HEERENVEEN, NED (December 3, 2011) – Tucker Fredricks (Janesville, WI) led Team USA in Heerenveen today with a 4th pace finish in the 500m (2) event. "I feel like I skated fairly well today,” said Fredricks. “I'm glad that the Fall World Cups are done, because I need a break from racing now. I'm excited to go home and start training again for the second half of the season." Fredricks currently ranks 3rd in overall World Cup standings.
Pekka Koskela (FIN) won the 500m (2) today with a time of 35,01, followed by Joji Kato (JPN 35.02 and Jesper Hospes (NED) 35.06. Joey Lindsey (Las Vegas, NV) placed 14th with a time of 35.48.
"Tucker had another strong race today, but just had a small mistake in the second turn,” said US National Sprint Team Head Coach Ryan Shimabukuro. “The field is too deep, so any mistake can cost you a medal, and it did today."
Heather Richardson (High Point, N.C.) finished 7th in today’s 500m (2) with a time of 38.43. "I'm happy with my 500m today,” said Richardson. “That the speed is starting to come back, but I'm also happy to be going home and get back to training again."
“We really worked on getting Heather’s skating technically better this week and it showed, but she really needs a solid block of training over the next month or so to get her specific strength back which will help her in the end of her races," added Shimabukuro.
Jing Yu (CHN) won today’s 500m distance posting 37.67, followed by Jenny Wolf (CAN) 38.19, and Laurine van Riessen (NED) 38.20. Brittany Bowe (Ocala, FL) finished 17th with a time of 39.16.
In the men’s 10,000m, Jonathan Kuck (Champaign, IL) finished the distance in 7th place with a time of 13:11.57. The Dutch swept the podium with Jorrit Bergsma winning gold with 12:50.33, Bob de Jong capturing silver with 12:55, and bronze for Bob de Vries at 13.03.41. "It was progress from last weekend, but I still have stuff to work on," said Kuck after today’s 25-lap race.
"Jonathan was focused on skating this race technically correct today since he's been a bit inconsistent in his racing,” explained Shimabukuro. “This was by far the best race of the World Cups, but still with room for improvement. He was also only a few tenths off his personal best time so it showed he's on the right track."
Full results from today’s racing are available at: http://live.isuresults.eu/2011-2012/heerenveen-1/ Racing continues tomorrow beginning at 2:00am (MST) with the Ladies & Men’s 1000m,Team Pursuit and Team Sprint. Division A racing will be broadcast live beginning at 5:00am (MST) at http://livemanager.eurovision.edgesuite.net/isu/site/index.html.
For additional information on Team USA and long track speedskating, please visit the following link for a copy of our 2011 Fall Media Guide: http://content.yudu.com/A1uqu9/LTMediaGuide2011/resources/index.htm
Essent ISU World Cup 3 – Heerenveen
TEAM USA Day 2 Results
Div A men's 10,000m: 1) Bergsma 12:50.33 2) De Jong 12:55.11 3) De Vries 13:03.41 7) Jonathan Kuck 13:11.57
Div B men’s 10,000m: 1)Baumgartner 13:08.69 2)Lee 13:10.08 3)Weber 13:17.03 13) Patrick Meek 13:48.63
Div A Ladies 1500m: 1) Nesbitt 1:55.68 2) Wust 1:57.15 3) Shikova 1:57.20 20) Heather Richardson 2:00.61
Div A Men 500m: 1) Koskela 35.01 2) Kato 35.02 3) Hospes 35.06 4) Tucker Fredricks 35.07 14) Joey Lindsey 35.48
Div B Men 500m: 1) Lobkov 35.27 2)Puolakka 35.59 3)MacLennan 35.613 17) Shani Davis 36.36 18) Matt Plummer 36.59 20) Mitch Whitmore 38.36
Div A Ladies 500m: 1) Jing 37.67 2) Wolf 38.19 3) Van Reissen 38.20 7) Heather Richardson 38.43 17) Brittany Bowe 39.16
Div B Ladies 500m: 1) Aydova 38.80 2) Nishina 39.10 3) Fatkulina 39.20 9) Lauren Cholewinski 39.54 12) Kelly Gunther 40.21