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Short-track teams taking shape for U.S.
By Maria Titze
Deseret News staff writer
KEARNS — Seventeen-year-old J.P. Kepka was doing his best to answer questions from a small crowd of reporters and was surprised when fellow short-track speed skater Rusty Smith — an older and more accomplished skater — gave him a good-natured slap across the thigh as he walked by him.
"Does Rusty Smith always do that when you beat him?" someone asked.
"Don't know," Morgan answered, a glint from the braces on his teeth showing as he cracked a proud grin. "This is the first time I've ever beat him."
Kepka also nearly took the 500-meter final away from the American most heavily favored to win an Olympic gold medal in February, Apolo Anton Ohno, at Friday's Olympic trials.
"I was kind of waiting for him to make his move," said Kepka, a native of St. Louis who began skating in 1989 after reading an advertisement for the sport at a local ice rink. "He was back there, and I kept wondering when he was going to pass me."
With half a lap to go, Ohno slipped past Kepka on the inside to take the lead and win the race.
In doing so, Ohno also set a new U.S. record in the 500-meter with a time of 41.628 seconds.
Ohno said after the race, he wasn't toying with Kepka.
"I set up (to pass) twice before, and couldn't get enough speed (on the turns)," Ohno explained. "I was having problems."
But those "problems" certainly haven't stopped the Seattle skater from winning every heat he's skated in for more than a week. That's 15 races in four days without a single fall, disqualification or loss.
For the first time Friday, Ohno admitted it would be "a little bit" nice to finish the trials Saturday with a perfect performance.
Ohno has already secured his spot on the Olympic team, as has Smith of Sunset Beach, Calif, Daniel Weinstein who is from Brookline, Mass., and Ron Biondo of Broadview Heights, Ohio.
It looks like Kepka and a fellow St. Louis skater, Tommy O'Hare, could round out the men's team.
"I just wanted to skate some smart races and not get disqualified," Kepka said, clearly surprised with his showing Friday and excited about the thought of being an Olympian. "I still can't really believe it. It's gonna be crazy. Just a blast."
The leaders in the ladies standings continue to be Amy Peterson of Maplewood, Minn., Erin Porter of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Caroline Hallisey from Natick, Mass., Julie Goskowicz of Colorado Springs, Colo., Allison Baver of Sinking Spring, Penn., and Mary Griglak of Berea, Ohio.
E-mail: mtitze@desnews.com
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December 22, 2001
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