Feb 19

U.S. Junior Long Track Speedskaters do Well in World Competition

February 19, 2008- Eno, Japan. At the 2008 Junior Speedskating Country Match for Long Track speedskating in Eno, Japan, the U.S. team did very well with Heather Richardson (High Point , North Carolina) bringing home a gold and silver medal in the Ladies 500m and 1000m events with respective times of 41.51 and 1:24.32. Ericka Hawke skated a fast 41.75 to win the bronze medal in the Ladies 500m and Mia Manganello (Salt Lake City, UT) finished in 4th place during the Ladies 1000m with a time of 1:24.99. The men brought home their share of medals in the Men's 1500m with Laurence Ducker ( Minneapolis, MN ) winning the gold with a time of 1:57.55 and sharing the podium with Brian Hansen (Chicago, IL ) who earned a bronze medal finish with 1:58.34. In the Men's 500m, Ducker earned a silver medal, skating a fast 38.16. Hansen finished 4th in both the Men's 500m and 3000m events, followed by Trevor Marsicano (Ballston Spa, NY ) who took 6th in the Men's 3000 and tied for 7th in the Men's 500m. Robert Lawrence (Gaffney, North Carolina ) finished tenth in the Men's 500m. In the closing event of the Country Match, the U.S. Men's team won a silver medal in the Team Pursuit with a time of 4:04.92. The Junior World Team moves on to compete February 22-24 at the ISU World Junior Speedskating Championships in Changchun, China. For additional information please contact Kori Novak, Director, PR , Media at 801-417-5360 or media@usspeedskating.org About US Speedskating: US Speedskating is a nonprofit organization recognized by the United States Olympic Committee as the national governing body for the sport of Speedskating in the United States. To date, US Speedskating has won a total of 75 Olympic medals, making it the most successful winter sport in the USA. ####