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St. Louis' speed skaters are
proud of their Olympic
tradition. At least one skater
with ties to the area has
represented the United States
in 11 consecutive Winter
Games. The next generation is
working to keep the streak
alive.

The current generation isn't
ready to go quietly. J.P. Kepka,
bronze medalist in the short
track 5,000-meter relay in
Turin, took time off to get
married and seems to have
rebounded from injuries.
Kepka finished fourth in the
500-meter final at the World
Cup Short Track
championships last weekend in
the Netherlands.

Keep an eye out, though, for a
pair of St. Louisans who
switched from short track and
are making waves in long
track. Patrick Meek and Matt
Plummer represented the
United States at the World
University Games last month in
Turin. Meek, 21, was a
member of the U.S. contingent
that finished eighth in team
pursuit. He also finished 11th
in the 10,000 meters and 26th
at 5,000 meters. Plummer, 19,
finished 16th in the 500
meters, 15th at 1,000 meters
and 33rd in the 1,500.

Meek, a graduate of St. Louis
University High in 2004, called
his trip to Turin "one of the
coolest skating experiences
I've ever been a part of. It was
a miniature Olympics. We
stayed in the village. It was
even better than being with the
junior world team. We'd see
Swedish hockey players in the
village and eat with the
Lithuanian curlers in the
cafeteria."
The pair have much in
common. Both ran cross
country in high school, which
helped build their stamina and
improve their starts in skating.
Plummer, who graduated from
Chaminade in May, considered
continuing his running career
in college but in the long run
focused on skating to narrow
the choice of schools. Like
Meek, he enrolled at the
University of Utah, a stone's
throw from the Olympic long
track oval in Salt Lake City.

Both also were members of the
St. Louis Metros skating club.

"The Metros do a great job of
everything with so little
financial support," Plummer
said. "All the coaches
volunteer, but I had multiple
Olympians to help me out.
They make their tradition
known. It helps you stay with
the sport. I wouldn't be here
without them."

Each made a splash shortly
after converting from short
track to long track. Meek made
the jump two years ago, in part
because he was tired of the
pounding from the spills and
collisions in short track. After
less than a year, he was
ranked in the U.S. top 10 at
3,000 and 5,000 meters.

"The hardest part was the
mental side," Meek said. "Matt
and I had grown up racing
other people, racing across
the line. Everything in long
track is against the clock. But
the racers are more
supportive."

Plummer started racing on the
long oval this fall, and his
transition has been even
faster, "extremely surprising,"
he said. "I reached my goal
and more."
After the World University
Games, Plummer finished first
in the 500, 1,500 and 5,000
meters at the U.S. Junior Long
Track Championships in
Roseville, Minn. He'll represent
the United States at the World
Junior Championships later
this month in Innsbruck,
Austria.

"Coming from short track,
you're used to turning,"
Plummer said. "In long track,
the turns are much more wide,
so short trackers bring an
advantage of tighter, faster
turns."

The pair has one final thing in
common: their long-term goal
is making the Olympic team in
Vancouver in 2010.

"Matt's done a really good job,"
Meek said. "He's been like my
brother growing up, and it was
nice seeing him do so well.
Being together in Torino was
great. He really is like part of
the family. To be together in
Vancouver would be awesome."

Excerpts from Post Dispatch
(2007)

St. Louis has another chance next month to show
why it has earned a special niche in speed
skating, hosting the U.S. Short Track
Championships, Dec. 19-21 at the Hardee's Ice
Plex in Chesterfield. The top short track skaters
in the country will compete for spots on the U.S.
World Cup team and for the world championships
in March. Expected to attend are J.P. Kepka, a St.
Louis native who won a bronze medal in Turin,
and Katherine Reutter, U.S. overall champion.
Both are alumni of the St. Louis Metros, so the
event will serve as a homecoming.

A couple of the area's most prominent skaters
won't be attending, since they made the jump to
long track. Though they have followed a steep
learning curve, former Metros skaters Patrick
Meek and Matt Plummer continue on an upward
trend and have their eyes set on Vancouver in 15
months.

Meek qualified last month for the U.S. World Cup
team and finished 12th in the 5,000 meters last
weekend in Heerenveen, the Netherlands, "my
highest finish ever. It went really well," he said.
The result is significant because World Cup
events are the sport's most prestigious in
non-Olympic years.

He also reported that 2006 Olympians Chad
Hedrick and Shani Davis skated together in the
team pursuit for the first time since before the
Turin Games, leading the U.S. team to a
second-place finish. The two provided an
unwelcome distraction, trading barbs throughout
the Olympics and refusing to race together in the
team event.
"It was a very nice, drama-free weekend," Meek
said. "They both realize that if we want to beat the
Dutch in 15 months, we have to put the past
behind us and work together." MORE
NELSONE-Mail Kathleen NelsonMore columns
from Kathleen Nelson

Meek referred to the only time most Americans
pay attention to speed skating, the Olympic
Games. He and Plummer have set a goal of
competing in Vancouver, hoping to extend the
streak of Olympic skaters from St. Louis that
began in 1968.

Plummer missed qualifying for the World Cup fall
circuit by 0.1 second. A 2006 graduate of
Chaminade, Plummer said his short-term goal
was to qualify for the World Cup events in
January and February.

Both St. Louisans stressed the importance of
participating in World Cup events and learning
from the masters, such as Hedrick and Davis,
who won five of the 25 U.S. medals in Turin
despite their little spat

Meek, a 2004 graduate of St. Louis University
High, also credits his coach, Bart Veldkamp, with
helping him get to the next level. Veldkamp
earned a gold medal in the 1992 Olympics in the
10,000 meters and bronze medals in 1994 and
'98, so he can offer extra advice to Meek, who
also specializes in the long-distance events.

"His strength is his total focus on speed skating,"
Veldkamp said. "He's willing to do anything to
progress. Staking is the center of his life. The
next step is to develop his technique more."

Meek will earn his degree in political science at
the University of Utah in December, but between
skating and school, he has no time to work. He
gets $650 a month from U.S. Olympic Committee
and U.S. Speedskating, which barely covers rent.
Because of the recession, he lost a sponsorship.
His parents have filled the void this year.

"A lot of companies don't realize we compete
between Olympics," Meek said. "They don't
realize we have world championships and world
cups and practice every day. People forget that
the U.S. has won more gold medals than any
other country, and you have to work at this all the
time."

The window for competitors is barely a crack.
Plummer said he put college on hold to pursue
his Olympic dream but will most likely only give it
one chance because I would like to move back to
Missouri to finish college and continue to law
school."

So, Meek wanted to give a pat on the back to
local organizers, in particular Russ Owen and
Fran Whalen of the St. Louis Metros, who helped
lure Monsanto as a title sponsor for the short
track nationals.

"They are the reason that guys like me are able
to compete at this level," he said. "They'll go the
extra mile for guys like us."

And for St. Louis' legacy in speed skating.

Excerpts from Post Dispatch (11/08)