Jordan Stolz Opens Season With Four Title Runs at Long Track US Championships
by Paul D. Bowker
Three-time world champion Jordan Stolz and Olympic Champion Erin Jackson began the new season with more National Titles this past weekend in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Stolz won the Men’s 500m, 1000m and 1500m distances, in addition to the Mass Start, at the Long Track US Championships & Youth Olympic Games Qualifier held at the Pettit National Ice Center.
Jackson, the reigning Olympic champ in the Women’s 500m, captured the 500m National Title and finished third to Kimi Goetz and Brittany Bowe in the 1000m. Jackson won both 500m races. She won the first 500m Friday with a time of 38.00 seconds, then improved her time to 37.38 seconds on Saturday.
“I’m feeling pretty great after the 500 today,” Jackson said. “It was kind of a toss-up, I guess, seeing how it would go because I haven’t been around a lot this season, but I’m really excited to come away with the win.”
Stolz was the only skater to earn multiple National Championships and won the 1500m with a Track Record and lowland World Record time of 1 minute, 42.31 seconds. Stolz, a 2022 Olympian, won the 500m with a time of 34.66 seconds on Friday and the 1000m on Sunday in 1:07.85.
The only race Stolz didn’t win, the Men’s 5000m on Saturday, he finished runner-up to winner Casey Dawson, who won in 6:17.10.
“I exceeded my expectations a little bit, so I’m excited about that,” Dawson said.
Cooper McLeod finished second to Stolz in the 500m and 1000m.
A combination of Bowe, Jackson and Goetz swept the top three places in the Women’s 500m and 1000m. Goetz won the 1000m with a time of 1:13.85. Bowe won the 1500m with a time of 1:54.76, with Goetz less than a second behind. Mia ManganelloKilburg took third in the 1500m and won the Women’s 3000m with a time of 4:10.97.
“My mindset was to try to be as steady and consistent as possible with the lap times,” Kilburg said. “I feel I was successful with that, and this is something to build off of. Now we get to play and enjoy speedskating.”
Piper Yde won the Women’s Mass Start with first- and second-place finishes. Giorgia Birkeland placed second in the Mass Start and was third in the 3000m behind Kilburg and Greta Myers. Marley Soldan was third in the Mass Start.
Conor McDermott-Mostowy finished runner-up to Stolz in the Men’s Mass Start, and also had third-place finishes in the 1000m and 1500m.
Three-time Olympian Emery Lehman placed second in the Men’s 1500m, and 2022 Olympic teammate Ethan Cepuran posted third-place finishes in the 5000m and Mass Start. Zach Stoppelmoor was third in the 500m.
Paul D. Bowker has been writing about Olympic and Paralympic sports since 1996, when he was an assistant bureau chief in Atlanta. He is a freelance contributor to USSpeedskating.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.