Team USA Brings Home Four Medals from Norway
by Brennan Smith
US Speedskating’s season-opening performance in Poland announced to the world that the team is a World Cup podium contender in several distances. After another big weekend in Norway, the skaters’ collective display delivered a promise of relentless consistency.
US Speedskating recorded more strong results on Stavanger, Norway’s ice in the second ISU World Cup of the season – winning two Gold Medals, two Silver Medals and setting a new Track Record.
Erin Jackson (Ocala, Fla.) – who made history last week as the first Black American woman to win a speed skating World Cup race – topped the field Saturday in the 500m race again with a time of (37.602) to best Japan’s Nao Kodaira. Jackson struck a Silver Medal on Sunday in the second 500m race with a time of (37.671) just behind Kodaira’s time of (37.523). Jackson now has four 500m medals through two competitions.
Brittany Bowe (Ocala, Fla.) remains the World Cup standard in the Women’s 1000m distance after earning her second straight Gold Medal in Stavanger Friday. Bowe set her second Track Record of the season in the process with a time of (1:14.168) to best Japan’s Miho Takagi.
From a Bronze Medal in Poland to a Silver in Norway, Joey Mantia (Ocala, Fla.) captured his second consecutive Men’s 1500m podium this season. Mantia skated to a time of (1:45.552) just behind China’s Zhongyan Ning to round out US Speedskating’s podium places.
Kimi Goetz (Flemington, N.J.) scored her first top 10 of the season Friday in the 1000m distance with an 8th place finish and a time of (1:16.139) while Brianna Bocox (Cheyenne, Wyo.) finished 9th in the Division B Women’s 1000m (1:17.690). Jamie Jurak (Newington, Conn.) made her Long Track World Cup debut with a 20th place result in the Division B Women’s 5000m.
US Speedskating added two top 15 showings in the Women’s 500m to bolster Jackson’s Gold Saturday courtesy of Bowe’s 8th place (38.079) and Goetz’s 13th place (38.397) efforts. Casey Dawson (Park City, UT.) paced the U.S. Men’s field with an 8th place finish in the Division B Men’s 10000m with a time of (13:19.507) ahead of Ethan Cepuran (Glen Ellyn, Ill.), who crossed the finish line in 17th.
Sunday’s action saw Bowe’s third and final top 10 of the weekend alongside a trio of Division B top 10 finishes for Team USA. Bowe capped off her Norway performance with a (1:57.316) time in the Women’s 1500m – good for 7th place. Emery Lehman (Oak Park, Ill.) finished third (1:47.388) and Conor McDermott-Mostowy (Washington, D.C.) finished 7th to double up in the Division B Men’s 1500m while Sarah Warren (Willowbrook, Ill.) secured a 9th place finish in the Division B Women’s 500m.
"It was great to test ourselves against the world's best skaters these past two weekends" commented Long Track Program Director Matt Kooremen. "Obviously we are focused on the Olympics in February, but it was a great sign to see that team USA is on a high level, and performing well on sea level tracks."
The team heads to home ice in Salt Lake City, Utah next for World Cup #3 on December 3-5. Complete results from the first World Cup in Norway can be found here.