Jonathan Kuck Caps Astana World Cup with Silver in Mass Start
Team USA Tallies Three Medals at Second World Cup Stop
ASTANA, Kazakhstan (November 27, 2011) – Jonathan Kuck (Champaign, IL) skated to a silver medal in today’s Mass Start event at the Essent ISU World Cup in Astana, Kazakhstan. Today’s medal is Kuck’s second medal of the 2011-12 season. He won silver last weekend in the Team Pursuit event at the World Cup opener in Chelyabinsk, Russia.
Posting a 9:40.67, Kuck crossed the finish .16 seconds behind Seung-Hoon Lee (KOR) at 9:40.51. Hyung-Joon Joo (KOR) won bronze (9:40.81). Trevor Marsicano (Ballston Spa, N.Y.) placed 8th and Brian Hansen (Glenview, Il) finished 12th.
"Jonathan played it safe, stayed out of trouble and positioned himself really well near the end of the race to attack the sprint when it came," said U.S. Long Track Sprint Team Head Coach Ryan Shimabukuro.
In today’s Ladies Mass Start, Maria Lamb (River Falls, WI) placed 4th posting 7:27.17. Jilleanne Rookard (Woodhaven, MI) finished 6th. Mariska Huisman (NED) won the event with a time of 7:26.53, followed by Claudia Pechstein (GER) at 7:26.61, and Bo-Reum Kim (KOR) at 7:26.85.
"It was really crazy, but a lot of fun, “ said Lamb. “Unfortunately, I didn't feel like I got a good opportunity to get out and sprint until the last 100m. I felt really strong, learned a lot and look forward to the next one."
Shani Davis (Chicago, Il) placed 4th in today’s 1000m, just .01 seconds off the podium, posting 1:09.30. The Dutch continued to dominate the 1000m, with Stefan Groothuis winning the distance at 1:08.85, and Kjeld Nuis in 2nd at 1:08.92. Tae-Bum Mo won bronze with a time of 1:09.29. "Shani is still having trouble getting up to speed in the first 200m, but his top-end speed is coming back and he had one of his signature strong finishes today," said Shimabukuro.
Hansen finished 8th with a time of 1:09.60, and continues to improve with each race at the distance. "The 1000m was really good for me and it's the highest World Cup result I've gotten in this distance," said Hansen. "Brian attacked his opener, stayed aggressive the entire race and was able to execute a near flawless 1000m for himself," added Shimabukuro.
Mitch Whitmore (Waukesha, WI) finished 9th in the 1000m Division B with a time of 1:11.47.
Heather Richardson (High Point, N.C.) led the U.S. women in today’s 1000m, placing 11th with a time of 1:17.02. Brittany Bowe (Ocala, FL) took 12th place at 1:17.16. Kelly Gunther (Clinton Township, MI) finished 10th in the 1000m Division B with a time of 1:19.34.
"I was pretty fatigued going into the race today but I hope I skate better next weekend," said Richardson following today’s 1000m. "I think all the intensity from the races over the past two weekends, on top of the training we did, have drained her quite a bit. We'll try to have her rest up a bit this week so she get more out of her races in Heerenveen," explained Shimabukuro.
Canada’s Christine Nesbitt repeated a win in the 1000m this weekend posting 1:14.82 for the gold. Dutch skaters Thijsje Oenema (1:16.120) and Margot Boer (1:16.127), took the silver and bronze, respectively.
Today’s extended race results are available at http://live.isuresults.eu/2011-2012/astana/ Team USA now travels to Heerenveen, NED for the third stop of the Essent ISU World Cup series, December 2-4.
Essent ISU World Cup Astana
Team USA Medal Summary
11/25 Tucker Fredricks (Janesville, WI), Silver, 500m (34.94)
11/26 Tucker Fredricks, Bronze, 500m (2) (35.19)
11/27 Jonathan Kuck, Silver, Mass Start (9:40.67)