnesota, this week to skate in the 2007 U.S. National Long Track Age Class Championships. This is the largest contingent of skaters that we have had attend a competition in the past several years. David Lee and Kevin Nam will compete against seven other Pony Boys (aged 10 and under) from across the nation. Clare Jeong will compete in the Pony Girls division (the largest group in the competition). Julia Nam will compete in the Midget Girls class (skaters aged 11-12). Isreal Kim and Edwin Park will skate in the Midget Boys class. Stacey Michele is vying for a coveted Category I position in the Junior Nationals competition as well as the Age Class Championships in the Junior B class (15-16 year olds). And, last, but not least, Jan Zurcher is registered in the Masters 3 class.
• Accompanying the group is Coach Lee who has worked very hard to get us ready for this competition. Thanks to Coach Lee for all his time and effort.

December 26, 2006

• Puget Sound Speedskating Club wants to thank all of the skaters who came out to support their inaugeral effort at hosting a competition. In all, over 45 skaters participated in the event. Many thanks to all of the parents who provided supplies, donations for medals and trophies and people to work all the various jobs that need to be filled. Thanks to Coach Chang Ho Lee for doing much of the organization for the event and a special thanks to Silvana for putting together the heats and doing all the recording.
• 
• And, congratulations to the many skaters who participated. This was a first time competition for many of our club members and many set personal bests. Particular note to David Lee, a Pony skater, who skated a 51.75 second 500 m. race, finishing right on the heels of Cody Young. Also, congratulations to Clare Jeong who, in her first competition, managed to become a member of the "under a minute" club. The overall winners of the Open Class: For men, Cody Young; for women, Julian Nam. Results.

December 18, 2006

• Cody Young, a member of the Cascade Club, who often skates with our club on Sundays made the trek to Wausau, Wisconsin, to participate in the U.S. Junior National Short Track competition. Cody's primary goal was to skate the 500 metre distance in under 50 seconds - a mark that has eluded him up to this point. In the 1000 metre time trial, Cody skated a very respectable 1:38.082, placing 24th out of a field 36 skaters. As a result of this placement, Cody skated the remainder of the competition in Group 2.
• In the first event, the 1500 m., Cody skated a 2:43.85 in the semi-final and ended up finishing in 5th place in the B Final with a time of 2:36.93. Cody skated a 00:50.165 in the quarter finals of the 500 metre distance which relegated him to the D Final where he finished in a time of 00:49.800. He had skated a personal best and broke the "50 second barrier". Way to go Cody!
• The next day, Cody skated in the 1000 metre semi-finals. A time of 1:43.712 sent him to the C Final where he finished in 4th place with a time of 1:45.943. Unfortunately, he had not accumulated enough points to skate in the 1500 metre super final but all in all, it was an excellent competition and Cody continues to learn and improve every time out.

December 4, 2006

• Stacey finished in 2nd place overall at the American Cup Long Track competition held in Salt Lake City this past weekend. Battling with an injury to her thigh and blades that would not hold an edge, Stacey skated well. On Day 1, the competitors skated the 500 meter distance. Stacey finished in 5th place overall with a time of 45.65 and winning her pair by over a second. Next was the 1500 metre distance which Stacey finished in 2:23.04 finishing in 2nd place overall. Day 2 started with the 1000 metre race. Stacey was paired with the ultimate winner of the competition. She finished the race in 1:30.20 - good enough for 4th place overall. Last was the demanding 3000 metre distance. Stacey finished with a somewhat disappointing time of 5:02.20 but this did not prevent her from claiming a second place overall finish.

November 26, 2006

• Puget Sound Speedskating Club is proud to announce that it will be hosting its first ever formal competition on December 23, 2006. This event is open to all skaters (speedskaters, figure skaters, hockey players and recreational skaters) of all abilities. There will be novice races for those who are new to skating as well as an Open Class where skaters meeting a time standard can challenge for the Puget Sound Challenge Cup. See the attached Information Sheet and Registration Form.

November 26, 2006

• Stacey Michel skated in the Can-Am Long Track Cup event in Calgary this weekend. This first competition is a tune-up to the first American Cup event scheduled for Salt Lake City next weekend. Making the transition from practicing on a hockey rink to racing on a full sized oval is difficult. Stacey posted some respectable times in this first event of the year. In the 500 m. distance, Stacey skated in the 13th pair and finished with a time of 44.84 - good enough for 31st place overall and the 7th place American finish. In the 1500 m. event, she skated to a 2:15.45 time which left her place standings consistent with the 500 m. event. The following day was the 1000 m and 3000 m. events. Stacey finished in 24th place overall in the distance and was the 5th top American with a time of 1:28.06; and, ended up with a 34th place finish in the gruelling 3000 m distance (7th place American) with a time of 4:50.18. Although none of these times were personal bests, they were all very close. This bodes well for a successful season as training continues leading up to Junior Nationals in early February.

November 4, 2006

• Kevin Nam attended his first competition in the Vancouver, B.C. area this weekend. He had excellent races and managed to skate his 500 m. distance below the 1 minute mark for the first time ever. Way to go, Kevin.

October 23, 2006

• A number of Puget Sound skaters tested for their badges this month. Skaters who have already achieved a Level 10 include David, Julia and Isreal. Daniel, Kevin and Edwin achieved a Level 8 in this round of testing. Clare and Jimmy reached Level 4. Saree, Jamie Hanul, Seoul, William and Jessica all achieved a level 3. Congratulations to all skaters.

June 23, 2006

• J.R. Celski, one of the best Junior skaters in the U.S., has returned to the Pacific Northwest to finish his last two years of high school amongst family and old friends after 2 years training with the Southern California team under the tutelage of Wilma Boomstra. We are very happy to see J.R. return to skating after several months of recuperating from a back injury suffered in a fall during the Junior World Short Track Championships held early in 2006. We welcome J.R. back and hope that we can offer him a challenging program that will continue to allow him to be competitive on the national and international scene.

May 15 , 2006

• The Pacific Northwest clubs were happy to learn that short track skating star Erin Porter has moved to this area. As a Junior skater, Erin finished 2nd overall at the World Junior Championships in 1996 with two bronze medals. The following year, she won several gold medals on the World Cup circuit. She went on to participate on two U.S. Olympic teams (1998 and 2002). Erin, now 27, graduated from Empire State College in 2003 and has now settled in the Pacific Northwest. She will be assisting with coaching duties at the Cascade Speedskating Club located in Everett. She will be coaching a clinic in Everett August 11 through 13, 2006.

April 3 , 2006

• Several Puget Sound Skaters travelled up the I-5 corridor on Saturday afternoon to skate in the second annual Interclub competition hosted by the Cascade Club. Although there were only a total of about 30 participants, the skaters had a lot of fun - especially in the relays and the "miss and out" events. The ice was in great shape and most of our skaters set one or more personal bests during the event.
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• Julia Nam, Kevin Nam and David Lee skated in the Midget and down division. In the 333 metre event, Julia came in first with a time of 36.44; David was a close second in 36.94. Kevin, skating in a different heat, finished 1st with a time of 41.46. This was a personal best for all 3 skaters. Grace Kim, David Lee (2) and William Lee, skating in their first short track competition, all skated in the final heat of the midget group. Each skater skated personal bests in the 333. In the 500 metre distance, Julia finished first in 54.87 with David just a skate width behind at 54.97 (a personal best). Kevin finished first in his heat in 1:04.71. Grace, David (2) and William skated against each other in the 500 metre race. Grace crossed the line first in a time of 1:24.78. In the final distance, the 666, Julia again crossed the line first with a time of 1:15.88. David finished in 1:17.03 (a personal best). Kevin finished first in his heat of the 666 m. with a time of 1:28.50 (a personal best). William finished 1st in the final distance, as Grace, who skated the distance in 1:54.40 was disqualified for stepping inside the track.
• Edwin Park, Isreal Kim and Brandon Hall all skated in the Juvenile and up group. Edwin redeemed himself from the previous weekend in Kamloops. He finished first in each of his races with great times: 54.84 in the 500 metre distance (a personal best); 1:27.18 in the 777 m. (another personal best); and, 1:53.85 in the 1000 m. race (also a personal best). Brandon, an in-line racer who has been on ice skates for only about 4 weeks, placed 2nd in each distance, finishing close behind Edwin: 55.16 in the 500; 1:28.47 in the 777 metre race; and, 1:54.13 in the 1000 m. As this is the first time he has ever raced short track, these were all personal best finishes. Isreal had a bit of bad luck with a fall in the first and third races. However, he finished the 777 with a time of 1:29.25 (a personal best by about 5 seconds).
• Jan, a last minute entry, skated in an all Masters group. In the first race she was on track for a good time in the 500 metre distance when she fell on the last corner coming into the finish line. In the 777, she skated a 1:32.97 which is consistent with the personal best she set at North Americans. The 1000 metre race was also a good time for her - 2:01.47 - the fastest time she has skated this distance all season.
• All-in-all, it was a fun, informal competition and the kids all had a great time and were happy to be awarded ribbons for their efforts. Thanks to the Cascade Club and all its volunteers for hosting this event.

March 28, 2006

• Pacific Northwest skaters had their ups and downs at the North American Age Class Short Track Championships. Three skaters from the Puget Sound Club - Julia Nam, Edwin Park and Jan Zurcher - and three skaters from the Cascade Club based in Everett, WA - Cody Young, Ben Kosten and Mike Kosten - competed.
• Julia skated against 16 other Midget girls and finished 8th overall. Julia set a personal best in the 666 with a time of 1:12.28 which earned her a trip to the semi-finals and subsequently the B Final for the distance. In the 333, she qualified for the A final setting a personal best of 37.08. Unfortunately, she fell in the final and finished in 5th place - out of the medals. She hoped to redeem herself in the 500 and set a good pace in the quarter finals with a time of 54.55 (a personal best). In the semi-final, she fell just before the end of the race and slammed hard into the mats injuring her knee. Her competition was over for the weekend. To add insult to injury, she was disqualified in the race for a bad pass that resulted in an impeding call against her.

• Edwin also had his ups and downs with falls in 4 of his 7 races. He still managed to skate several personal bests - 1:16.60 in the 666 m.; 38.11 in the 333 m.; and, 55.15 in the 500 m. As Edwin put it, this was his first and last competition and, despite the falls, he had a good time. This summer, he will be returning to Korea with his family.

• Cody, too, had a few falls. It appears that he was racing faster and leaning more than he had ever done in the past and this was causing him to "boot out" on his right skate on the corners. Adjustments to the blade settings on Saturday night seem to have fixed the problem. On the first day, he fell in both of his 1000 m. races, so no PBs. On Saturday, he finished the 500 m. in 51.65 - a time consistent with his results in Madison last week. He finished the 777 m. in 1:18.98 and the 1500 in 2:43.03.
• Ben also skated consistent with his finishes at Nationals last week: 1:49.11 in the 1000 m.; 53.76 in the 500 m.; 1:24.23 in the 777 m.; and 2:49.74 in the 1000 m.
• Jan and Mike competed in the Masters class. Mike competed in the Master II class. He had personal bests in each distance: 2:05.52 in the 1000 m. race; 57.91 in the 500 m. distance; 1:34.59 in the 777 m.; and, 3:13.61 in the 1500. Jan competed in the Master III class. Unfortunately, at the last minute, one of the competitors withdrew from the competition and there were an insufficient number of skaters to comprise a class. Jan finished first in each of her races with times of 2:02.02 in the 1000 m.; 59.90 in the 500 m.; 1:32.78 in the 777 m. (a personal best) and 3:07.73 in the 1500 m. distance.
• 

March 20, 2006

• Pacific Northwest skaters performed very well at the U.S. National Age Class Short Track Championships. Three skaters from the Puget Sound Club - David Lee, Isreal Kim and Jan Zurcher - and three skaters from the Cascade Club based in Everett, WA - Cody Young, Ben Kosten and Thorsten Askervold - competed.
• David and Thorsten skated in the Ponies (skaters aged 10 and under) group. David finished in 2nd place overall and Thorsten finished 5th. After a rocky start in the first distance - the 500 metre final in which he fell, David claimed a silver medal in the 333 metre race finishing in a time of 37.750 - just a skate length behind the first place finisher - Jeremy Via. The following day, David was out to show his metal. He skated strongly through the beginning rounds and claimed the gold medal in the 222 metre race with a time of 25.763. It was down to the final race - a 777 metre super final... In the 4th lap, he and another skater clashed skates in the corner and both went sliding into the sidewalls. David finished in 7th place in the distance. Thorsten also had his ups and downs. He fell in the quarter final of the 333 metre distance but still qualified to move on. In the semi-final, he finished out of the qualifiers but had a respectable time of 41.885. In the 500 metre distance, Thorsten qualified for the final and finished in 4th place to claim an Iron medal with a time of 00:59.458. He also qualified for the semi-final in the 222 but finished in 5th and did not move on to the final. His finish in the 500 metre race gave him enough points to skate in the 777 m. Super final. Thorsten finished in 3rd with a time of 1:32.674.
• Isreal skated in the Midget class in his very first competition. The first event was the 777 m. distance. Isreal got off to a blazing start but was unable to hold the tempo for the entire distance and finished last in his heat with a time of around 1:34. Unfortunately, he was disqualified in the event. The next race was the 500. Isreal skated a personal best of 00:56.248 and qualified for the semi-final in the distance. His best event was the 333. Isreal has a phenomenal start and left all the other skaters in the dust at the start line. His time of 26.839 (also a personal best) allowed him to move to the semis.
• Cody and Ben both skated in the Junior Mens class. Cody's goal for the competition was to make it to at least one semi-final. He did this easily. Because there were only 12 Juniors registered for the competition, the opening rounds were semi-finals. Cody set personal bests in all three distances that he skated - 51.005 in the 500 m. race; 1:43.826 in the 1000 m. distance and 2:36.976 in the 1500. Ben also skated personal bests in each of his races: 53.816 in the 500; 1:48.310 in the 1000 m. and 2:52.629 in the 1500 metre. Both boys skated extremely well in this competition.
• Jan skated in the Master III Class where she finished first in each of the 4 events to claim the overall championship. Her only personal best came in the last event of the competition - the 1500 which she finished in 3:05.257. Although the competition in the Master III class was not as strong as she would have liked, she gains some satisfaction from the fact that her times were the second fastest amongst all of the master ladies skaters (aged 30 and up) for all of the distances.

March 11, 2006

• A small contingent of skaters from the Northwest will be travelling to Madison, WI, later this week to participate in the U.S. National Age Class Short Track Championships. Three skaters from the Puget Sound Club - David Lee, Isreal Kim and Jan Zurcher - and three skaters from the Cascade Club based in Everett, WA - Cody Young, Ben Kosten and Thorsten Askervold - will compete. David and Thorsten will skate in a competitive group made up of 16 Ponies (skaters aged 10 and under). Isreal skates in the Midget class (skaters aged 11 and 12). He will be competing against 21 other boys his age from across the country. Ben and Cody both skate in the Junior class. Currently, there are 15 Juniors registered in the competition but this number will increase as any Juniors attempting to qualify for the Senior elite class who do not qualify in the top 16 in that group will come back into their own age group to compete in the rest of the competition. Jan skates in the Master III class. We are all looking forward to a fun and competitive event. Good luck to all the skaters representing Washington!

February 28, 2006

• Jan made the trek to Milwaukee this past weekend for the Master's International Competition. This was the most successful Master's event ever with over 70 skaters between the ages of 30 and 79, 10 skaters from north of the border. The even was comprised of a metric style 500 metre distance on Saturday, along with heats and finals in the 1000 metre distance and the 800 metre distance all skated pack style. As time ran out, the 3000 metre race scheduled for Saturday was deferred to Sunday. On Sunday, the skaters skated a 1000 metre race metric style followed by pack style heats and finals in the 500, superfinals in the 1500 metre and 3000 metre distances and a 5000 metre "fun" race. Jan won each distance - both heats and finals - in her age class although her times were much slower than personal bests for each distance and off each record by a couple of seconds on each distance... something to shoot for next year. Of the 17 ladies in the competition between the ages of 30 and 54, Jan finished in the top 4 to 7 overall on each of most of the distances and is especially pleased with the 4th place time overall (based on time, since the event was skated in multiple groups) in the 3000 metre distance. For anyone who has never attended, the Master's International is a great, fun event with lots of racing - 11 races over the course of two mornings - and great comraderie. To see a picture of the skaters who attended this year, go to www.andrewlove.org/blog.

February 20, 2006

• Stacey attended the Junior Sprint Long Track Championships held in Milwaukee on the February 18-19 weekend. A field of 14 of the top Junior skaters in the country participated in the event. In a sprint competition, each skater skates two 500 metre races and two 1000 metre races over the two days. Points are based on the times posted for each distance. Stacey finished 9th overall with a total of 179.670 points. In her age group (Junior B), she finished 4th overall - just 2 skaters back of two members of the Junior National Team for 2006. Although she did not skate any personal bests at this competition, she finished with respectable times for the somewhat slower Milwaukee ice: 44.53 and 45.17 in the 500 metre distances; 1:30.10 and 1:30.02 in the 1000 metre distances. Quite a finish to a very successful season and one that she hopes will get her Category 1 recognition with US Speedskating.

February 7, 2006

• All of the skaters who attended the North American and National Age Class Championships want to pass along a big thank you to Coach Chang Ho Lee for his coaching over the past 2 months to get us ready for the main long track events of the season. He did an incredible job finding ways for us to skate on our long track skates within the confines of a hockey arena. Without his dedication and hard work, we would not have been as successful as we were - taking home a total of 23 individual distance medals, 8 ribbons, 5 official records, 4 additional unofficial records, two championship medallions and 9 overall top 3 finishes for from these two competitions. Three cheers for Coach Lee!!!

February 6 , 2006

• This past weekend was a very successful one for the 5 skaters from the Puget Sound Club who participated in the U.S. Junior National/National Age Class Long Track Championships hosted in Roseville, Minnesota. We were represented by Kevin and David in the Pony Boys class; Julia in the Midget Girls class; Stacey in the Junior Girls class; and, Jan in the Master III Ladies class.
  
  
• Stacey started off a successful weekend in the Junior B Class of the Junior National Championships. In the first event, the 500 metre distance, Stacey skated to a 4th place finish with a time of 47.190 (a very respectable time given the very windy conditions at the Roseville outdoor oval). The 1500 metre distance was next. Stacey skated a strong race finishing with a time of 2:45.515 to claim 5th place overall in her group. Her strongest race was the 1000 metre distance skated on Saturday morning. She finished with a time of 1:33.610 to claim a bronze medal in the distance. Her very first appearance on the medal podium. Way to go Stacey. The final distance was the 3000 metre race. Stacey finished in 8th place overall in this distance with a time of 5:25.210.
  
  
• Stacey also participated in the pack style races for Junior B Ladies. This comprised two distances - the 500 metre and the 1500 metre. Staey surprised the field when she skated to a first place finish with a time of 46.120 - defeating a skater who had just qualified to participate on the Junior World Team later this month. A gold medal was hers! But the pressure was on. Stacey was now 2nd in points for the division. If she won the 1500 metre race, she would be National Champion in the Junior B Ladies Class. Unfortunately, it was not to be. In a surprise move, the pack took off quickly at the start and Stacey was caught off guard. She caught the pack but ended up skating on the outside for much of the race and finished in 5th place. However, her time was 2:24.740 which was 1.5 seconds faster than the existing record for the age class. Stacey finished 3rd overall - missing 2nd place by just 1 point. Congratulations to Stacey on an amazing competition.
  
  
• The Masters skated their first race on Friday afternoon - the 1500 metre distance. Since Jan was the only skater registered in the 50-59 class, she was required to compete in the 40-49 age class. In the first race, she claimed the silver medal with a time of 2:48.810 (well behind the winner Kaari Cox who just moved into the 40-49 age class this year). On Saturday, the 1000 metre distance was the event of the day for the Masters. Jan finished in the bronze medal position with a time of 1:42.030 - a time that was faster than the existing Master 40-49 class record. On Sunday, battling a cold and a very painful left foot, Jan skated in both the 500 metre and the 3000 metre races. In the 500 metre distance, Jan again claimed a silver medal with a time of 51.940. The winner of the distance, Cindy Darrow set a new record for the 40-49 class. The 3000 metre race was a challenge with the race officials combining skaters from the Intermediate, Senior, 30-39, 40-49 and 50-59 classes. Jan finished 4th overall (2nd in the 40-49 class) to claim her third silver medal of the weekend and an overall finish of 2nd in the 40-49 age class.
  
  
• David and Kevin competed in a field of 4 pony boys. Once again, David held a commanding lead in each distance. In the 200 metre race, he finished with a time of 22.270 - just missing the existing record by 12/100th of a second. Kevin finished in 3rd place with a time of 25.260. In the 500 metre race, David skated to a first place finish with a time of 53.800. Kevin claimed 3rd place with a 1:07.380. In the 300 metre distance, David finally claimed his first record with a finish in 31.240. Kevin earned another bronze finishing in 38.910 in a very close finish with the second place skater. In the final distance, the 600 metre race, David earned a 4th gold medal and a second record with a time of 1:04.090. Kevin raced to the silver medal finishing in a time of 1:15.280 in another close finish between 2nd and 3rd. An interesting side note is that for the distances that were the same, David's times were all faster than the final time for the winner in the next oldest age group - the Midgets - the class that David will not compete in until next year. Congratulations to both skaters for their efforts. All the hard work and training certainly paid off. We were all very proud to see David be awarded his Class Championship Medallion at the end of the competition.
  
  
• Julia was again in with a strong group of competitors and a lot of them, so she had to skate semi-finals to qualify for the medal round in each distance. The 600 metre distance came first. Julia finished in 3rd place with a time of 1:00.220. The first place finisher just missed setting a new record by 3/100ths of a second. Next was the 300 metre race. Julia claimed the silver medal in a time of 31.060 - about 0.1 second behind the winner. In the 500 metre final, Julia finished in 5th place with a time of 53.340. The longest distance was the 800 metre race. Julia finished in 3rd with a time of 1:26.380. On overall points, Julia finished in 3rd place. Well done!

January 30 , 2006

• The largest contingent ever from the Puget Sound Club attended the North American Age Class Long Track Championships held in Salt Lake City during the final weekend in January. We were represented by Kevin and David in the Pony Boys class; Julia in the Midget Girls class; Stacey in the Junior Girls class; and, Jan in the Master III Ladies class.
  
  
• Unfortunately, Kevin and David were the only skaters in the Pony Boys group, so they were combined with the two Pony Girls for each of their races. However, that did not deter them from skating very well. David skated all 4 of his distances in times faster than the current U.S. records for Pony Boys finishing the 400 in 40.410; the 200 in 22.04; the 300 in 31.450 and the 600 in 1:00.770 (an amazing 4 seconds faster than the current national record for Pony Boys skating on a covered oval). Kevin skated very hard in each of their races. One of the girls was a very strong skater and challenged Kevin to be at his best. Both boys took home ribbons and David was awarded a medal as the overall champion.
  
  
• Julia was in a very competitive group of Midget girls (ages 10 and 11). She placed 6th in the 600 metre distance with a time of 56:650; third in the 500 and 300 metre races with times of 46.950 and 29.460 respectively; and, 5th in the 800 metre distance in a time of 1:13.830. Overall, she finished tied for third in the division which was won by Lillian Iwaniazyn, a skater from Alberta, Canada. Julia was the top finishing U.S. skater in the class and left the competition sporting 2 bronze medals.
  
  
• Stacey skated in the Junior girls division which had a total of 12 skaters from Canada and the U.S. Stacey finished 7th in the 1500 metre race with a time of 2:33.160. She was 7th in the 1000 metre distance as well posting a personal best time of 1:25.760. She finished 8th in the 500 race with a time of 43.950 (also a personal best). Her strongest finish was in the 3000 metre race in which she finished 6th in a time of 4:56.950. Overall, she finished 8th in the field which consisted of a very strong contingent of Canadian skaters, most of whom have been skating long track for at least 6 years compared to this being Stacey's first season of long track.
  
  
• Jan was disappointed to find that there were only two skaters in her class (Master III Ladies). However, she set the goal to skate her best and to try to better the North American records in each distance. She did better the records for the 1000 (1:42.190 - not a personal best but good enough for the new age class she moved into this year), the 500 (48.900) and the 800 metre (1:19.590) distances. However, she was unable to match the 1500 metre record time finishing in 2:40.08.
  
  
  

January 8 , 2006

• Stacey Michel competed in her second metric style long track competition this past weekend at the Canada Cup event held in Calgary on January 7-8. Stacey completed all of her races in times closely matching her first time in a long track event. In the 500 metre distance, she skated a 44:25; in the 1000 metre distance, her time was 1:26.65 (a personal best). She finished the 1500 metre race in 2:15.16 and in the gruelling 3000 metre race, she took over 9 seconds off her previous best in the distance. Well done!

January 7 , 2006

• Former Puget Sound Speedskating Club member, JR Celski skated to a bronze medal finish in the 500 metre distance at the World Junior Championships held in Romania this past weekend. This was after a disappointing fall in the semi-final of the 1500 metre race (one of JR's strongest distances). JR ended the competition as the top ranked U.S. skater finishing in a 3 way tie for 7th place.

November 28 , 2005

• Stacey Michel competed in her first ever metric style long track competition this past weekend at the Can-Am event held in Calgary on November 23-27, 2005. The first two days of the competition was the sprint event. After two races each in the 500 metre and 1000 metre events, Stacey set personal bests of 44.56 and 1:27.23 in each distance respectively. The 500 metre result was just 0.75 seconds shy of the qualifying time for the Olympic trials to be held in early 2006 and the 1000 metre result was just 0.23 seconds above the qualifying time. In the overall results, Stacey finished in 9th and was the 4th placing skater from the U.S. This was an exceptional result for someone who has only skated on long track blades for about 4 months and only has a short track venue to practice on.
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• On Saturday and Sunday, Stacey participated in her first all-around competition. In this form of event, each skater skates 4 different distances once. In the 500 metre event on Saturday, Stacey posted a personal best of 44.28. In the 1000 metres, she was consistent with her times in the sprint competition (1:27.83). In her first 1500 metre event, she skated to a time of 2:15.21 (just 3 seconds over the qualifying time for the Olympic trials) and, in the very demanding 3000 metre distance, she finished with a time of 4:57.42 (just 5.42 seconds over the qualifying time for the Olympic trials). In the all around event, there were a total of 89 skaters. Stacey finished in 27th overall. It was a very strong showing against much more experienced skaters. The future looks bright for Stacey Michel.
  
• Jan also skated in the competition but did not have a stellar showing. On Saturday, she skated a very slow 51.15 in the 500 metre event and finished 8 seconds slower than her personal best in the 1500 m. race. Sunday was a bit better with a time of 1:42.24 in the 1000 m. and, after a fall right in the starting corner on the 3000 m. race, finished with a time of 5:53.61. Jan finished in 52nd place overall. It's clear that she has her work cut out for her if she wants to do well at this year's Nationals and North Americans.

November 7 , 2005

• Stacey Michel continues to work on her long track skating technique as she prepares to compete in her first ever metric style long track competition at the Can-Am event to be held in Calgary on November 23-27, 2005.

November 06, 2005

• Former Puget Sound Club member J.R. Celski continues to establish skating history. J.R. finished 2nd at the U.S. Junior National Championships held this past weekend in Bay City, MI. As a result of this place, J.R. will travel to Europe in January to compete at the World Junior Championships. Congratulations, J.R.

October 15, 2005

• The Puget Sound Club members continue to improve with 4 skaters breaking the 1:00 mark for the 500 metre distance at local time trials.

August 8, 2005

• The Puget Sound Club will be hosting a Level 1 Coaches Clinic starting August 19 through August 21.  If you are interested, please contact U.S. Speedskating for registration information.

July 29, 2005

• Several members of the Puget Sound and Cascade (Everett) Speedskating Clubs followed the I-5 to Portland on Saturday, July 29, to spend some time watching the National Short Track team train in preparation for the 2006 Olympic Games in Turin, Italy.  A highlight for the skaters was an opportunity to spend an hour on the ice with members of the team receiving one-to-one coaching.  Thorsten was particularly happy as he was partnered with the very talented Apolo Anton Ohno.  The skaters all came back with new "tricks" to show.
  
• Also skating with the team was former Puget Sound Club member J.R. Celski.  This article is an interview done with Apolo and J.R. during their stay in the Portland area.

July 8, 2005

• The Mountain View Speedskating Club is excited to announce that the U.S. National Short Track Speedskating team will be spending a few days training in Oregon this month, and skating at the Mountain View Ice Arena in Vancouver. Since 2006 is an Olympic year, we know they are training hard to be at their best in February. The Mountain View Club would like to give you an opportunity to come and see them practice, and then join the club members for dinner afterwards (location to be determined).   Please pass this along to anyone in the club who might be  interested!

  You're invited to the club at the Mountain View Ice Arena in Vancouver, Washington, on Saturday, July 30. The National Team has the ice from 4:15pm-6:15pm.   We don't know yet whether we will be allowed to skate with them, but will fill you in on those details as soon as we know.    Let Linda Jellison know if you have any questions, or need directions to the rink.  The address is 14313 S.E. Mill Plain Boulevard, Vancouver, WA 98684.    Phone 360-896-8700.

July 6, 2005

• The new skin suits have arrived.  If you have ordered one, be sure to pick it up from Coach Lee as soon as possible.  They look great... a charcoal grey with red "fire" patterns and a firebird on the back.  Skaters are faster just from putting them on!

May 9, 2005

• The Puget Sound Club is pleased to announce that it has been approved as the host of a Level 1 Coaching Clinic this summer.  The clinic will be instructed by Marion Wolhreb, a former long track skater and regional coach with U.S. Speedskating.  It is scheduled to take place the weekend of August 19.  All parents of skaters wanting to learn more about the sport are welcome to attend.  More information will be forthcoming in the next few weeks.  

May 5, 2005

• The Club members were sorry to hear that Daniel Nam has suffered a severe injury playing soccer and will be off the ice for the next 6 to 8 weeks while his broken leg heals.  We all wish Daniel a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him back on the ice to continue his amazing progress as a speedskater.

April 10, 2005

• Six members of the Puget Sound Speed Skating Club attended the April interclub meet sponsored by the Cascade Speedskating Club in Everett on Saturday, April 9.  This was a small, fun, informal meet designed to give newer skaters a taste of racing.
  
• Racing for the first time were Julia Nam, Kevin Nam, Daniel Nam and David Lee.  Also accompanying the group was coach Chang-Ho Lee.  This was the first opportunity to see some of the fruits of his effort with his group of young skaters.  Although somewhat nervous, all skated very well.  Jan and Stacey also attended although Jan played the dual role of on-ice Referee and skater.
  
• In the Division 1 group (comprised of Adrienne, Lexius, Stacey, Cody, Daniel and Julia), the competition was fast and intense with Adrienne from the Mountain View Club in Vancouver, WA, claiming top honours amongst the guys on total points for the three distances.  Stacey had some ups and downs with a fall in the 1000 metre race, but a decent showing in the 500 metre distance.  Julia finished the 1000 m. in a time of 2:01.78 - a very respectable time for a young, novice short track skater.
  
• See results 

March 30, 2005

• J.R. Celski finished off the American Cup series for 2004-05 in fine style.  Based on points, J.R. finished in second place overall solidifying his position as a Category 1 Junior skater and entitling him to a cash award and on-going financial support for the coming season.
  
• Our congratulations go out to J.R. 

March 18, 2005

• Jan Zurcher was the only skater from Washington State to attend the North American Short Track Championships held in Milwaukee, WI, on March 18-20, 2005.  The overall turnout for the competition was quite low with the largest contingent from Ontario (26 skaters).  There were only a few Masters skaters in attendance.
  
• Jan skated to a 2nd place finish in each of the 4 distances.  It looked like she was going to win the 1500 metre race when she "booted out" on the corner with just 6 laps to go and went down to the mats.  Unfortunately, no personal bests were set.

March 2, 2005

• Two Puget Sound skaters - Stacey Michel and Jan Zurcher - attended the U.S. National Short Track Age Class Championships in Milwaukee held February 24-27, 2005. 
    
• Stacey skated in the Senior (Elite) time trials but did not make the top 16 cut after the 1000 m. time trial.  In the time trial event, she finished 27th overall out of 33 competitors.  Since she did not make the cut for the Senior competition, she skated the rest of her competition as a first year Junior.  
  
• The competition began with the 1500 m. event.  Stacey was skating a very strong race when she was impeded by a skater making a bad pass.  The actions of the other skater forced Stacey to go wide and three of the skaters in the pack passed her on the inside.  Despite a valiant effort, Stacey was unable to make up the full distance and finished in 3rd with a time of 2:45.218.  This was the 10th fastest time for the distance (out of 17 skaters).  The 500 m. race was next.  Stacey did not get a good start and finished in 3rd place in her heat with a time that left her 15th out of 18 skaters.  In the 1000 m. distance, Stacey attempted the strategy of going to the front and trying to lead a good pace.  She did an excellent job of this and although she finished in 4th place in her heat, a disqualification resulted in Stacey being advanced to the semi-final.  She tried a different strategy in the semi-final but finished in 5th place and did not make the cut into the final.  However, her time was the 9th fastest time for her age category.
  
• Jan skated in the Masters II age class.  This competition began on Thursday, which meant only 3 rest days between the conclusion of the Masters Long Track event and this Short Track event.  Jan was fourth in the 1500 m. and quite disappointed in the 1000 m. results - she still came fourth out of the 6 skaters in the final but was slower than her personal best by nearly 7 seconds.  Friday was a better day with a good showing in the 500 m. (she qualified 2nd in the semi-final and finished 4th in the final).  In the 3000 m. event, knowing that Elise Brinich was a much faster skater than she, Jan went into the race with the strategy to lead as much of the race as possible.  After leading 20 of the 27 lap race, two skaters went by and Jan ended up with a third place finish.  Overall, she finished in 4th place - just 10 points behind the 3rd place overall finisher.

• Also competing in the event was former Puget Sound skater, J.R. Celski.  J.R. should have been skating in the Juvenile age class (ages 12-13).  However, he also elected to skate the Senior (Elite) Division.  J.R. had an amazing competition - he finished 12th overall in the 1000 m. time trial and followed this with a 14th place finish in the 4 lap time trial.  Having made the top 16, he was now going to be competing against the best skaters in the country - Apolo Ohno, Rusty Smith, J.P Kepka and Shani Davis - just to name a few.  J.R. was the smallest skater in the competition but held his own.  He finished 5th in the 1500 m. final, thereby earning important points that qualified him to skate in the 3000 m super final in which he finished 5th as well.  Overall, in the competition, J.R. finished 8th overall - the youngest skater ever to finish with a top 10 finish in the Senior Elite class.  He finished off the competition winning a gold medal as part of the winning 5000 m. relay team.  Congratulations to J.R. on this amazing accomplishment.

February 18, 2005

• Jan attended her final long track competition of the season this past weekend - the Masters International - at the Pettit Ice Center in Milwaukee.  After the ice conditions in Sault Ste. Marie, to say that it was a pleasure to skate on the indoor oval at the Pettit Center is an understatement.  The Masters had a slightly different format this year.  The first day of the competition was run as an "olympic" style (or metric) competition.  Jan had never skated this type of competition before and had a hard time judging pace, so, although she won each of the distances (500 m., 1000 m. and 1500 m.)  for her age class, she did not set any personal bests.
• Sunday was run using the standard pack style format but it was a tough competition.  In a three and 1/2 hour period, the skaters skated 6 distances - 300 m., 500 m., 800 m., 1000 m., 1500 m., 3000 m. and 5000 m.  Jan won each of these distances for her age class (45-49) and was declared the overall champion.  

February 8, 2005

• After a successful weekend in Salt Lake City, Jan made the trip to Sault Ste. Marie the following weekend for the North American Long Track Age Class Championship.  Unfortunately, the weather in Sault Ste. Marie was not cooperating.  The temperature had been above freezing for most of the week prior to the competition and by Friday, the outdoor natural ice surface was pretty soft.  The referees decided on an early morning start for Saturday, so at 1:30 a.m. West Coast time, Jan found herself getting up to wait for a shuttle from the hotel to the rink.
  
• On top of the very soft ice conditions, we were skating on a 333 metre oval with corners that were misshapen due to theneed to move the corner markers 10 feet out from the normal position to avoid melting conditions and there was a 25-35 km/hr wind.  The ice surface did not accommodate setting personal bests but Jan won each distance in her age class.  Since there were not many masters ladies in the event overall, the Master 30-39 and 40-49 ladies were combined.  Jan was pleased to win the first race - 1500 metre distance - over all skaters.  The rest of the distances were close with Patti Tank (a Master I skater) edging out the win in each of the distances.  

January 28, 2005

• Jan Zurcher made the trek to the U.S. mecca of long track speedskating - the new high altitude indoor oval located in Kearns, Utah, for the 2005 U.S. National Long Track Age Class Championships.  Skating in the Master II class, Jan finished first in 4 of the five distances - setting records in the four events that she won.  Most significant was the 1500 metre distance in which she beat the former record by over 7 seconds.  She finished 3rd in the 3000 metre event.  This enabled her to claim the long track championship for the second consecutive year.  

January 23, 2005

• J.R. Celski returned to the eastern United States once again this weekend to compete in the second American Cup of the Short Track season.  The American Cup pits the best skaters in the country against one another.  At the competition, J.R. was 12th based on points.  On the time classifications, he had the 14th fastest time in the 1500 m distance;  the 11th fastest time in the 500 metre distance setting a personal best of 0:44.419;  12th in the 1000 metre distance;  and, true to form (he prefers the longer distances), he finished with the 6th fastest time overall in the 3000 metre distance - ahead of two members of the U.S. Senior National Team (Rusty Smith and Alex Izykowski).  Once again, our congratulations to J.R.   It is an extremely unusual event for a skater who is still in the Juvenile class to finish in the top 16 amongst ALL skaters in the country.

January 10, 2005

• Sixteen speedskaters from Washington, Oregon and British Columbia converged on the Everett Event Centre to attend a two day Ellis Edge speedskating camp sponsored by the Cascade Speedskating Club.  Stacey attended as a participant and Jan participated as an assistant coach.

• If you ever have an opportunity to attend a camp coached by Sue Ellis and her business partner, Paul Widdershoven, skate as fast as you can to the nearest registration desk!  Sue's camps are truly time well spent.  As one skater said just a few hours into the camp... "This camp is SOOOO good....".  What is really amazing is that almost all of the 18 hours of the camp is spent on the technical aspects of skating - doing movements slowly and precisely - feeling what generates the power under your skates.  What Sue and Paul bring to the camp is an exceptional understanding of the biomechanics of speedskating and an ability to explain these biomechanics  to skaters of all ages from 8 to 80.  Each skater gets one-on-one attention from the coaches and leaves the camp with an increased awareness of how to analyze their own skating technical performance.  For more information about Ellis Edge and Ellis Edge Camps, see the Ellis Edge web site. 

• The other tool that skaters take from the camp is how to improve the technical focus of their dryland training using TechniCords (c) a training aid developed by Ellis Edge.  With these "ropey, bungie, thing-a-ma-bobs" (as one young skater described them), a skater is able to isolate each movement of the skating stroke, to feel where their centre of gravity is and to feel the weight transfer from their heel to the ball of their foot.  In addition, the TechniCords (c) allow skaters to simulate the skating stroke dynamically for straight aways, corners, starts and even pivots.  This training tool is a great one for any speedskater who wants to improve his or her technical skating skills.  For more information about TechniCords, see the TechniCord web site.

December 20, 2004

• Stacey and J.R. both had excellent results at the U.S. Junior Championships held in Bay City, MI, this past weekend.
  
• On points, Stacey finished in 27th place of the 37 young ladies competing in the championships.  In the 1000 metre time trial, Stacey finished in 19th spot.  Her time of 1:46.810, a personal best by 2 seconds, left her just a fraction of a second out of qualifying for  the top 16 skating group.  In the first 1500 metre distance, she was disqualified for impeding while attempting a pass going into a corner but her time would have had her finishing in the top 20 - consistent with the time trial.  The 500 metre heats were a bit of a disappointment.  A clash of skates with another skater off the start left Stacey a few steps behind the pack from which she never recovered.  Her times in the two 1000 metre events were consistent with her personal bests.  Although she finished 3rd in the C final, her time was the 22nd fastest of all of the competitors.  Stacey saved the best for last - the 1500 metre superfinal.  In this event, Stacey finished in 3rd place with a time of 2:42.632 (a 6 second personal best).  This time was the 3rd fastest time recorded for the superfinal for all 37 skaters and was just 4 seconds slower than the National record for Junior girls set by Jade Wheeler in 2000.  Congratulations to Stacey on her excellent results and continued improvement (photos by Jerry Search).

• This weekend's competition was one of both elation and disappointment for J.R.  His goal going into the meet was to finish in the top 3.  He met this goal and surprised a lot of the older, more experienced skaters with his 2nd place overall finish.  J.R. started the meet with a 5th place finish in the 1000 metre time trial with a time of 1:32.510 (a personal best).  Then he surprised the entire field with a 1st place finish in the A final in the 1500 metre event.  J.R. completed the distance in 2:20.540 (another personal best).  This is an amazing result given that J.R. is only a second year Juvenile skater (aged 13 for skating purposes).  This time is 4 seconds faster than the Junior Men's (ages 15-16) record set by Rusty Smith in 1996.  The 500 metre race was next.  J.R. finished 1st in the B Final but en route to that, he skated the distance in 00:45.065 (a third personal best) which is faster that the current 500 metre record for Juvenile Boys set at last year's Age Class Nationals by Austin Yun.  

J.R. capped the competition off with a 3rd place finish in the 1000 metre A Final and another 1st place finish in the 1500 metre A Super final with another time faster than Rusty's currently standing Junior Men National Age Class record.  On points, J.R. finished in 2nd place with 2512 points, just 110 points away from the leader Ryan Bedford.  That was the elation.  

The disappointment was that although the top three skaters qualified for the U.S. Junior World Team, ISU rules require that you be 14 years of age by July 1 prior to the skating season  in order to skate in international competitions.  J.R. misses the age limit by 3 weeks.  So, while J.R. won a spot on the team, he will not be able to attend the Junior Worlds to be held in Serbia in early January.   All of us here are extremely happy for J.R. for his accomplishments. 

December 17, 2004

• Stacey and J.R. are off to eastern U.S. this weekend to test their training and to  vie for a place on the Junior Category 1 team.  This competition will see the best young U.S. skaters between the ages of 12 and 19 challenge for the Junior National title.  This will be the first time for both skaters to compete in this annual event.  Good luck to both skaters.

December 11, 2004

• Stacey took a quick trip to Southern California this weekend to participate in the Santa Claus Classic competition.  With less than ideal ice conditions and some equipment issues, she did not feel that she skated her best but still managed a respectable finish as the fourth fastest Junior girl at the competition.  

November 15, 2004

• Congratulations to Stacey on her fine performance at the first American Cup.  Stacey Michel finished in the top 30 of all of the best skaters in the country accumulating a total of 38 points.  She set personal bests in both the 1000 metre and 1500 metre distances shaving off a total of 3 seconds on the 1000 and nearly 16 seconds off her last official time in the 1500 metre event.  Well done!  
  
• In terms of time classification, Stacey was tied for 20th out of 40 skaters in the 1500 m. distance and 32nd in the 1000 m.  This bodes well for the U.S. Junior National Championships to be held in mid-December.  What is really amazing is that she did this well despite having been involved in a skating accident at a practice on the Thursday just prior to the competition  that left her with a 4" cut from her lip to under her chin.
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•     
  
• Unfortunately, J.R. had more disappointing results.  He did not get to skate in the heats of the 1500 metre event due to being charged with 2 false starts and so was placed in the last final.  While the points there were low, he finished in a time of 2:26.402 - 10 seconds faster than his best time last season and a time faster than Rusty Smith posted in the A Final for the event.  The heat of the 500 metre event was heartbreaker with a fall.  J.R. was in a heat with Rusty Smith, had a great start and was in second place going into the second turn when his feet went from under him and he was sliding towards the boards.   Again, placed in one of the last finals, J.R. skated a strong race with a 47.458 finish.    The 1000 metre heats were another disappointment.  J.R. skated to a second place finish clocking in with a time around 1:34.5 but was disqualified for impeding.   Certainly not the outcome he was hoping for but this talented skater will be a force to contend with at U.S. Juniors in December.  In terms of time classification, J.R. finished 6th out of 56 skaters in the 1500 m. distance, 35th in the 500;  and, with a time in the 1000 that would have put him in the top 10. 
•    

NOTE:  Pictures from Jerry Search's collection, Southern California

November 13, 2004

• Two Puget Sound skaters and several skaters from Everett made the trek south to attend the first annual Mountain View Speedskating Club competition.  The competition was also attended by several skaters from the Northern California Speedskating Association (including Masters Champions John Diemont and Kimon) as well as former Olympian Dan Holloway.  In all, there were about 35 skaters competing.  Everyone had a great time - even though we skated 3 distances in the space of about 90 minutes.  Congratulations to Mountain View Club on a successful event.
  
• Mikaela did not skate any personal bests but held her own in the 1500 metre event - leading the pack for much of the race and keeping faster skaters from taking the inside pass by a third cross-over coming out of the corner that closed down the inside lane.  Great job Mikaela.
  
• Jan did not have a particularly good event, skating much slower times than at the most recent competition in Vancouver, B.C., but attributes this to concern over the fact she had discovered that the back 4" of the left blade had come loose from the tube.  
  

November 11, 2004

• Stacey had a close call today at a practice in N.Y. just two days prior to the start of the American Cup competition.  A skater in front of Stacey fell and her skate kicked up and caught Stacey on the chin leaving a cut that required several stitches.  Fortunately, the incident was not more serious and Stacey will still be able to compete in the event.
  

November 10, 2004

• Stacey Michel is off to join J.R. and about 100 other skaters at the first American Cup of the season.  This American Cup is being held in Saratoga Springs, NY.  Good luck to both skaters.

October 31, 2004

• Welcome to Daniel who joined us for his first speedskating session today.  Daniel is a very competitive figure skater competing at the senior level but has decided to also give speedskating a try.  Daniel will be heading to California for the month of November for a month of training and competition but we look forward to seeing him return in December.
  
• Just a reminder that the club in Vancouver, WA, will be hosting its very first competition (and the first for the state of Washington) on November 13.  If you have never competed in a meet before, this may be a good one to try as the competition will be relatively low key and the major focus on fun and sharing a sport we enjoy with others who have the same interest.

October 25, 2004

• Registrations for the next competition - the Matsqui Blades Interclub meet - are due by no later than October 30.  Registration is limited to 200 for the whole competition, so get your registrations in early.

October 18, 2004

• Sprinker Arena is offering a public speedskating session.  Beginning the first or second Saturday in November, Sprinker Arena will be hosting a public speedskating session on Saturday evenings from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.  This will be an opportunity for the rink to showcase speedskating.  They have a set of mats that they will be setting up each week to make the session safer for those who want to go fast.  The cost is $10/skater payable to the rink.

October 16, 2004

• The first competition of the season was held in Langley this past weekend.  Stacey, Mikaela and Jan from Puget Sound participated along with a large contingent from the Cascade Club (Ben, John, Cody, Thorston and Amee).  The older skaters skated in the morning.  The ice was good and the races went quickly with each skater skating 4 distances.   None of the Puget Sound skaters had personal bests but it is early in the season and technique and confidence improved with each race culminating in an impromptu 333 distance for Stacey and John.  See Results.
  
• Stacey was hoping for better results but had a very respectable competition.  After a somewhat disappointing result in the first 500 metre distance, she pulled it together and finished the 1000 metre race less than a second from her personal best.  The second 500 metre race was much improved.  The 1500 metre was an interesting event.  The skaters were into the 3rd last lap when 3 skaters went down.  One skater did not get up quickly and with 2 laps to go, the referee called the race.  It looked as though they were going to have the skaters immediately reskate the entire distance but then they called them to the opposite side of the rink and held up a three lap card.  It was going to be a short race.  Stacey got off to her best start ever - completing the first lap in under 13.5 seconds and skating a couple of 12 second laps.  Way to go Stacey!   Stacey finished the competition as the 4th fastest Junior woman out of 20 skating at the meet.
  
• Mikaela skated technically very well - staying low, keeping her weight back and skating through the corners.  She led her group in the 1000 metre race for all but the first 2 laps, showing some good passing ability and determination.  Because of a fall, she finished low in the standings but based on times, was about the 10th fastest Junior female skater.
  
• Tim Dimerjan returned to the ice for the first competition since severely injuring his ankle in late February.  He finished with very respectable times and was the second fastest Master 1 male skater in the event.  Welcome back, Tim!
  
• Jan skated technically fairly well and came close to a personal best in the second 500 metre event.  She finished as the 2nd fastest Master 2 female skater but well behind first place Master 2 skater, Diane Silzer.
  
• Cody set personal bests in both his 500 distance and his 1000 metre race.  In the latter distance, he took nearly 6 seconds off his time from how fast he skated at U.S. Nationals late last February.  John Simon also set a couple of personal bests in both the 500 m. and 1000 m. distances.  Again, the latter distance was about 7 seconds faster than his finish in the distance at Nationals last winter.
  

October 11, 2004

• Stacey and Peggy made a quick trip to Southern California this past weekend to participate in their "Qualifier Competition".  Each skater only got to skate two races and Stacey was disappointed that she did not get a chance to skate the 1000 metre distance as she was looking for a seed time to submit for the American Cup event.  These races were quite early in the season and Stacey was somewhat disappointed with her results but a look at the times for other skaters showed that they were also off of their personal bests set at the end of last season by several seconds on most distances.  It was an opportunity to assess current level and to determine focus for the next couple of months in preparation for the American Cup and Junior Nationals.
  
• On the plus side, Stacey got to spend some time with our "roving" club member - J.R.  J.R. is enjoying the opportunity to skate with a larger group of fast skaters.  He likes his new school and living with his brother has been going well.  J.R. is skating well and finished both of his races at the Qualifier just a few seconds slower than his times at the end of last season.  He is well positioned for improved times this season.

October 5, 2004

• The first competition of the season will be the Langley Interclub Competition held October 16.  Registration is $16.00 CDN and due to Peggy Michel by October 7, 2004.

October 3, 2004

• Ice time changes for this week only:
  
  • Tuesday:  4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
  • Wednesday:  2:50 p.m. to 3:50 p.m.
  • Friday:  Cancelled  
  • Saturday - Beginners:  11:50 a.m. to 12:50 p.m.
  • Sunday:  Early session cancelled.  Beginners:  2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

September 6, 2004

• Ice time changes for this week only:
  
  • Tuesday:  2:50 p.m. to 3:50 p.m.
  • Wednesday:  2:50 p.m. to 3:50 p.m.
  • Friday:  3:10 p.m. to 4:10 p.m.  Beginners:  4:20 p.m. to 5:50 p.m.
  • Sunday:  2:45 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

August 25, 2004

• August 25 marked the last day for J.R. to skate with our club for a while.  In a search of more challenge, J.R. has moved to Southern California to skate with some of the fastest Juvenile and Junior men in the country.  All of us here are going to miss him but wish him the best in this new endeavour. 

August 20, 2004

• Mikaela, Stacey, J.R. and Jan all made the long trek across the continent to attend the Ellis Edge Camps held in Moncton, N.B.  Stacey and Mikaela skated at the intermediate camp and stayed on for the advanced camp.  J.R. skated only at the advanced camp and Jan attended this last week as an assistant coach.  The skaters improved a lot in their technical skills - particularly on the pivot and came home with lots of things to work on to keep getting faster.  In addition, they spent significant time learning about track patterns and passing strategies.  This camp should position them well for the coming skating season.

July 15, 2004

• J.R. got to experience one of the benefits of making Junior Category 1 status - an invitation to the week-long Junior Elite Development Camp at Marquette held early this summer.  Upon his return, J.R. expressed how much he liked the camp even though it was a lot of hard training.  This is because he got to spend the week training with some of the best young skaters in the country and was able to hold his own, placing well in the 1000 meter time trial.  His next major goal is to get his 1000 meter time trial down to the 1:32 time that will qualify him to skate the Olympic team trials in 2005.

June/July, 2004

• Mikaela and Stacey have taken sojourns down to sunny southern California over the past several weeks to spend some time skating under the tutelage of the very experienced and talented Wilma Boomstra.  With lots of ice time and rigorous dry land (especially running the sand dunes), the girls are sure to be in better aerobic shape when they return.

May 16, 2004

• Serendipity or just plain great luck?  About two weeks ago, our club was visited by a former National Coach for the Korean long track team - Chang Ho Lee.  He has just moved to the Tacoma area from his native Korea and is interested in volunteering as a coach for our skaters.  He has a resume of success several pages long dating back to 1997 and we are looking forward to reaping the benefit from the vast knowledge of this experienced coach of some of the best skaters in the world.  We are certain that he will be a huge influence on helping the skaters achieve their goals for the coming season.  Accompanying Mr. Lee is his wife, Kim, who skated for Korea at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.   Welcome, Coach Lee!

May 14, 2004

• The official list of skaters qualifying for Junior Category 1 status for the 2004-05 season includes Puget Sound Skater, JR Celski.  JR set this as his major goal for this season and all of us are pleased to see that his hard work and desire have been rewarded.  In addition to being named to Junior Category 1 status, JR was also named to the Junior Elite Training Team.   JR qualified for Category 1 status on the basis of finishing as the top U.S. Juvenile skater at the North American Short Track Championships.  As a result of this status, JR will have the opportunity to attend Junior Elite Training events including the Junior Elite Training Camp to be held in Marquette, MI, July 5 to 11.

March 30, 2004

• Not one to rest on his laurels, JR made yet another trip to the eastern side of the continent... this time to Cambridge, Ontario, to participate in the North American Age Class Short Track Championships.  He was competing in a very strong class of over 20 of the fastest 12 and 13 year olds in North American and finished in 5th place overall as the top placing American.   The competition was won by Maxime Fortin, a skater from Quebec, who scored a perfect 1000 points with first place finishes in all four distances.  JR finished first in all of his quarter finals and qualified for the A Final in all but one distance.

• The competition started off with the 777 m. distance in which JR set a personal best of 1:13.410 en route to qualifying for the A Final.  In the final, he finished 3rd winning his first medal in a major ice competition.  Well done, JR!

• Next came the 666 metre event.  Although he skated a personal best in the semi-final with a time of 1:03.790, he just missed making the A Final in the distance.  He finished in 1st place in the B Final for the event.  In the 500 metre race, he shaved a bit more time off his personal best set just two weeks before with a time of 00:47.310 and ended up 6th overall in the distance with a second place finish in the B Final.  The only disappointment was in the 1000 metre distance.  JR qualified for the A Final based on total points but fell during the race to finish in 6th place. 

March 17, 2004

• After only a two week rest, JR headed off to the second American Cup of the season.  He was melting the ice under his blades at the rink in Milwaukee, WI,  as he finished as the 17th fastest of U.S. skaters over the age of 12 (and the second fastest Juvenile skater overall).   After not doing as well as he hoped at the U.S. Nationals, JR went into this event with something to prove.  The opening event was the 1500 m. race and JR just missed qualifying for the next round by a hair's breadth but still posted a personal best time of 2:33.774.  The next race was the 500 m. distance and JR clocked another personal best with a time of 00:47.943.  In the 1000 metre race, JR skated yet another personal best - 1:36.973.  The final event was the 3000 m. distance in which JR set a blistering pace finishing in first place in his final with a clocking of 5:23.452 - finishing with the 7th fastest time overall.

• JR finished in 15th place overall based on total points at the two American Cup events held this season.  Congratulations, JR!

March 4, 2004

• A contingent of 6 skaters from western Washington trekked east to Cleveland, Ohio, for the 2004 U.S. National Age Cass Short Track Competition.  Although there were no medals, there were many personal bests:
  • JR Celski made an impressive appearance with a finish in the top ten overall in the Juvenile boys division.  The competition started with the 1000 m distance which is one at which JR excels.  He made a great move on the corner putting his knee on the ice during a pivot to keep from falling but was disqualified for impeding.  His time of 00:47.734 in the 500 m. race was the 8th fastest posted at the competition.  He had the 6th fastest time overall in the 333 event setting a personal best with a time of 00:32.720 and qualifying for the semi-final.  His time of 1:16.365  in the 777 m. distance, another personal best, was the 5th fastest of the 24 competitors in the class and also boosted him into the semi-fianls.   
  • Mikaela Cox skated in the Juvenile girls class.  This was her first year participating in the National competition and she held her own, posting personal bests in several distances:  skating a 00:58.020 in the 500 m. event, 00:38.133 in the 333 m. distance and finishing in 17th place with a clocking of 1:33.945 in the 777 m. race.
  • Stacey Michele made her second appearance at the U.S. Nationals and held her own making it out of the initial rounds in three distances and qualifying for the semi-finals in the 777 m. distance.  She finished with the 15th fastest time overall in the 1000 m. distance with a time of 1:53.457.  In the 500 metre and 333 m. races, she set personal bests by  significant amounts finishing with the 11th fastest times in each at a clocking of 00:52.615 in the 500 and 00:35.174 in the 333.  She had the 9th fastest time of the 21 competitors in the 777 m. event and posted a time of 1:23.037 - yet another personal best.
  • John Simon, a skater with the Cascade Club and new to ice skating this season, participated in his first U.S. Nationals event in the Intermediate class.  John's first race was the 1500 m. distance - a long race for a novice skater but John finished with a respectable time of 3:02.790.  An equipment violation left him on the sidelines looking on for the 500 m. distance and a fall in the 1000 m. distance left him finishing in last place with a time of 2:06.991.  Although not the experience that he wanted, this was an excellent learning opportunity for John and he is looking forward to better results next year.  
  • Cody Young was also attending his first U.S. National competition this year.  Although he finished well in the back of the pack, he set personal bests in most distances and showed a tenacity and drive to never give up.  He finished the 1000 m. distance in a time of 2:00.067;  set a personal best in the 500 m. distance with a time of 00:56.448 and in the 333 m. with a time of 00:37.923.  His shining moment was when he finished 3rd in his heat in the 333 m. distance.  His most disappointing moment was a fall in the 777 m. distance that happened early in the race but to his credit, despite an injured shoulder, he completed the race.
  • Jan Zurcher competed in the Master's portion of the competition that took place on Thursday and Friday morning prior to the beginning of the Age Class event.  After a great long track season, the results were disappointing as she did not qualify for any finals.  The only real highlight was setting a personal best by a "smidgen" in the 1000 m. distance.

February 17, 2004

• Jan Zurcher competed in the Masters International Long Track competition held this past weekend in Milwaukee.  Over 70 masters competitors ranging in age from 30 to 84 took part.  The event kept the competitors busy with 5 races between 8 a.m. and noon each day.  Jan finished in first place overall in the 45-49 age class with wins in the 300 m., 500 m., 800 m. and 1000 m. events and second place finishes in the 1500 m. and 3000 m. events.

February 10, 2004

• Jan Zurcher headed to the cold clime of Minneapolis for the 2004 North American Age Track Long Track Championships.  Over 150 skaters from the U.S. and Canada participated in what was a very well run event.  With temperatures near the -20 mark with the wind chill, it was a challenging competition.  Jan participated in the Masters II class where all of the races between the top two skaters in the class were very close with Jan finishing first in each of the 4 distances.  Although she set no personal bests, on Saturday, she did establish a new record in the North American 1000 m. event for outdoor ovals with a time of 1:49.61.   Despite the 25 mph wind blowing on Sunday morning, she had a good race going in the 500 m. distance until she slipped about 20 metres from the finish line and ended up just short of a record for the event.  Based on total points, Jan was declared the North American Long Track Master II Champion for 2004. 

February 2, 2004

• Jan Zurcher was the only Puget Sound skater to make the trek to Milwaukee for the 2004 U.S. National Age Track Long Track Championships.  There were over 180 U.S. skaters in the event from all corners of the country including Florida, California and Alaska.  Jan participated in the Masters II class with 5 other skaters.  She lost the 1500 m. event by a mere 3/10 to finish in 2nd place.  In the 800 m. event, she redeemed herself taking first place in a photofinish, claiming top spot by a mere 4/100 of a second.  Jan also won the 500 m and 1000 m events establishing a new U.S. National Master II record in the latter distance.  And, although she skated the 3000 m. event 18 seconds faster than the previous record, she finished in 3rd place in the distance.  Kathy Zapatocki of Chesapeake set the new mark of 5:10.750 - an amazing 24 seconds faster than the existing National record.  Based on total points, Jan was declared the U.S. National Long Track Master II Champion for 2004. 

January 31, 2004

• Four Puget Sound skaters participated in the Sardis Interclub competition on January 31, 2004.   JR finished in the top 3 of the competition behind an Intermediate male and a Junior male skater.  There were a few tense moments when he fell in the final race of the day - a 777 m. event - and was unable to finish.  Stacey had another strong showing with a solid skate in both the 500 m. and 1000 m. races.    Overall, Stacey was the 3rd fastest Juvenile girl in the competition.   Cody Young and Mikaela Cox also had strong performances finishing with very similar times.   Cody was the 12th fastest Juvenile male skater and Mikaela finished as the 5th fastest Juvenile girl.  The foursome than combined to skate in the Juvenile and up relays to finish first in their event.  Well done, everyone!  For times and overall results, see the protocol.  

January 25, 2004

• The Puget Sound Speedskating Club was proud to be the host of an Ellis Edge Clinic this month.   A hardy thanks to Peggy Michel for making all of the arrangements with Sue and with the ice rink in Everett.  Without her tireless efforts, this event would not have taken place and would not have gone as smoothly as it did.
  
• Sixteen intermediate to advanced skaters from as far north as Prince George, British Columbia, and as far south as Southern California gathered at the Everett Events Centre to participate in an Ellis Edge Camp coached by Sue Ellis and her coaching partner, Paul Widdershoven, from New Brunswick, Canada.  Sue was a coach for the 2002 U.S. Olympic Short Track Speedskating team and comes with a host of other credits garnered over her many years of involvement with the sport of speedskating (including US Speedskating Coach of the Year in 2000 and being a member of the Canadian Natioanl Short Track team from 1981 through 1984) .   
  
• While Sue's approach is deceptively simple - begin with the basics and build from there - her coaching ideas and techniques dealing with weight placement and weight transfer are unique in the speedskating world making her camps and clinics enormously popular.  You know that she is doing something different when she can keep a group of mostly teenagers bent on speed focused on practicing technique slowly for an entire weekend.  Over the course of the two day event, the skaters participated in 4 ice sessions (for a total of about 8 hours on ice) and 4 dryland sessions (about another 8 hours) as well as video and photo analysis.
  
• Sue takes a positive approach to reinforcement, encouraging skaters to assess themselves on what they are learning and how well they are doing the technical drills.  She asks them to talk about what they think they did well rather than focusing on what they did wrong.  She encourages them to "feel" the "good feelings" of doing the technique correctly.  Through this method, she helps skaters feel better about themselves and their skating.  Within the first 3 hours of the camp, one skater could be heard saying:  "I feel faster already."
  
• We had a great group of skaters participating in this event - varying in age from 12 to over 50.  All of the skaters were eager to learn and tried very hard to put Sue's teaching to work.  We want to thank everyone who participated and hope to make this an annual event in the Pacific Northwest.  We hope that your skating has improved as a result of your participation in this camp.

January 17, 2004

• Three Puget Sound skaters journeyed north to participate in the POCO Interclub competition on January 17, 2004.   JR has a stellar event - skating in the top group against two very large seniors and a couple of juniors - for all but his first race.  He set personal bests in his 500 m. distance (48.25), the 777 m. distance (1:18.07) and astonished a lot of people when he finished in 2nd place in the 1500 m. event with a solid time of 2:38.03.   
  
• Jan finally managed to find the elusive key to getting past Bob Hornbidge and managed to do so in each race and although she set no personal bests, she finished strong in each event and even took a risk on passing in the 500 m. event (for which she ended up with a DQ but at least she made the effort).  Overall, she was 2nd of the Masters ladies and about the middle of the pack for all masters skaters.  
  
• Cody had solid races in each distance displaying an excellent passing ability.   He has a personal best in the 666 m. event with a time of 1:18.61.  Overall, he was 13th amongst the Juvenile boys.  
  
• Stacey Michel was unable to join us for this event as a result of a knee injury suffered at an in-line skating practice earlier in the week.    For a look at the times and the overall results, see the protocol.  

January 7, 2004

• Since the Maple Ridge Interclub competition was limited to Senior skaters and below and since JR broke his wrist in a snowboarding mishap on the Thanksgiving weekend, only four skaters from Washington headed north this weekend.  There were a few tense moments when Dennis King fell with just 3 laps to go in his first race.  He cut himself severely with his skate and was transported to the hospital by St. John's Ambulance.  Rumours were flying... it's a compound fracture... he severed all the tendons... etc.  But, fortunately, less than an hour later he returned (on crutches) with 12 stitches holding together the nasty cut.

December 7, 2003

• Since the Maple Ridge Interclub competition was limited to Senior skaters and below and since JR broke his wrist in a snowboarding mishap on the Thanksgiving weekend, only four skaters from Washington headed north this weekend.  There were a few tense moments when Dennis King fell with just 3 laps to go in his first race.  He cut himself severely with his skate and was transported to the hospital by St. John's Ambulance.  Rumours were flying... it's a compound fracture... he severed all the tendons... etc.  But, fortunately, less than an hour later he returned (on crutches) with 12 stitches holding together the nasty cut.
  
• On a happier note, this was the first competition for John Simon who lives in Marysville and currently skates at the Everett facility.  He started off the meet with a splash as he took a fall through a very wet corner in the 1000 metre distance.  Undeterred, he did extremely well in all the rest of his events placing first in his first 500 metre race, 5th in the 1500 metre event and 3rd in his second 500 metre attempt.  
  
• Stacey Michel showed improved technique in all of her races.  She was disappointed in her first 500 metre time (still chasing that, as yet, elusive 53 second mark) but skated a strong race technically.  Her placing in the first two events put her into the top 18 skaters for the entire competition and she skated a 1500 metre distance for only the second time, setting a personal best.  In her final 500 metre event, she skated a solid race finishing in second place.
  
• Cody Young skated consistently throughout this competition with times that solidify his improvement over the past two to three months.   He finished in first place in his 1000 metre heat with a personal best time of 2:01.10.  He finished in 4th in his first 500 metre race.  Placed third in the 777 metre distance in his heat and was 2nd in his 2nd 500 metre event of the day,
  
• Well done, everyone.   Full results

November 27, 2003

• Disappointing news for the Puget Sound Team... One of our better young skaters, JR Celski took a tumble on the snowboarding trail and broke his right wrist on the day after Thanksgiving.  We all  wish him a quick and full recovery.

November 25, 2003

• One of our more faithful team members, Tim Dimerjian has just announced that he has taken up employment in Salt Lake City, Utah.  This opportunity will enable him to pursue his desire to try out long-track speedskating in a serious way.  The move is scheduled for sometime in early December.  We all wish Tim good luck in this new adventure!

November 24, 2003

• US Team finishes in 32nd place for second time in a row at the 2003 at the ISU Global Club Short Track Competition in Mannheim, Germany.   The U.S. team comprised of just 3 competing skaters amassed a total of 556 points in the 3 day event - about half of the winning team, Bormio, with 15 team members.  Congratulations to all of the participants.  Below is a photo of Mikeala in one of her races.
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November 18, 2003

• Two Puget Sound skaters are off to Mannheim, Germany to compete in the ISU Global Club Short Track Competition to take place November 21 -23.  Mikaela Cox and Dennis King, Jr., both decided to take advantage of this unique opportunity to visit Germany and compete in an international inter-club competition.  This unique event was inaugerated in 2001 and it is hoped it will be held every two years at a different international location.  In 2001, 39 clubs from around the globe competed in this event with a club from Bormio, Italy, claiming top spot.  The team from the U.S. finished in 32nd spot two years ago.  This year, there are 45 international clubs competing (including a club from Antarctica!) and the U.S. is represented by a total of 4 skaters.   Good luck to Mikaela and Dennis and their other team mates, Sadie Grace and Chris Knapp.

November 10, 2003

• JR Celski travelled to Saratoga Springs, New York this past weekend to participate in the first American Cup event.  Skating against most of the best skaters in America, including members of the U.S. 2002 Olympic Team and the current U.S. National Team, one of the youngest skaters in the competition, he finished in the top 35 of all male short track skaters in the country.  In the first event of the competition, he got to go "head to head" with Michael Kooreman, a member of the U.S. National team in the 1500 metre heats.  He finished in a time of 2:35.49, just a couple of seconds behind the leader.  Overall, in the 1500 m. event, he was ranked 28th.  In the heats of the 500 metre event, a disappointing fall put him out of contention.  His overall ranking in this distance was 42nd.  In the 1000 m. event, his final time placed him 38th overall based on time.  In the 3000 m. event, his first time ever skating this distance in competition, JR finished with a 27th place ranking.  Congratulations, JR!  

November 2, 2003

• Six Puget Sound skaters and their families made the trek north to Abbotsford, B.C. for the first interclub short track event of the season.  The skaters did exceptionally well with nearly everyone picking up at least one personal best.  JR, Stacey Michel and Cody all moved into the Juvenile age class this year.  JR Celski, Timothy Demerjian, Dennis King and Cody Young led the pack with personal bests in every distance.  It was a good opening event and we are looking forward to the next competition on December 6.  Full results.
  
  • JR finished 2nd overall in the Juvenile division.  He started the event with a blistering pace in the 777 - finishing second in a time of 1:18.07 (almost 2.5 seconds faster than his previous best in the distance).  He followed this by posting a time of 48.51 in the 500 m event (again shaving 2 seconds off his previous best).  The 666 was the next distance, again he finished 2nd in a time of 1:06.46.   He capped off the day with a win in the 1000 metre event skating a very smart race, placing himself behind the much larger Matt Moore early in the race and passing with just 2 laps to go for the win.
    
  • Stacey Michel, coming off an illness all week, skated very well.  In the first event, the 777 m, she showed improved technique with a much smoother, lower skating position.  She was skating a strong race when her skate caught a rut and she fell with just 3 laps to go.  The next distance she skated was the 500 m event and she finished within 3/10 of a second of her personal best claiming 1st place in the race.  Then came the 666 m race.  Stacey had now moved into a faster group but held her own finishing 4th with a new personal best about 1 second faster than her previous time.  The day finished with the 1000 m event which is typically one of Stacey's strongest distances.  She skated a good race but finished in 5th place.  Overall, she was tied for top spot amongst the Juvenile girls in the competition.  
    
  • Cody skated his best ever in this competition.  He showed a lot of confidence in his skating and showed a strong passing ability in several of his events.  He started the competition by finishing 2nd in his 777 m. race posting a personal best of 1:33.73.  He followed this with his first ever sub-minute 500 m distance by shattering his previous best with a 58.02 time.  He finished the day with 2 more personal best - a 1:19.90 in the 666 m and a 2:01.58 in the 1000 metre event.  Overall, he finished in the top 12 of the Juvenile boys.
    
  • Tim has been working hard all summer to get lower while skating and it showed in his skating at this competition.  He surpassed all of his previous person bests by several seconds.  In the opening event, the 1500 m, he lapped the field and finished in a time of 3:20.73.  He followed this with a 2:05.29 in the 1000 m event.  He just missed that elusive sub-minute 500 m with a time of 1:00.01.  How close can you get?  And finished off the last event of the day, the 777 m with a 2nd place finish just 2/10 of a second behind the winner.  Overall, he was the 2nd fastest Master 1 male at the competition.
    
  • Dennis King is the "new kid on the block" for the club.  He surprised a few people (maybe even himself) with his results.  Several people could be heard commenting:  "Boy, that guy is good!  He's got a lot of power!"  He finished 3rd overall in the Senior Men's group at his very first competition after only 5 weeks on ice skates.  The first event was a daunting 1500 m and although he was clearly struggling with the distance, he finished a strong 2nd in the race.  The 1000 metre distance was more to his liking and he finished 1st in this race.  By the time the 500 metre event came along, he had found his "ice legs" and finished first with a sub-50 second clocking of 49.26.  He also skated a very strong 777 m race finishing in 3rd but was disqualified in the event.
    
  • Jan Zurcher closed out the team for Puget Sound.  In the 1500 metre event, a clash of skates within the 1st half lap put her down on the ice and out of a good time.  In the 1000 metre event, she got off the line last but managed to pass each of the other 5 competitors one at a time to finish in 1st place by just 2/100 of a second.  The 500 metre event was a close race with all of the competitors tightly bunched through most of the race and all 4 skaters finishing within less than 1 second of each other.  The final event was the 777 m., and was another hard fought race with Jan finishing 3rd, less than 1/2 second behind the leader.  Overall, she finished 2nd out of the 5 Masters II women in the competition.

October 25, 2003

• It's official!  Sue Ellis, former coach for the 2002 U.S. Olympic team will be coming to the Seattle area to conduct a clinic on January 23 - 25, 2004.  Save this date on your calendar.  Registration is limited to the first 25 skaters.  Cost of the clinic is expected to be around $300 per skater.  Keep tuned.  More information will be available in early November, 2003.  

September 12, 2003

• Be sure to plan to attend the club meeting on Sunday, September 21, 2003, at the Puget Sound Hockey Center after skating practice.

July 31, 2003

• Three Puget Sound skaters attend the Ellis Edge Camp in New Brunswick.   
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June 15, 2003

• Bellingham Club will be hosting a Level 1 coaching clinic on August 22 through August 24 in Bellingham, WA.  The cost of the clinic is anticipated to be $75 USD per person plus an additional sum for ice time.  The clinic would be instructed by Marion Wohlrab, the Western Regional Coach and a 2002 Olympian from Germany.  For more information or to register, contact Bruce Guthrie at SpdSk8@aol.com.  

• There are still some spaces available at the Short Track Camp being hosted by the Matsqui Blades in Abbotsford, British Columbia, the week of August 18 to August 22.   This is a fun event featuring ice time, dry land and classroom sessions for skaters of all abilities.  The cost for early registration is $100 CDN.  After July 1, 2003, registration fees will be $125 CDN.  For more information, contact the B.C. Speedskating Association at (604) 853-7708.

March 31, 2003

• Jan Zurcher is the 2003 North American Short Track Champion.  Stacey Michel finishes in top 18 and continues to improve her personal best times.

  • Stacey skated with a very fast group of Juvenile girls in the North American Championships.  She finished the 777 m. event in a time of 1:27.812 - more than a second faster than at Nationals just the week prior (and an overall 17th place finish).  The 333 m. time was 0:38.171 - consistent with Nationals (19th place overall), as was the 500 m. time at 0:55.917 (18th place overall).  To finish in the top 15 at the national level and in the top 17 at the North American level as a first year skater is a remarkable accomplishment.

  • Jan skated in the Master II class at North Americans.  The competition got off to a good start with a first place finish in both the 777 m. and the 1000 m.  In the 500 m. distance, again, a poor start caused her to be chasing the pack for the entire race.  Completing a pass at the final turn for the win, Jan tripped about 5 metres from the finish line and ended up in 2nd place.  On the final day of competition, Jan took an early lead in the 1500 m. race and finished about 10 seconds ahead of the closest competitor.  As a result of 3 golds and 1 silver, she finished in first place overall on points and was declared the 2003 North American Short Track Champion.

March 24, 2003

• JR Celski claims 4th place overall in the Midget class at U.S. Age Class Nationals;  Ryan Fang is ranked 6th overall in 3 distances;  Chris Ferris made the top 15 in 2 distances;  Gary Gandee finishes 6th in the 500 m. and 8th in the 1000 m. Stacey Michel finishes in the top 15 in all distances;  Jan Zurcher placed 3rd in all 4 events in the Masters II class for a 3rd place finish overall. 

JR Celski left his mark on the U.S. Nationals.  He skated extremely well in a competitive class of 25 midget aged skaters - most of whom have been to nationals several times before - finishing a very close 4th in overall points (just 5 points behind the 3rd place skater).  JR qualified for every final and finished in 4th place (iron medal) in the 333 m. with a time of 0:34.179;  in 3rd place in the 777 m. with a time of 1:20.482;  in 2nd place in the 611 m. distance.  Only a disqualification in the last turn of the 500 m. distance prevented him from finishing in the top 3 overall.  His unofficial time in the 500 m. was a personal best of 0:50.891.   He is officially ranked 5th overall in the distance based on his semi-final time.  Congratulations, JR.

• Ryan Fang competed in the Pony class with 24 other skaters and finished a strong 6th overall.  He had some trouble in his first race (500 m.) with a fall but finished the meet with improved times in all of his distances.  He placed 3rd in the quarter finals for the 222 m. race and qualified for the semi finals.  In the semi-final, he finished with a time of 0:28.596 (finished 7th overall).  He finished first in his heats in both the 444 m. and 333 m. distances.  In the semi-finals, he finished 5th in the 444 m. semi-final with a time of 0:54.478 (finishing 6th overall);  and, 4th in the 333 m. distance semi-final with a time of 0:39.532 (finishing 6th overall).

• Chris Ferris also competed in a large, competitive class of Juvenile skaters (aged 12-13).  He completed the 1000 m. distance in a personal best time of 1:49.902 (finishing in the top 15);  skated the 333 m. distance in 0:36.168 (finishing 17th overall);  and finished 3rd in the quarter finals in the 777 m. distance with a time of 1:22.599 to qualify for the semi finals (ranking him 14th overall in the competition for the distance).

• Gary Gandee, who decided at the last minute to compete, faced a very competitive group of Master 1 skaters.  He was unfortunate in the 1500 semi-final and stepped on a block in the second last turn as he was about to pass a skater to claim a qualifying position in the final.  As a result of the fall, he did not finish the race.  He ended up in the fast heat for the the semi-final in the 500 m. distance and although he skated a 51.477, he did not make the cut for the final.  He was 4th in his semi final in the 1000 m. race with a time of 1:50.463.

• Stacey Michel skated extremely well in the Juvenile girls class, finishing in the top 15 and setting personal bests in every distance. In the 1000 m. distance, she skated a 1:56.243 - 2 seconds faster than her previous best.  In the 333 m. race, she finished in 0:37.905.  Her favorite distance is the 777 m. race which she completed in 1:29.062 - again, 2 seconds faster than her previous best.  And, finally, in the 500 m. distance, she broke the 56 second mark finishing in 0:55.846 to finish 13th overall.  This is nearly 15 seconds faster than when she started skating about a year ago.

• Jan Zurcher skated in the Master II class.  The winner of the class - Beth Bedford - was in a class by herself finishing most distances in times that smashed the old records significantly, so the battle was for 2nd.  A bad start in the 500 m. final left Jan chasing the pack and unable to make up the distance leaving her with a 3rd place finish.  A skater fell in front on her in the 1000 m. causing a large loss of time and another 3rd place finish.  In the 1500 m. distance, she was 2 seconds back to finish 3rd and in the 3000 m. finished less than 0.5 seconds behind 2nd place.  With 3rds in all 4 distances, she finished 3rd overall.

• For most of the skaters, this was the culmination of a very successful season.  Only Stacey Michel and Jan Zurcher stayed in Milwaukee to compete in the North Americans the following weekend.

March 18, 2003

• The Club will send its largest contingent to the U.S. National Short Track Championships in over 5 years.  Six skaters will be attending the competition in Milwaukee - JR Celski, Ryan Fang, Chris Ferris, Gary Gandee, Stacey Michel and Jan Zurcher.  The skaters are excited, ready and looking forward to a fun event.

March 16, 2003

• Puget Sound skaters will appear in a television commercial in April and May.  On Sunday, March 16, 2003, a camera crew taped a practice session of the club for a TV commercial that will advertise the opening of the new rink in Bremerton, WA.  Stay posted for sample video from the taping.

February 20, 2003

• There will be no Friday ice time until after mid-March, 2003.  Ice time will be available from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Mondays and some Tuesdays with the main focus on preparing those skaters going to Nationals.  
  

February 16, 2003

• The Puget Sound SSC is proud of all 4 of its skaters who participated in the BC Cup #2 in Matsqui.  They all came home with personal bests in every distance skated as well as excellent finishing places in their divisions.  (See results.)  

  • JR Celski finished in 3rd place in Division 3 competing against several much older skaters.  Although not an age class meet, JR skated the fastest time of any Midget boy (his age class) in both the 500 metre and 777 metre races.  For the other two races, he skated different distances than other Midgets but his times were faster than those of all or all but 1 or 2 of the Juvenile age skaters.  

  • Ryan Fang, skating in his second competition, finished in 2nd place overall in his division posting the fastest time of any Bantam boy skater in the 500 metre race and the 4th fastest time for any Bantam boy in the 333 metre and 666 metre races.

  • Chris Ferris, also in only his second competition, finished 1st in Division 5.  His times in the 777 metre and 1000 metre races were the 5th fastest of any male Juvenile aged skater, about 5 seconds and 8 seconds faster, respectively, than his previous personal bests for these distances. 

  • Stacey Michel finished 3rd in Division 6, setting personal bests in all 4 of her distances as well as skating times within the top 10 for all of the female Juvenile skaters at the competition.
    

• Jan Zurcher placed first overall at the Masters International Long Track Championships in the 45-49 age class, taking first place in all 5 point distances skated, significantly improving the record times from last year's Masters event in each distance and setting a personal best in the 800 metre distance.
  
  

February 9, 2003

• Jan Zurcher became the 2003 North American Long Track Champion in Masters II class, setting new North American Records in the 500 metre, 1000 metre and 3000 metre distances.  See pictures.

• Gary Gandee placed 2nd at Las Vegas Invitational Inline competition held February 6-10, 2003.

February 2, 2003

• Ryan Fang and Christy Crudo got their first taste of competition at B.C. meet in Sardis.

• Jan Zurcher placed 2nd overall in Masters 2 class at U.S. National Long Track Championships in Butte, Montana - tying the former 500 metre record and eclipsing the former 3000 metre record by 7.5 seconds

• 3 skaters - JR Celski, Chris Ferris, Stacey Michel - qualified for the B.C. Cup #2 Short Track competition to be held on February 15-16, 2003.

January 18, 2003

• Stacey Michel broke the 1:00 minute mark for her short track 500 metre race at Burnaby competition.

• 3 skaters attended the Burnaby competition and each set personal bests in 2 or more distances.

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