Kristen Santos-Griswold Is Unbeaten In Six Finals At U.S. Short Track Nationals

Kristen Santos-Griswold has clearly found the fast lane.

Santos-Griswold, a 2022 Olympian who has medaled in all four World Cup stops this season, was unbeatable at the U.S. Short Track Speedskating Championships this past weekend at the Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns, Utah. Scoring double wins in the Women’s 500m, 1000m and 1500m A finals, she emerged with six victories and National Titles at all three distances.

Corinne Stoddard, a 2022 Olympian who won her first individual World Cup medal in December, also reached the podium in all six finals. She finished runner-up to Santos-Griswold each time.

On the men’s side, Brandon Kim reached the podium five times, including capturing National Titles at 500m and 1500m with double victories at both distances.

Santos-Griswold, who leads the U.S. with six World Cup medals this season and is ranked fourth in the World Cup Women’s Overall standings, posted wins in the Women’s 500m with times of 42.959 and 42.775 seconds. She won the 1000m with times of 1:42.282 and 1:42.205. She completed the sweep with wins in the 1500m with times of 2:38.138 and 2:39.165.

Eunice Lee, a 2022 Olympian, scored four third-place finishes behind Santos-Griswold and Stoddard, reaching the podium twice in the 1000m final, and once each at 500m and 1500m.

Julie Letai, a 2022 Olympian, reached the podium with third-place finishes at 500m and 1500m.

Kim, a previous National Champion at the Senior and Junior levels, secured another Men’s 500m National Title with winning times of 40.932 and 41.050 seconds. He also won twice at 1500m, capturing the first final in 2:29.972, then improving his time by more than 12 seconds in the second final with a winning mark of 2:17.572. Kim added a second-place finish in the 1000m.

Clayton DeClemente and Caleb Park split victories in the Men’s 1000m. DeClemente won the first 1000m final with a time of 1:26.576, finishing ahead of Kim and Marcus Howard. Park, who didn’t make the A final in the first 1000m Saturday, answered strongly Sunday with a win in 1:24.191. DeClemente finished second, just .080 seconds back, and Wesley Park was third.

DeClemente and Howard each reached the podium four times. DeClemente added three second-place finishes to his win at 1000m. Howard had a pair of second- and third-place finishes.

An exceptional 1000m performance came from Junior skater Sean Shuai, who broke the Men’s 1000m Junior National Record, setting a new time of 1:24.623. The record was previously set this season by Daniel Yoon during World Cup 1.

Ray Shim and Ryan Shane posted third-place finishes in separate Men’s 500m finals.

The World Cup tour resumes in Dresden, Germany, Feb. 3-5.