OBIHIRO, Japan (March 2, 2012) - The ISU 2012 Long Track Junior World Championships opened today in Obihiro, Japan with the ladies 1500m, men’s 3000m and the ladies and men’s 500m.
Emery Lehman (Oak Park, Ill.) posted the top finish for Team USA today in the men’s 3000m, taking 5th with a time of 3:53.78, 7.08 seconds back from distance winner Sverre Lunde Pedersen (NOR) with a time of 3:46.70. Chris Anderson (Fern Park, FL) posted a time of 4:10.11 to finish 28th.
In the men’s 500m (1) race, Andrew Astalos (Lakeport, MI) had the top finish for Team USA at 31st place (37.86), followed by Luke Tewddale (Madison, WI)) with a time of 38.59 (41st), Lehman 38.66 (45th) and Anderson 39.67 (50th). Laurent Bubreuil (CAN) won today’s 500m (1) posting 35.62 seconds, followed by Tsubasa Hasegawa (JPN) with a time of 35.63, and Woo-Jin Kim (KOR) in 3rd with 36.15.
In the men’s 500m Allround, Lehman placed 23rd and Anderson finished 28th . Lehman sits 13th, and Anderson is 29th in Allround standings after two events.
Petra Acker (Saratoga Springs, NY) led Team USA’s ladies with a 16th place (2:07.024) in today’s 1500m. Hanna Curwin (Duluth, MN) posted 2:09.89 for 25th place, and Jaclyn Rowe (Wheaton, Ill.) finished 37th with a time of 2:13.09.
Jerica Tandiman (West Jordan, UT) skated a 41.61 in today’s 500m (1) for 25th place. Korea’s Hyun-Yung Kim won the distance with a time of 39.41, followed by Miho Takagi (JPN) at 39.60, and Karolina Erbanova (CZE) taking 3rd with 39.633. Acker posted 41.95 (33rd), Rowe 42.81 (39th), and Curwin finished 40th (43.33). For the ladies 500m Allround, Acker took 23rd, Rowe 29th, and Curwin 30th.
In Allround standings, Acker leads Team USA’s ladies in 15th place, Curwin is 29th, and Rowe is 30th.
Racing continues tomorrow in Obihiro with the ladies 1000m and 3000m, and the men’s 500m (2), 1500m and 5000m.
Follow all the action from Obihiro on our Twitter and Facebook pages, and look for daily event recaps on our website. Please visit the following site for a link to extended results and a schedule of races: http://www.skatingjapan.jp/wcss2012/schedule.htm