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Slalom Athletes News/Updates
2008 Slalom World Cup - Prague, CZESunday June 22, 2008
- The first Slalom World Cup of the 2008 season concluded today in
Prague, CZE giving the 13 athletes on the National Team their first
opportunity to race the Worlds best as we move ever closer to the
Beijing Olympic Games. Complete results analysis are available here. The
C1 competition was an exciting one for Team USA as 19 year old Benn
Fraker finished 5th. Paddling very close to the gates, he raced
extremely well with two clean runs to mix it up with World Champions
and Olympic medalist in a tightly contested final. Another outstanding
results for a young talented athlete. Tad Dennis also paddled well to a
17th place finish with Jeff Larimer ending up in 47th. The competition
was won by Estanguet (FRA), then Bell (AUS) and Florence (GBR). In
K1W, Team USA was led by 16 year old Caroline Queen who laid down near
flawless runs to finish 19th. A great results for this talented young
women. Right on her heels was Heather Corrie in 31st place and
representing the USA internationally for the first time. Team USA's
women's field was wrapped up with Zuzana Vanha in 32nd who will have
plenty more opportunities to show her slalom skills in the coming World
Cups. The women's competition was won by Hilgertova (CZE), followed by
Planert (GER) and Dukatova (SVK) who all went in to the final seperated
by less than one second. Brett Heyl raced famously all weekend
long in a stacked K1 field with a great deal at stake for many
international athletes. Brett had two fantastic runs to place 4th in
this highly contested flagship event. Despite having a great day of
racing, Scott Mann went out in the semi final to finish in 26th place.
Scott Parsons finished in 46th place. The K1 competition was won by
Lefevre (FRA), Pfannmoller (GER), then Kubrican (CZE). The C2's
of Crane/McCleskey and Eichfeld/Powell finished 25th and 28th
respectively in a tightly contested heat. The competition was won by
Jiras/Mader (CZE), Hu/Shu (CHN) and then Forgit/Braud (FRA). A
smaller team will now head to the next World Cup in Tacen, SLO for
World Cup #2 while everyone else heads towards Augsburg, GER to prepare
for World Cup #3 which doubles as the final selection event for the USA
Olympic Team.
2008 Olympic Team Trials for Whitewater Slalom – Day 3
Olympic Team Trials for Whitewater Slalom Concludes in spectacular fashion
The
2008 Olympic Team Trials for Whitewater Slalom at the U.S. National
Whitewater Center (USNWC) in Charlotte, NC concluded today settling the
U.S. National Team. This 15-member team will represent the U.S. in
upcoming international competition with the U.S. Olympic Team being
finalized in July after the World Cup in Augsburg, Germany.
The U.S. National Team rankings:
• K1 (One man kayak):
1. Brett Heyl
2. Scott Parsons
3. Scott Mann
• K1W (One woman kayak):
1. Zuzana Vanha
2. Heather Corrie
3. Caroline Queen
• C1 (One man canoe):
1. Jeff Larimer
2. Benn Fraker
3. Tad Dennis
• C2 (Two man canoe):
1. Scott McCleskey and Austin Crane
2. Casey Eichfeld and Richard Powell
3. Ben Kvanli and Mark Poindexter
• C1W (One woman canoe):
1. Colleen Hickey
2. Hailey Thompson
3. Micki Reeves
In
the K1, Brett Heyl turned in his second day of near flawless racing,
trumping Scott Mann’s consistent three-day effort. Scott Parsons roared
back after a disappointing second day to move from sixth to second
overall, claiming the second place on the National Team.
In the K1W, Zuzana Vanha had another dominating day securing her berth on the National Team.
In
the C1, Jeff Larimer had the run of the weekend with that propelled him
though this very challenging course separating him from former World
Champion Robin Bell by 6 seconds.
In
the C2, McCleskey and Crane went back and forth with Eichfeld and
Powell who ended up first and second respectively. The last run of the
day by Eichfeld/Powell was an incredible 4 seconds faster than
McCleskey/Crane but, failed to bridge the deficit from
McCleskey/Crane’s early lead.
In the C1W, the U.S. will send an historic 3 woman team to the Pre-World Championships in Seu, Spain later this Summer.
Selected
team members will travel to Augsburg, Germany for quality training on
the final World Cup venue. Following that, they will continue on to
Beijing to train on the Olympic course.
2008 Olympic Team Trials for Whitewater Slalom – Day 2
USA Canoe/Kayak completes the competition for Olympic berths.
The
2008 Olympic Team Trials for Whitewater Slalom at the U.S. National
Whitewater Center (USNWC) in Charlotte, NC continued today with huge
galleries and clear skies. The weather was warm, while the competition
was hot at the official U.S. Olympic Committee’s (USOC) Training venue.
U.S. Highlights included:
• K1 (One man kayak):
o
Brett Heyl and Scott Mann, by finishing Saturday’s competition first
and third respectively, continue their quest to be named to the U.S.
National Team. Heyl also won the Gold Medal in the Pan American
Championships.
o Eric “Butter” Hurd, Gaston county resident, had another incredible day, breaking into the top three.
• K1W (One woman kayak)
o
Heather Corrie and Zuzana Vanha continued their duel for supremacy with
Corrie getting the edge today as she finished first to Vanha’s second.
• C1 (One man canoe)
o
Benn Fraker qualified a berth in the C1 for the U.S. to compete in the
2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The athlete paddling that boat will not be
known until early July after competition ends at the World Cup in
Augsburg, Germany.
• C2 (Two man canoe)
o Austin Crane
and Scott McCleskey secured a C2 berth for the U.S. in the Summer
Olympic Games by their decisive win over the second place team of Ben
Kvanli and Mark Poindexter. Friday’s first place team of Eichfeld and
Powell finished third after missing the last gate of the competition
and suffering a 50 second penalty. Crane and McCleskey also won the
Gold Medal in the Pan American Championships.
International Highlights:
• K1
o
Representing Chile, Mt. Holly resident and USNWC employee Pablo
McCandless cemented his trip to Beijing this summer by winning a silver
medal in the Pan American Championship.
o Canadian Nathan Davis (a Charlotte resident) finished 5th, challenging David Ford’s continued Canadian Olympic legacy.
• K1W
o
Jessica Groeneveld earned Canada a K1W spot in the Summer Olympic
Games, narrowly edging Pollana Aparecida DePaula from Brazil.
• C1
o Already headed for Beijing, representing Australia, Robin Bell handily won today’s competition.
• C2
o
Brazilians Petry and Machado, finishing third in yesterday’s
competition, threw down a strong challenge for the Pan American
Championships but came up short to team U.S.A.’s sweep of the top three
places.
Sunday is the last day of competition in the U.S. and Canadian Team Trials.
View Charlotte Observer Slideshow from Saturday April 26th, 2008 here.
2008 Olympic Team Trials for Whitewater Slalom – Day 1
A
beautiful day greeted the opening of the 2008 Olympic Team Trials for
Whitewater Slalom at the U.S. National Whitewater Center in Charlotte,
NC. The huge Friday afternoon crowd was treated to fantastic
competition at the official U.S. Olympic Committee’s (USOC) Training
venue.
13
Countries and 135 athletes competed in the day’s events that were
comprised of K1 (one man kayak), K1W (one woman kayak), C1 (one man
canoe) and C2 (two man canoe). U.S. athletes had a strong competitive
day in this International field.
U.S. Highlights included:
•
K1 – Scott Parsons squeaked into first after a dominating first run by
Scott Mann who finished second. Brett Heyl finished a comfortable third
• K1W – 16-year-old Caroline Queen was triumphant over Zuzana Vanha in second and Heather Corrie finishing third.
•
C1 - Americas top athletes swept the first four places with Jeff
Larimer finishing first, Tad Dennis second, Benn Fraker third and Erik
Amason fourth.
• C2 – The team of Eichfeld and Powell finished first in impressive style with a 9.16 second lead over McCleskey and Crane.
International Highlights:
•
K1 – David Ford of Canada finished fourth at the age of 41. Pablo
McCandless of Chile (and a Mount Holly resident) registered an
impressive 6th place finish. Irish team member Eoin Rheinish rounded
out the top 10.
• K1W – Sara Boudens (Canada’s top ranked woman) finished a strong 5th.
• C1 – Olympian James Cartwright of Canada finished 5th and former World Champion Robin Bell of Australia finished 6th.
•
C2 – The Brazilian team of Petry and Machado finished third. Canada’s
Purcell brothers and Cutts brothers finished 7th and 9th respectively.
Saturday
is the final day of the Pan American Championships that will determine,
among other things, whether the U.S. will qualify a C1 and/or C2 berth
for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing. Other Pan American teams
hope to earn berths in all classes. Canada has already qualified a K1
for the Summer Games.
The U.S. and Canadian Team Trials continue until Sunday with the Pan American Championships ending Saturday.
View Charlotte Observer Slideshow from Friday April 25th, 2008 here.
FINAL RESULTS FROM THE 2008 USA CANOE/KAYAK OLYMPIC TEAM TRIALS FOR WHITEWATER SLALOM ARE AVAILABLE HERE.
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