2026 Land of Lincoln & Heartland #6

University of Illinois Ice Arena, 406 East Armory, Champaign, IL 61820.

Sanctioned by Champaign Regional Speedskating, the Amateur Skating Association of Illinois, and US Speedskating.

The FIRST World Short Track Competition was held here in Champaign Illinois in 1976, and 2026 celebrates 50 years since becoming the birthplace of international short track speedskating.

Land of Lincoln Format:  Both novice class B & class A skaters will race throughout Saturday and Sunday.  Racing will follow the “all points” format.  The longest distance will serve as a tiebreaker.  Heats and finals will be run for all skaters.  The class A super finals for the longest race are based on points awarded in the prior races.  The Meet Director may choose to combine groups, omit your group, or completely run the meet as an ability meet based on the breakdown and separation of skaters and groups. This includes moving you to a novice group or to an A group. 

Heartland Racing Series (HRS) Format: This series will be run in conjunction with Land of Lincoln.  In order to qualify to skate in the HRS, a skater must be age 12 or older as of 7/1/24, and have achieved a 1000m seed time, within the last year, of 1:48 for men, 1:58 for ladies. Other regulations governing HRS participation are contained on the last pages of this registration form and the HRS Facebook page. Please note that the HRS is open to any qualified skater nationwide or from other countries who wish to participate in this series.

Additional documents and updated info is found on the HRS Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/Heartlandracing

Awards (Land of Lincoln and HRS):  Skaters must race all distances to qualify for an overall award or Fastest 500 award unless injured or ill.  There will be trophies for 1st through 3rd places overall with in each age division including HRS.  Ribbons will also be given for overall 1st through 6th places for all Class B and Class A Pee Wee through Junior D categories.   Everyone will get a participation ribbon.  Additionally, the fastest 500-meter time will receive the Chile Blair Award for the women and the Bill Markland Award for the men.   

Fun and Relay Races:  Stay tuned for the possibility of a few unique racing opportunities….

Meet Director: Randy Sears

Meet Director Email –  champaignspeed@gmail.com

Travel Plans:  Visit http://www.visitchampaigncounty.org/.  

Hotel – While there is no official Land of Lincoln hotel, US Speedskating is partnered with HotelPlanner – HotelPlanner will continue to be the official hotel reservations partner for US Speedskating, providing athletes, officials, and fans the best rates as they travel to compete from national to international competitions. www.hotelplanner.com

Parking information: Campus Parking Map

Sportity App: We will again use Sportity to house all meet information and results, paper copies of meet information will be LIMITED. Download Sportity from the App store and use the event password is: 2026LOL.

Volunteers: We cannot be successful without the assistance of volunteers like you! Please consider helping for the event!

Private Sales Policy:  University of Illinois facility policy prohibits private sales during Land of Lincoln in the Ice Arena.  Land of Lincoln apparel is the only sales table approved by University of Illinois facility policy.  To avoid restrictions on future LOL apparel sales, please do not set up a private sales table during the event.