By Nicole Walton
Marquette, MI – The field of qualifiers narrowed during the second day of competition in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for short track speedskating at NMU. The official opening ceremony took place Wednesday night at the Berry Events Center, followed by the 1500 and 500 meters qualifying rounds and finals.
J.R. Celski of Federal Way, Washington took the gold in the men's 1500 meters. Silver went to Olympian Apolo Anton Ohno of Seattle, and bronze to Jordan Malone of Denton, Texas. Simon Cho of Laurel, Maryland grabbed top honors in the 500 meters, followed by Ohno and Celski.
In the women's competition, Katherine Reutter of Champaign, Illinois came in first in the 1500 meters, followed by Allison Baver of Sinking Springs, Pennsylvania and Kimberly Derrick of Memphis, Tennessee. And in the 500 meters Alyson Dudek of Hales Corners, Wisconsin was first, followed by Lana Gehring of Glenview, Illinois and Derrick.
Skaters have a day of rest Thursday. Action starts again Friday at 6:30 p.m.