TEAM OAKS AT THE USARS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS 2002

By Teddie Matteson

Bananas. An orange car. Giant men. Some pretty large women, too.

And the fastest inline speed skaters in the nation.

These are images in our memories from the competition in Lincoln, Nebraska. For the five days of July 23 through 27, 2002, we subsisted on bananas and half-eaten energy bars. The wild orange car we found parked at K-Mart and posed in front of it for pictures to send back home to our dear Dutch teammate, Marcel, who, like many Nederlanders, loves the color orange. The state capitol building has an x-rated nickname that even the school children will gleefully tell you is called The P- - - s of the Prairie (You fill in the blanks.). The corn-fed men and women of Lincoln are exceptionally tall and are as friendly as your favorite cousin.

The members of Team Oaks who attended Nationals were Coach Troy Chambers, Adrian Unkeles, Howard Unkeles, Angela Officer and myself. I have race reports for Angie and myself, and Howard will follow up with details of his and Adrian's races.

The Veteran Ladies Race

The first race was 700 meters, divided into two heats of six and seven ladies per heat. I was in the first heat, drawing the hated Lane No. 1. I had a good start at the gun and got to Cone 1 in about third place. Somebody from behind me clipped one of my skates and I fell to the floor, breaking my helmet in two places and earning an instant headache, neck ache and backache. Nevertheless, I felt like I could skate and popped back up and finished the race dead last.

Between races I went shopping and bought a new helmet.

The next day was the 500-meter race. Again I was in Heat 1, with the next-to-worst Lane 2. I had a decent start, but not the best. I was in 4th place and was skating conservatively to the point that I graciously let a competitor by me. I finished in 5th place.

Later that afternoon our 1000-meter race was held. Luckily I drew Lane 4 and repeated the same skate performance as I did in the 500. It just took twice as long.

Upon reflection, I feel as though I started the 700-meter race in my "A" game. The other two races were skated in my "B" game, not all that aggressive, but I was happy to stay on my two feet and finish a respectable 5th place for my heats.

The Classic Ladies Race

Angie may want to amend these details with her own comments since I only have her placements. As I watched her skate, however, I was so impressed with her form and speed. It was inspiring!

First event, the 1000 meter race, Angie came in 4th place in the semi-final heat, a very decent finish, despite the fact that she claims she felt like a deer staring into a car's headlights at the start line.

The second event, a 500-meter distance, Angie turned in a 3rd place finish for the semi-final heat, which sent her on to compete in the finals.

Her third event was a semi-final 1500-meter race, and she came roaring across the finish line in 2nd place. Impressive! That meant she was going on to finals for this event, too.

In the finals, Angie finished a respectable 6th in the 500 meter and an even better 5th place in the 1500 meter.

But there's more to this story.....

The First All Star Relay Races

This was the first year for this event. The champions from each age division in a region were gathered as relay teams, one for the females and one for the males. That meant each region had a relay team composed of a primary, elementary, freshman, junior, sophomore, senior, classic, master and veteran skater. There were nine regions represented, and the groups were divided into two heats.

The champion veteran male skater for the Northwest Region was injured, and Howard was nominated to skate in his place. Unfortunately, Howard and his family had a conflict, with obligations to be in the Teton Mountains and he was unable to skate as the veteran member. We were all honored and impressed, however, that Howard was invited to skate for the Northwest.

And now to the exciting part. The Sohtuern Region - Florida, Georgia, Alabama, etc. - didn't have a classic lady for their team. Angie was nominated to skate for the Southern Region! Well, to make the story a little too short, the Southern Region won their semi heat and advanced to the finals. The Northwest Region team was in the second heat and won it, also advancing to the finals.

During the finals race, there was an gripping moment during Angie's leg of the race. The classic ladies skated four laps for their portion, and it was perhaps in Angie's second lap that a competitor was approaching her from behind at Cone 3. All of a sudden, the opponent came up beside Angie and started riding Angie out with her hip! Angie stayed up but had to skate way wide of her course. Then just as quickly, the referee blasted his whistle and aggressively pointed his finger at the offending antagonist. The skater was disqualified!

The final result, a first-place winning relay team: The Southern Region, with our own Angela Officer skating in the Classic Women's leg!

It was a marvelous way to finish up our fun-filled trip to Nationals. We had a wonderful time in Lincoln and are looking forward to improving our skating skills to qualify again next year, when the competitions will be held in Syracuse, New York.