TEAM OAKS TRIP REPORT

by Howard Unkeles

Adrian was racing JO Elementary. He made his semi-finals in both distances, finishing an easy 2'nd in both his quarter-final races. In his 300 meter semi-final he was a strong fourth. His slowness getting off the line got him stuck behind someone in fifth. He spent the first lap and a half getting around that person into fourth and then just didn't have time to move up to place. His best race was his 500 meter semi-final where he was clearly catching up with the third place skater. He went for the late pass on the next to last lap and hit the cone which sent him sprawling face first to the floor. Just some minor bruises to show for his great effort. We were all very proud of him to have made such an all out effort.

I was racing Standard Veteran. I knew from the practice rounds that these guys are fast. My 700 meter heat was terrible, full of wide corners and a close slip. Just nervousness. I think I finished sixth. The 500 meter was more relaxed. Once again, I think I finished fifth. The 1000 meter was definitely a fifth place finish. I know I didn't skate up to my potential due to my inability to relax, but at the same time I could see that these guys are nearly a second a lap faster than me. All three of these races were quarter-final races. I remember the 700 meter final where I think the guy from Las Vegas won in about 1:12 or so. That's like 10.3 second laps.

We were all sorry to see Bob Celski go down in the 500 meter quarter-final. He was the reigning champion from Federal Way. He had to go off on a stretcher and he later told me that it was a ham-string pull. "Oh well", he said, "it was fun while it lasted." He's one tough competitor.

Observations from the meet: The quality of racing is unbelievable. In almost every division, you have to have 10 second laps to be a contender. The standard sophomores and juniors in both men and women were incredibly competitive. I remember this one sophomore girl from California setting a record in 5 or 7 laps in her semi-final heat and then beating her own record in the final. She was doing 9.5 second laps.

And then there was Walter Langely from Maryville finishing right on the back of another skater in the 15 lap final for masters. The winner had a record time of 2:22. It was something like 5 seconds faster that than the previous record. That's about 9.5 second laps for 15 laps.

The pros were another amazing thing to see. With the likes of Chad Hedricks, Steve Carter, Jeremy Anderson, Miguel Jose and others it had to be spectacular. I only saw their sprint, which is 15 laps. With them it isn't so much the raw speed that matters as they also were right in the 9.5 second lap times. With them it is the constant battling for position with daring and sometimes acrobatic passes that is so incredible to see. Every corner someone is passing. It seemed to come down to who had the best position on the last turn or who could pull off some amazing stunt to sneak up a place. For example, Miguel Jose from Federal Way won his 15 lap semi-final heat by slipping inside from fourth to first coming OUT of the very last corner. It was like "WHERE DID HE COME FROM?????!!!!"

Final thoughts, competing at a national level is way out there in comparison to what we see in our team practices and regional competitions. That's not meant to put us down. Rather, it's my observation as to how far those young energetic bodies can push the sport and how amazing it is.