Racing concludes at Olympic Qualifier

The final day of racing at the U.S. World Cup/Olympic Qualifier showcased strong performances from top U.S. long track speedskaters from around the country. The day started off with the second Ladies 1000m event, and with skaters taking their best time of two races, Jen Rodriguez's time of 1:17.91, posted during the first 1000m on Thursday, was the time to beat.

Going into the race, the 1000m leaders Rodriguez (Miami, FL), Heather Richardson (High Point, NC) and Elli Ochowicz (Palo Alto, CA) did not skate the second race, assured their times would hold. They were correct and those three ladies were joined by Rebekah Bradford (Apple Valley, MN) and Jilleanne Rookard (Woodhaven, MI) to make up the Ladies 1000m World Cup team.

Olympian Shani Davis (Chicago, IL) also sat out the second Men's 1000m but fellow Olympian Chad Hedrick (Spring, TX) made a last-minute decision to skate the event and finished in third place with a time of 1:10.38, knocking Brian Hansen (Glenview, IL) out of the top five. The Men's 1000m World Cup team consists of Davis, 2002 Olympian Nick Pearson (West Allis, WI), Hedrick, Trevor Marsicano (Ballston Spa, NY) and Jonathan Kuck (Champaign, IL).

Rookard rocked the Ladies 5000m, finishing in first with a time of 7:14.01. Taking her combined ranking points from the 3000m and the 5000m, Rookard earned the first spot on the Ladies 3K/5K World Cup team. Three-time Olympian Catherine Raney (Elm Grove, WI) skated a great race in her 5000m, landing in second place for the event and earning the third spot on the World Cup team.

"It was awesome when I made the (Olympic) team in 1998," Raney said. "I'm still excited to go into Vancouver."

Olympian Maria Lamb (River Falls, WI) and Nancy Swider-Peltz, Jr. (Glenview, IL) make up the second and fourth spots on the Ladies 3K/5K World Cup team.

The Men's 10,000m featured seven pairs of skaters in a grueling 25 laps around the oval at the Pettit National Ice Center. Going into the race, Davis led the points after winning the 5000m during Thursday's racing. In the fourth pair, Davis was paired with Kuck and pulled out a fast time of 13.29.01. His time held through three more pairs and Davis won the 10K by more than ten seconds over second-place finisher Kuck. The Men's 5K/10K World Cup team will consist of Davis, Kuck, Hedrick, Hansen and Ryan Bedford (Midland, MI).

Following the event, US Speedskating announced the team pursuit members for the 2009-2010 World Cup events. For the men, Davis, Hansen, Hedrick, Kuck and Marsicano will skate the pursuit while Lamb, Raney, Rodriguez, Rookard and Swider-Peltz, Jr. make up the Ladies Team Pursuit.