MN Masters Speedskating

 

Summary: U.S. Long Track Olympic trials concluded on Sunday evening.  For some skaters, making trials was the victory lap, for others making the team was the goal, and a few have their eyes on the podium.  After six days of racing, the team for South Korea has been set.  The Men’s team is filled with familiar faces and many inliners.  The Women’s team stole the headlines with inliner Erin Jackson making the team after only skating ice for four months.  Jackson’s inline teammate Brittany Bowe also made the team.  Cyclist Mia Manganello (formerly of the Twin Cities) will compete in two events, and just missed adding a third event.  Trials were filled with drama and great stories.  Old timers like K.C. Boutiette nearly pulled it off.  Theron Sands dream of skating at trials came true.  For others, there is the agony of defeat.  Four years spent at the rink, the gym, and in the car going to both went unfulfilled.  The only solace may be that it is better to have tried and not succeeded, than to have not been courageous enough to try and have to wonder “what if”.  Read through the summaries of each days events for links to stories on skaters journeys to trials.

Men’s team

• Shani Davis: 1,000 meters; 1,500 meters
• Brian Hansen: 1,500 meters, mass start
• Joey Mantia: 1,000 meters; 1,500 meters; mass start
• Mitchell Whitmore: 500 meters; 1,000 meters
• Jonathan Garcia: 500 meters
• Kimani Griffin: 500 meters
• Another skater could be added to the men’s team as a team pursuit specialist. Emery Lehman’s name has been mentioned for that position.

Women’s team

• Carlijn Schoutens: 3,000 meters; 5,000 meters
• Heather Bergsma: 500 meters; 1,000 meters; 1,500 meters; mass start
• Brittany Bowe: 500 meters; 1,000 meters; 1,500 meters
• Erin Jackson: 500 meters
• Mia Manganello: 1,500 meters; mass start
• Jerica Tandiman: 1,000 meters

Full Story:

U.S. Long Track Speedskating Olympic Trials are underway at the Pettit Center in Milwaukee.  It has been 20 years since the Pettit last hosted trials, which are typically in Salt Lake.  The decision to head to Wisconsin was due to its elevation being similar to that of South Korea’s Gangneung Oval.  Recall the U.S. Team’s disastrous performance in Sochi was attributed, in part, to training at high elevation but racing at low elevation.

Races are broadcast live during certain time slots on NBC Sports Network (click here for the schedule).  Coverage is also being live streamed: click here. Results will be posted below as the week progresses.

Inliners, local ice speedskaters, and other notable participants meeting entry qualifying times and competing at trials include: Steven Hartman, Jeffrey Swider-Peltz, Justin Stelly, Joey Mantia, 47 year old 1994 Olympian K.C. Boutiette, Kyle Ronchak, 53 year old Theron Sands (Bob Fenn’s final star pupil), Shani Davis trying to make his 5th team, Mitch Whitmore, Briana Kramer, Ali Thunstrom, Rebekah Bradford Plath (wife of former MN inliner Eric Plath), Blair Cuikshank (the 17 year old daughter of Bonnie Blair and Dave Cruikshank), Brittany Bowe (recovering from post-concussion syndrome, vestibular dysfunction and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome), former Olympians Sugar Todd, Maria Lamb, and Kelly Gunther  (click here for the full participation list).

Skaters are competing for 8 positions for women and 8 positions for men.  If a skater qualifies in multiple distances the U.S. team would consist of fewer skaters. The U.S. has earned starting spots in 10 of the 14 events competed in at the Olympics.

• Three women will represent the U.S. in the 500m, 1000m, and 1500m, one women in 3k, one in the 5k, and two in the mass start.
• Three men will represent the U.S. in the 500m, 1000m, 1500m, plus two in the mass starts.  U.S. Men did not obtain qualifying spots for the 5k or the 10k.   U.S. Men will compete in the team pursuit, but the women did not qualify.

Tuesday:

The first day of Olympic qualifying quickly illustrated the ice in Milwaukee is dramatically slower than the ice in Salt Lake or Calgary.  Emery Lehman skated a 6:18 5k in Calgary a few weeks ago, and was the top American today with a 6:28.  Other skater’s performance show similar differences.  Almost no one skated a season or personal best, despite spending four years training to peak this month.  In a sport where races are decided by fractions of a second, a 10 second drop off on slower sea level ice is noteworthy, but not entirely unexpected.

Women’s 3000m

The Dutch team, the best ice speedskating team in the world, held its Olympic trials just after Christmas.  Ireen Wurst, the most recognizable of the Dutch women, finished second at last month’s Dutch Olympic Trials with a time of 4:03.  Slow ice or not, the 10 second difference between Wurst and the top U.S. female is unnerving.  Carlijn Schouten’s 4:14, the top American, would have been good enough for 12th place among Dutch women.  Carlijn Schoutens was born and raised in the Netherlands, but obtained U.S. citizenship in 2014 in hopes of making it to the Olympics.

Mia Manganello is well known to Twin Cities athletes, perhaps by her former name of Mia Loquai.  Mia stepped away from ice years ago after the 2010 Olympic go round and became a star cyclists. The U.S. only qualified one spot in the Women’s 3k, so Mia may or may not get to compete.

1	Carlijn Schoutens	LN4	USA	4.14,02
2	Mia Manganello	LSA	USA	4.15,73
3	Petra Acker	LSA	USA	4.18,84
4	Nancy Swider-Peltz (1987)	L30	USA	4.26,35
5	Erin Bartlett	LSA	USA	4.26,56
6	Maria Lamb	L30	USA	4.27,01	SB
7	Rebecca Simmons	LSA	USA	4.35,00
8	Briana Kramer	LSA	USA	4.37,20
9	Hannah Bosman	LN1	USA	4.42,61
10	Jacquelyn Bernico	LN3	USA	4.51,83

Men’s 5000m

24 year old Ian Quinn was only four seconds slower than his personal best.  Quinn won gold and silver in the past two American Cup 5k races.  Emery Lehman’s success surprises no one as he has been an up and coming skater since a disappointing 2014 Olympic performance.  Jeffery Swider-Peltz is a familiar name to local inliners as he was on our podiums all summer in 2016 (finishing just three points behind Kelin Dunfee in the Minnesota Inline Grand Prix).  KC Boutiette’s fourth place finish is nothing short of amazing after taking a decade away from racing and making a comeback at the age of 47.  Recall, however, that the U.S. Team did not qualify a skater to compete in the 5k at the Olympics.  Lehman may get to compete if a) countries that qualified a skater do not send skaters to the Olympics, or b) Russian skater bans could bump them from the roster of skaters.

Lehman’s 6:28 would have placed 14th in Dutch trials, right behind former Olympian Erik Jan Kooiman (World Record holder in the hour long skate – skaters try to get as many laps as possible in an hour – he put in 109.)   Sven Kramer, the best known Dutch skater, is returning to the Olympics with a qualifying time of 6:16, which was only good enough for second place on his team.

1	Emery Lehman	MN3	USA	6.27,90
2	Ian Quinn	MSA	USA	6.32,95
3	Jeffrey Swider-Peltz	MSA	USA	6.34,18	PR SB
4	KC Boutiette	M45	USA	6.47,02
5	Edwin Park	MSA	USA	6.48,13
6	Chase Reichmann	M30	USA	6.52,02	SB
7	Justin Stelly	M30	USA	6.53,37
8	Casey Dawson	MB2	USA	6.56,41
9	Steven Hartman	MN4	USA	7.01,47
10	Theron Sands	M50	USA	7.05,17
11	Ethan Cepuran	MA1	USA	7.09,53
12	Conor McDermott-Mostowy	MA2	USA	7.13,09
13	Alex Zamojski	MN3	USA	7.26,52

 

Wednesday:

Inliner Brittany Bowe leads the way in the 1k in just under 1:15.  Her personal best is 1:12.  Great to see that she has been able to overcome the aftereffects of the concussion and POTS.  Read about her condition and recovery here.   Heather Bergsma (Richardson) is a former Olympian and the reigning World Record holder in the 500 and the 1500m, but she makes the team in the 1000m (and probably will make it in the other events too).   After a second place finish in the 3k, Mia Manganello qualified in third in the 1000m.

Heartbreak for another skater with a Twin Cities connection, Rebekah Bradford.  She is among the nicest people you will meet at a speedskating event and is hard not to root for.  She finished a full second behind Mia.  Ali Thunstrom finished 14th, but was just fractions of a second off her personal best, when nearly everyone else was multiple seconds off their pace.

Heather Bergsma’s (Richardson) time looks pretty impressive compared to the Dutch Women’s Olympic qualifying times of 1:15:38 to 1:16:29.

Women’s 1000m:

1	Heather Bergsma	LSA	USA	1.14,82
2	Brittany Bowe	L30	USA	1.15,52
3	Mia Manganello	LSA	USA	1.18,23
4	Jerica Tandiman	LN4	USA	1.18,59
5	Kelly Gunther (1987)	L30	USA	1.19,34
6	Rebekah Bradford	L35	USA	1.19,36
7	Sugar Todd	LSA	USA	1.19,41
8	Erin Bartlett	LSA	USA	1.19,71
9	Bri Bocox	LN2	USA	1.20,19
10	Paige Schwartzburg	LSA	USA	1.20,21
11	Franchesca Pasquarella	LN1	USA	1.20,59
12	Erin Jackson	LSA	USA	1.21,73
13	Chrysta Rands	LN2	USA	1.22,71
14	Allie Thunstrom	L30	USA	1.22,86
15	Hannah Bosman	LN1	USA	1.23,05	SB
16	Briana Kramer	LSA	USA	1.23,92
17	Sara Rehklau	LN3	USA	1.24,17
18	Esther Munoz	LN1	USA	1.24,20	SB
19	Jamie Nielson	LA2	USA	1.24,57
20	Rebecca Simmons	LSA	USA	1.24,74
21	Mariah Richardson	LSA	USA	1.25,69
22	Jacquelyn Bernico	LN3	USA	1.26,78

 

Men’s 1000m:

The 1000m is 2 1/2 laps around the track at all out sprint pace.  All of the top finishers are former Olympians.  Shani Davis is one of the U.S.’s most decorated skaters.  Joey Mantia, a name very well known to inliners in the Twin Cities beat him by a tenth of a second.  Both skaters were about two seconds off their best races.  Mitch Whitmore will be headed to his third Olympics, but his prior two experiences were in the 500m event.

Local skater Steven Hartman posted an impressive 12th place finish, with fellow local skater Kyle Ronchak in 14th.

The Dutch team skated times of 1:07, and 1:08 at their trials last month.  It is difficult to compare performances from different ice surfaces and elevations, but it looks like the U.S. team should be very competitive in the 1000m.

1	Joey Mantia	M30	USA	1.09,14
2	Shani Davis	M35	USA	1.09,22
3	Mitchell Whitmore	MSA	USA	1.09,30
4	Jonathan Garcia	M30	USA	1.09,59
5	Kimani Griffin	MSA	USA	1.09,63
6	Brian Hansen	MSA	USA	1.09,74
7	Emery Lehman	MN3	USA	1.10,90	PR SB
8	Trevor Marsicano	MSA	USA	1.11,45
9	Edwin Park	MSA	USA	1.11,85
10	Austin Kleba	MA1	USA	1.12,20
11	William Gebauer	MA2	USA	1.12,62
12	Steven Hartman	MN4	USA	1.12,74
13	Brett Perry	MSA	USA	1.12,77
14	Kyle Ronchak	MN4	USA	1.12,81
15	Casey Dawson	MB2	USA	1.13,34
16	Tyler Cain	MN3	USA	1.13,89
17	Conor McDermott-Mostowy	MA2	USA	1.14,46
18	Cooper McLeod	MB1	USA	1.14,98
19	Andrew Turner	MN4	USA	1.15,37
20	Ethan Cepuran	MA1	USA	1.15,58
21	Nathan Miller	MN3	USA	1.15,82
22	Patrick Miller	MA2	USA	1.16,27	PR SB
23	Levi Sinak	M30	USA	1.16,40	SB
24	Alex Zamojski	MN3	USA	1.16,63	SB
25	Steve Smykal	MN4	USA	1.16,90
26	John Sullivan	MN4	USA	1.16,99
27	Kevin Geminder	M35	USA	1.17,00	SB
28	William Valentine	MB2	USA	1.18,63
29	Evan Flaherty	MA2	USA	1.19,37
30	Kyle Essex	MSA	USA	1.19,79

 

Thursday:

Only one women will represent the U.S. in the 5000m, and by a wide margin it will be Carlijn Schoutens, the Dutch transplant.     Had she skated that time in Dutch trials she would have finished 11th, second from last.  She skated the distance 6 seconds faster a couple of months ago in Salt Lake.  The top Dutch skaters posted times of 6:56.41, 6:56.60, and 6:57.

Women’s 5k:

1	Carlijn Schoutens	LN4	USA	7.12,25
2	Petra Acker	LSA	USA	7.26,48
3	Maria Lamb	L30	USA	7.31,09
4	Rebecca Simmons	LSA	USA	7.51,96

Men’s 10k:

The U.S. did not qualify for an Olympic position in the 10k.  Since an Olympic birth was not on the line, only a couple of skaters elected to skate the distance.   In the absence of Bob Fenn,  Roseville’s Midway Speedskating coach Andrey Zhuikov coached Theron through the grueling 10k.   Reichmann looked much more comfortable in the later stages of the race, but Theron hung in there.  Theron skated a Calgary 10k in 13:57 in March.  The Netherlands Sven Kramer qualified for the Dutch team with a time of 12:54.  Recall Kramer lost a second gold medal when he neglected to change lanes on lap 8 of the 25 lap race in the last Olympics.

1	Chase Reichmann	M30	USA	14.25,97	SB
2	Theron Sands	M50	USA	14.35,37

Friday:

Skaters raced two 500m heats, starting once in each lane.  Qualifying is based on the fastest time, rather than the combined time.

Women’s 500’s:

Erin Jackson is the story of the day.  She is an inliner who started ice only FOUR months ago and is headed to the Olympics.  Read more on her journey and race day here.  Just a couple of weeks ago she had yet to break 40 seconds and now she is headed to the Olympics.  She also makes history as the first black woman to make the long track team.  Brittany Bowe and Jackson were teammates on the inline circuit and both are headed to South Korea.

HEAT 1:

1	Brittany Bowe	L30	USA	37,95
2	Heather Bergsma	LSA	USA	38,24
3	Erin Jackson	LSA	USA	39,22	PR SB
4	Sugar Todd	LSA	USA	39,27
5	Jerica Tandiman	LN4	USA	39,84
6	Rebekah Bradford	L35	USA	39,91
7	Bri Bocox	LN2	USA	39,98
8	Allie Thunstrom	L30	USA	40,27
9	Kelly Gunther (1987)	L30	USA	40,31
10	Franchesca Pasquarella	LN1	USA	40,38
11	Paige Schwartzburg	LSA	USA	40,53
12	Chrysta Rands	LN2	USA	41,21
13	Jamie Nielson	LA2	USA	41,80
14	Esther Munoz	LN1	USA	41,89
15	Mariah Richardson	LSA	USA	42,03
16	Blair Cruikshank	LB2	USA	42,21
17	Hannah Bosman	LN1	USA	42,25	SB
18	Briana Kramer	LSA	USA	42,83
19	Jacquelyn Bernico	LN3	USA	44,57

HEAT 2:

1	Brittany Bowe	L30	USA	38,18
2	Heather Bergsma	LSA	USA	38,42
3	Erin Jackson	LSA	USA	39,04	PR SB
4	Sugar Todd	LSA	USA	39,38
5	Jerica Tandiman	LN4	USA	39,42
6	Rebekah Bradford	L35	USA	39,71
7	Paige Schwartzburg	LSA	USA	40,19
8	Allie Thunstrom	L30	USA	40,28
9	Bri Bocox	LN2	USA	40,41
10	Franchesca Pasquarella	LN1	USA	40,42
11	Kelly Gunther (1987)	L30	USA	40,45
12	Chrysta Rands	LN2	USA	40,99
13	Esther Munoz	LN1	USA	41,92
14	Mariah Richardson	LSA	USA	42,04
15	Blair Cruikshank	LB2	USA	42,21
16	Jamie Nielson	LA2	USA	42,26
17	Hannah Bosman	LN1	USA	42,59
18	Jacquelyn Bernico	LN3	USA	44,31

Men’s 500’s:

Dutch skater Michel Mulder won gold in 2014 and his brother took bronze.  This year his brother won trials and Michel placed fourth, just off the team.  Ronald Mulder won with a 34.49.  Think of anything under 35 seconds the way you would think of anything under 9.8 in the 100m dash.  Mitch Whitmore posted a 35.03 on slow Milwaukee ice and won by a 1/2 second.

Kimani Griffin finished second and is another former inliner.

HEAT 1:

1	Mitchell Whitmore	MSA	USA	35,03
2	Kimani Griffin	MSA	USA	35,46
3	Jonathan Garcia	M30	USA	35,54
4	Brett Perry	MSA	USA	36,28
5	Austin Kleba	MA1	USA	36,37
6	Kyle Ronchak	MN4	USA	36,72
7	Xander Mark	MSA	USA	36,81
8	Tyler Cain	MN3	USA	36,92	SB
9	Edwin Park	MSA	USA	37,05
10	William Gebauer	MA2	USA	37,27
11	Steven Hartman	MN4	USA	37,52
12	Andrew Turner	MN4	USA	37,59
13	Cooper McLeod	MB1	USA	37,87
14	Nathan Miller	MN3	USA	37,95
15	Fletcher Codd	MA1	USA	38,01	SB
16	Conor McDermott-Mostowy	MA2	USA	38,06	PR SB
17	Casey Dawson	MB2	USA	38,16
18	Levi Sinak	M30	USA	38,21
19	Ian Ansel	MSA	USA	38,53	PR SB
20	Evan Flaherty	MA2	USA	38,61
21	Steve Smykal	MN4	USA	38,67
22	Patrick Miller	MA2	USA	38,71	PR SB
23	Nick Turro	MSA	USA	38,73
24	Ethan Cepuran	MA1	USA	38,74
25	Kevin Geminder	M35	USA	38,78	SB
26	Jon Aquino	MB2	USA	39,13
27	John Sullivan	MN4	USA	39,30
28	William Valentine	MB2	USA	39,57

HEAT 2:

1	Mitchell Whitmore	MSA	USA	35,12
2	Jonathan Garcia	M30	USA	35,22
3	Kimani Griffin	MSA	USA	35,26
4	Austin Kleba	MA1	USA	36,44
5	Xander Mark	MSA	USA	36,63
6	Brett Perry	MSA	USA	36,65
7	Edwin Park	MSA	USA	36,68
8	Tyler Cain	MN3	USA	36,74	PR SB
9	Kyle Ronchak	MN4	USA	36,81
10	William Gebauer	MA2	USA	37,28
11	Fletcher Codd	MA1	USA	37,59	PR SB
12	Andrew Turner	MN4	USA	37,67
13	Cooper McLeod	MB1	USA	37,85
14	Nathan Miller	MN3	USA	37,93
15	Levi Sinak	M30	USA	38,21
16	Steve Smykal	MN4	USA	38,27	SB
17	Ian Ansel	MSA	USA	38,70
18	Evan Flaherty	MA2	USA	38,72
19	Patrick Miller	MA2	USA	38,78
20	John Sullivan	MN4	USA	38,93
21	Nick Turro	MSA	USA	38,97
22	Jon Aquino	MB2	USA	39,16
23	Kevin Geminder	M35	USA	39,18
DQ	William Valentine	MB2	USA

 

Saturday:

Brittany Bowe posted a 1:55.9 to win the Women’s 1500m.  Heather Bergsma and Mia Mananello also broke the two minute threshold and will represent the U.S. in South Korea.

Women’s 1500m:

1	Brittany Bowe	L30	USA	1.55,92
2	Heather Bergsma	LSA	USA	1.56,12
3	Mia Manganello	LSA	USA	1.59,28
4	Carlijn Schoutens	LN4	USA	2.00,82
5	Kelly Gunther (1987)	L30	USA	2.02,95
6	Erin Bartlett	LSA	USA	2.02,99
7	Franchesca Pasquarella	LN1	USA	2.03,12
8	Paige Schwartzburg	LSA	USA	2.03,66
9	Petra Acker	LSA	USA	2.04,45
10	Bri Bocox	LN2	USA	2.06,07
11	Nancy Swider-Peltz (1987)	L30	USA	2.06,15	SB
12	Rebekah Bradford	L35	USA	2.06,83
13	Briana Kramer	LSA	USA	2.07,70
14	Rebecca Simmons	LSA	USA	2.08,35
15	Hannah Bosman	LN1	USA	2.09,03	SB
16	Chrysta Rands	LN2	USA	2.10,06
17	Sara Rehklau	LN3	USA	2.10,13
18	Jennifer Kirsch	L35	USA	2.11,76
19	Jamie Nielson	LA2	USA	2.12,40
20	Esther Munoz	LN1	USA	2.13,06
21	Jacquelyn Bernico	LN3	USA	2.13,32
22	Mariah Richardson	LSA	USA	2.16,41
23	Samantha Snyder	LA2	USA	2.17,13

Men’s 1500m:

Mantia and Davis finish on the podium again, as they did in the 1000m where they were first and second.   Emery Lehman came up 2 tenths of a second short.  Roseville’s Steven Hartman had a good race to finish 8th with a time that is similar to best Salt Lake skates this year.

1	Joey Mantia	M30	USA	1.46,30
2	Brian Hansen	MSA	USA	1.46,64
3	Shani Davis	M35	USA	1.47,15
4	Emery Lehman	MN3	USA	1.47,37
5	Jeffrey Swider-Peltz	MSA	USA	1.49,38
6	Edwin Park	MSA	USA	1.50,17
7	Justin Stelly	M30	USA	1.50,43
8	Steven Hartman	MN4	USA	1.50,64
9	Ian Quinn	MSA	USA	1.51,47
10	Trevor Marsicano	MSA	USA	1.51,66
11	Casey Dawson	MB2	USA	1.52,81
12	Kyle Ronchak	MN4	USA	1.52,92
13	William Gebauer	MA2	USA	1.53,19
14	Conor McDermott-Mostowy	MA2	USA	1.53,32
15	Fletcher Codd	MA1	USA	1.54,07	SB
16	Austin Kleba	MA1	USA	1.54,21
17	Tyler Cain	MN3	USA	1.54,90
18	Nathan Miller	MN3	USA	1.56,77
19	Alex Zamojski	MN3	USA	1.57,41
20	John Sullivan	MN4	USA	1.59,15
21	Cooper McLeod	MB1	USA	2.00,48
22	Ethan Cepuran	MA1	USA	2.02,27

 

Sunday:

U.S. Men and Women each qualified to send two skaters in the mass start.

Women’s Mass Start:

Maria Lamb, who has had a disappointing Trials experience smoked the field in the Mass Start and was followed across the line (eventually) by Bergsma and Manganella (who both make the team in mass start).    The field decided not to chase Lamb when she broke.  Erin Bartlett made a move in the final lap, but could not hold off Bergsma and Manganella.  The Mass Start Olympic Team positions were based on three races, today was the final of the three races.  Lamb does not make the Olympic team because she did not have enough points in the first two races, but ended up third in total mass start points.

Men’s Mass Start:

Brian Hansen won the men’s event. Swidler-Peltz and Ian Quinn followed.  The Olympic positions for Mass Start go to Brian Hansen and Joey Mantia.