Cholewinski and Whitmore earn Olympic berths
December 26, 2009—Salt Lake City, UT
Lauren Cholewinski (York, SC) and Mitchell Whitmore (Waukesha, WI) skated their way onto the Olympic team in the 500m events during the 2010 U.S. Speedskating Championships at the Utah Olympic Oval. Twenty ladies and 35 men paired off in the first 500m of the day.
“The Fastest Ice on Earth” lived up to its name as many skaters set personal bests time during the 500m sprint events. Following the first of two races, 2009 U.S. Sprint Champion Heather Richardson (High Point, NC) was in the lead with a time of 38.22 followed by three-time Olympian Jen Rodriguez (Miami, FL) and Lauren Cholewinski (York, SC). For the men, it was Mitchell Whitmore (Waukesha, WI), Brent Aussprung (Madison, WI) and James Cholewinski (York, SC) leading after the first 500m.
Neither Richardson nor Rodriguez skated the second 500m and Cholewinski skated off with a first-place finish with a combined time of 77.210 to claim the Ladies 500m championship title and the final 500m spot on the Olympic team. Rebekah Bradford (Apple Valley, MN) and Anna Ringsred (Duluth, MN) finished up the top three spots in the combined 500m events.
“I think the girls’ races were tight but it was basically between Lauren and Bekah,” said Mike Kooreman, US Speedskating National Coach. “They both stepped it up in the last race. Lauren just happened to step it up a little bit more.”
For the men, Whitmore was followed closely by Aussprung and Matt Plummer (St. Louis, MO) in the second 500m but Whitmore’s combined time of 70.600 put him over the top to win the Men’s 500m event and an Olympic spot.
“The men’s races were extremely close,” Kooreman said. “There were eight guys here who could have made the team today. Mitch just put two great races together.”
The U.S. Men’s 500m Olympic Team consists of:
Tucker Fredricks
Shani Davis
Nick Pearson
Mitchell Whitmore
The U.S. Ladies 500m Olympic Team consists of:
Elli Ochowicz
Jen Rodriguez
Heather Richardson
Lauren Cholewinski
Racing continues tomorrow with the first Men’s and Ladies’ 1000m, the Ladies 3000m and the Men’s 5000m. For complete results, visit www.usspeedskating.org and follow USS on Twitter @usspeedskating.