Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Greased lightning

By John Denny

The Clackamas Review, Jul 8, 2008

PORTLAND – Things are looking up for the speed skating team at Oaks Park Roller Rink.

“We’ve moved up from the sixth strongest region in the nation last year to this year we’re the third strongest region,” said Derek Meade, a 38-year-old Milwaukie speed-skating enthusiast who coaches the team.

Meade is a big reason things are looking up for the Oaks Skating Club team. He’s been a part of competitive speed skating since he first took up the sport close to 30 years ago, and he’s got credentials.

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Monday, July 07, 2008

From 'out of nowhere,' Honey Brook speedskater makes his mark

By Tom Brolley
Reading Eagle

Keith Carroll toed the starting line at the first race of the recent Junior Inline Speedskating National Championships, ready to make a quick impression.

In less than 27 seconds, the 17-year-old from Honey Brook did just that, setting a blistering pace in the time trial and breaking the national record in the 300-meter banked track race.

"That race let everyone know that he's the fastest man on the track," said Jeff Foster, Carroll's coach with SOS Racing. "That really set the tone."

Carroll would finish the championships with two national records and four medals - two golds and two silvers - on his way to placing second overall at the meet in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The next step for the Twin Valley senior-to-be is the World Speedskating Championships in September in Spain. Foster said Carroll has the chance to come away with five medals.

After that there may not be much left for Carroll to achieve in inline skating, leaving him with a tough decision.

Carroll aspires to go to the Olympics in 2014, but there's a small problem: Inline speedskating is not an Olympic sport. Carroll will eventually have to decide if he wants to pursue that goal or stick with inline skating.


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Healthy and injury free, Baver has great expectations

By Tom Brolley
Reading Eagle

Before Allison Baver went on to Olympic fame in short track speedskating, she was a local kid terrorizing the competition on inline skates.

The Wilson grad, along with skaters such as Apollo Anton Ohno and Chad Hedrick, is among a growing number of former inliners to have success on ice.

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Denham Springs native wins skating race

Debbie Rice of Denham Springs won the women’s division of the American Family Insurance Badger Games Inline Marathon on Sunday in Portage, Wisc.

Rice, 40, finished the 25.5-mile inline-skating race in 1 hour, 15 minutes and 27.3 seconds, more than 5 minutes faster than the runner-up. She stayed with the lead men’s pack until the midpoint of the race.

She finished 15th overall.

The victory in the women’s division, Rice’s second in a National Rollercup race, gives Rice a narrow lead in the NROC master women’s division with 120 points.


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Hoffman Estates to host inline skate marathon

Thirteen years ago, as the popularity of inline skating peaked, members of Chicago-based Team Rainbo skating club began cruising the streets of Hoffman Estates.

The village provided an ideal central weekend practice site for a team whose members hailed from as far south as Orland Park and as far north as Lake Geneva, Wis.

Team Rainbo members now hope their old practice site will provide a perfect backdrop for one of skating's largest events.

On July 26, Hoffman Estates will host the second annual Chicagoland Inline Marathon and Half Marathon, featuring men and women of different skill abilities and ages. Mundelein hosted the inaugural marathon last year.

"It's a great opportunity for anybody who likes skating to put on a pair of skates and be around other people that like to put on skates," said Team Rainbo member Greg Major of Oak Park.


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Local inline skaters feel the need for speed

By Joe Habina
Special Correspondent

Having dabbled in competitive inline speed skating, Melanie Fortner did not want her son Matthew to get involved. It would require too big a commitment in time and finances.

But as a 6-year-old soaking in his first competition three years ago, Matthew's “eyes were glued to the floor,” said Melanie, who couldn't resist his pleas for a pair of skates.

In just a short time, Matthew has become a national champion, setting a U.S. record with his female partner in the 1,200-meter mixed-relay race at last year's national championships in Omaha, Neb.

Next Sunday, the Fortners, including family patriarch Mike – all of whom are reigning national titleholders from Concord – will begin competition in the 2008 Indoor Speed Skating National Championships in Lincoln, Neb. Matthew's mixed-relay partner will be Kannapolis 11-year-old Jenna Alexander, skating in her first national competition.


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Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Area skaters continue busy summer season

By DEVIN HASSON/Staff Writer
(Created: Friday, June 20, 2008 2:48 AM CDT)
It has been a busy month for a handful of Mesquite-based in-line skaters who have been competing in events all over the region.

On May 24, brothers Joseph Burns, 15, and Spencer Burns, 8, who compete for DFW Speed, each won titles at the South Central Regional Championships in Waco. As a result, both qualified for the 2008 National Speed Skating Championships in Lincoln, Neb., on July 13-17.


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Local skaters go FAST

Taking the FAST track

Fort Myers team prepares for inline skating championships

KEVIN JOHNSON

kkjohnson@bonitanews.com

Memory can be a powerful motivational tool. Just ask Steve Hanna.

All it takes is a skate down memory lane to make Hanna recall when his speed skating teammates displayed such little confidence in him and his wife/skating partner, Becky, as they prepared to compete in their first national championship races.

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