News
Lake Placid Holds FISU World University Championships
by US Speedskating
The historic speed skating oval in Lake Placid, New York held the 2022 FISU World University Championships for long track speed skating from March 2nd-5th, 2022. What makes this competition unique, is in order to compete during the competition, an athlete must currently be enrolled in University and working towards a degree.
Day one kicked off the competition with three podium finishes. Thalia Staehle (Seattle, Washington) brought home the hardware on the women’s side with a Bronze Medal in the Women’s 3000m. The other two podium finishes were on the men’s side in the 1000m where Conor McDermott-Mostowy (Washington, D.C.) broke the 42 year-old Track Record by Eric Heiden and took the Gold. William Gebauer (Whitefish Bay, WI) joined teammate McDermott-Mostowy on the podium where he won a Bronze Medal also in the 1000m.
The second day of competition was the Men’s and Women’s 1500m where Staehle placed highest among the women by crossing the line in 10th. She was followed by teammates Ilsa Shobe (Minneapolis, MN) who placed 13th, Isabella Main (Glen Ellyn, IL) in 14th and Audrey Steffes (Milwaukee, WI) in 15th. For the men it was Gebauer who ranked the highest among the men coming in 9th, followed by McDermott-Mostowy in 10th. Rounding out the men’s 1500m was Jon Aquino (Glen Ellyn, IL) taking 18th and Thomas Fitzgerald (Suffield, CN) in 20th.
Closing out the individual races for the weekend was the Men’s and Women’s 500m. For the men, it was Gebauer who took home the Gold Medal along with a new Track Record in a time of 36.74. Gebauer was joined on the podium with teammate McDermott-Mostowy who took the Bronze. For the women, it was Anna Quinn (St. Louis, MO) and Shobe finishing in the top ten with a 9th and 10th place respective finishes.
The team events kicked off where the women’s Team Pursuit trio of Quinn, Shobe and Staehle won Bronze in a time of 3:41.47. The men’s Team Pursuit squad of Aquino, McDermott-Mostowy and Fitzgerald finished just off the podium with a 4th place finish.
Mass Start was the final event of the weekend where Staehle ranked highest among Team USA by crossing the line in 5th. For the men it was Jon Aquino who finished just outside of a top-five finish in 6th place.
“We are extremely proud of all our TeamUSA competitors, and continue to be in awe of how they are able to balance the rigors of academics and elite training. Being an elite athlete is in itself an incredible challenge. Balancing college classes in addition to training, during a global pandemic nonetheless, is nothing short of amazing,” commented Regional Development Coordinator Dave Tamburrino. “To come away with two individual gold medals, three individual bronze, one team bronze, plus two track records? Wow. That made the experience too good to be true. We can't wait to get after it at next year's 2023 World University Games, also in Lake Placid. Do we believe in miracles? 100 percent YES!"
To get full results from the weekend, click here.
Day one kicked off the competition with three podium finishes. Thalia Staehle (Seattle, Washington) brought home the hardware on the women’s side with a Bronze Medal in the Women’s 3000m. The other two podium finishes were on the men’s side in the 1000m where Conor McDermott-Mostowy (Washington, D.C.) broke the 42 year-old Track Record by Eric Heiden and took the Gold. William Gebauer (Whitefish Bay, WI) joined teammate McDermott-Mostowy on the podium where he won a Bronze Medal also in the 1000m.
The second day of competition was the Men’s and Women’s 1500m where Staehle placed highest among the women by crossing the line in 10th. She was followed by teammates Ilsa Shobe (Minneapolis, MN) who placed 13th, Isabella Main (Glen Ellyn, IL) in 14th and Audrey Steffes (Milwaukee, WI) in 15th. For the men it was Gebauer who ranked the highest among the men coming in 9th, followed by McDermott-Mostowy in 10th. Rounding out the men’s 1500m was Jon Aquino (Glen Ellyn, IL) taking 18th and Thomas Fitzgerald (Suffield, CN) in 20th.
Closing out the individual races for the weekend was the Men’s and Women’s 500m. For the men, it was Gebauer who took home the Gold Medal along with a new Track Record in a time of 36.74. Gebauer was joined on the podium with teammate McDermott-Mostowy who took the Bronze. For the women, it was Anna Quinn (St. Louis, MO) and Shobe finishing in the top ten with a 9th and 10th place respective finishes.
The team events kicked off where the women’s Team Pursuit trio of Quinn, Shobe and Staehle won Bronze in a time of 3:41.47. The men’s Team Pursuit squad of Aquino, McDermott-Mostowy and Fitzgerald finished just off the podium with a 4th place finish.
Mass Start was the final event of the weekend where Staehle ranked highest among Team USA by crossing the line in 5th. For the men it was Jon Aquino who finished just outside of a top-five finish in 6th place.
“We are extremely proud of all our TeamUSA competitors, and continue to be in awe of how they are able to balance the rigors of academics and elite training. Being an elite athlete is in itself an incredible challenge. Balancing college classes in addition to training, during a global pandemic nonetheless, is nothing short of amazing,” commented Regional Development Coordinator Dave Tamburrino. “To come away with two individual gold medals, three individual bronze, one team bronze, plus two track records? Wow. That made the experience too good to be true. We can't wait to get after it at next year's 2023 World University Games, also in Lake Placid. Do we believe in miracles? 100 percent YES!"
To get full results from the weekend, click here.