Kimi Goetz, Libby Williams Capture Multiple Wins at US Winter World Cup Qualifiers and Junior Championships

Kimi Goetz, a 2022 Olympian, posted two first-place finishes and reached the podium at three distances in the U.S. Winter World Cup Qualifiers for Long Track held Jan. 4-6 at the Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns.

Joining her at the top of the podium in the Winter World Cup Qualifier were two-time Olympic medalist Brittany Bowe in the Women’s 1500m and Junior World Championship medalist Greta Myers in the Women’s 3000m.

Olympic Champion Erin Jackson finished in second behind Goetz. Jackson’s second place finish in the 500m followed up a strong Fall World Cup during which she won three Gold medals and two Silver medals.

“My first half of the season was pretty good, which means I could relax a little bit for this trials, but definitely not too much,” Jackson said. “I’m excited to continue on the trajectory that I’ve been going on, pick up a few more medals, hopefully gold. Those are the ones we like to see.”

Jordan Stolz had an impressive weekend, winning Gold in the 500m, 1000m, 1500m, and 5000m, with a second place finish and a PR in the 10000m right behind Casey Dawson, who won with a season best time of 13:05.03. Stolz also clocked season bests in the 500m, which is also the fastest time skated this season, with a time of 34.27 seconds, and the 1000m with a time of 1:07.03.

The Oval is called the ‘Fastest Ice on Earth’ for a reason, with many National Team skaters reaching personal bests, including Conor McDermott-Mostowy in the 500m and 1000m, Zach Stoppelmoor in the 1000m and 1500m, Jordan Stolz in the 10000m, Sarah Warren in the 500m and 1000m, Greta Myers in the 1000m, 1500m and 3000m, and Mia Manganello Kilburg in the 1000m.

For the World Cup speed skaters, the U.S. Winter World Cup Qualifiers were a chance to skate on home ice just three weeks before the Utah Olympic Oval hosts a World Cup stop on Jan. 26-28.

“It’s always nice to race on home ice, just to get the big crowd, a bunch of people cheering for you, because that’ll be really awesome,” Jackson said of the upcoming World Cup. “I’ll have some family in town. I’m looking forward to it.”

“I love racing here. My friends will be here, my team will be here,” added Kimi Goetz. “It’ll be really nice to have a competition on home ice that we’re all comfortable on.”

Bowe won the Women’s 1500m with a season-best time of 1:54.58. She also had a season-best performance time of 37.93 seconds in the 500m (37.65 seconds).

Myers won the 3000m with a personal best time of 4:08.63 and finished fourth in the 1500m with another personal best time of 1:57.54.

Libby Williams put on a dominating performance in the U.S. Junior Championships Long Track, which were held in conjunction with the Winter World Cup Qualifier and the U.S. Open Masters Championships.

Williams set two personal records and was the only skater to capture three individual wins plus a team pursuit victory. She won both Women’s 500m races with times of 40.69 (a personal best) and 40.94 seconds and won the 1000m with a personal-best time of 1:20.13. She also teamed up with Nastasja Radulovic and Marley Soldan for a win in the Women’s Team Pursuit.

Dylan Woodbury and William Silk each had a pair of wins in the Men’s Junior Championships. Woodbury won in the Men’s 500m and 1000m, and Silk won at 1500m and 5000m.

Carl Tatelli had a strong three-day showing, reaching the podium at four distances. He won in the second 500m, and posted second-place finishes at 1000m, 1500m and 5000m. The only other man to reach the podium four times was Max Weber, who placed second behind Tatelli in one 500m race, third in another 500m race, third in the 1000m, and teamed up with Liam Kitchel and Aiden Meacham for a win in the Men’s Team Pursuit.

In addition to winning the Men’s Team Pursuit, Kitchel had three individual podium finishes, placing second in the Men’s 500m and third in the 500m and 5000m.

Piper Yde had four podium finishes, placing second in the Women’s 1500m, and posting three third-place finishes in both 500m races plus the 1000m.

In the U.S. Open Masters race, U.S. Master skaters had a successful weekend as well, putting down several personal bests.

Paul D. Bowker has been writing about Olympic 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.