Olympic hopeful Mark back on track after injury

PENNSBURG — While the focus of the Olympics has most recently centered on Beijing, thousands of athletes are well into their training for the 2010 Winter Games.

And one of those athletes, 18-year-old Alex Mark of Pennsburg, is hoping Vancouver, Canada, will be the site of his Olympic debut.

Mark, who attended Upper Perkiomen High School as a freshman, is the youngest member of the Wheels on Ice Program (WHIP), designed to crossover America's top talents in inline skating onto the ice. Only 12 skaters from throughout the U.S. were picked for the program, and athletes like Joey Cheek, Derek Parra, and Apolo Anton Ohno are proof the system can yield Olympic hardware.

Read More....

Horning makes national team

One of the best inline speed skaters in the nation, Horning left Salisbury for Colorado Springs, Colo., last Friday to train for the 2008 World Roller Speed Skating Championships in Gijon, Spain. Along with the other 23 members of the U.S. world team, she'll be in Colorado for another two weeks, training six-to-eight hours a day before leaving for Spain on Aug. 26.

Read More...

Rock Hill skaters excel

Jacob Anderson, 8, Damon Spencer, 10, and Will Irby, 12, set national records in inline speed skating in Lincoln. The three were among a group of 14 at the championships who practice under trainer Donnie Allen of Rock Hill.

Anderson broke the national record for the 1,200-meter primary two mixed -- with teammate Deja Johnson, 7 -- and the 1,200-meter primary two-boy -- with teammate Travis Spencer. Jacob and Damon set another national record on the 1,200-meter juvenile four-boy -- with teammates Aidan Murphy-Booth, 8, and Clay Ellerbrock, 9.


Read More...