Dear Reutter Rooters,
Katherine came out smelling like a rose at World
Championships last weekend overall *7th* in the world
(behind 3 Chinese, 2 Koreans, and 1 Canadian); bronze
in the 3000; 4th in the 1500; 5th in the 500 and DQ Devil
got her in the 1000. (NOTE: Three women now in next
year as Allison Baver and Katherine finished in the top 10.
Apolo Ohno won the men's title - the first ever for a U.S.
man and 3 U.S. skaters finished in the top 10!
Unprecedented short skating by both the U.S. men and
women this year.)
This weekend finds Katherine in Harbin, China for World
Team Championships is Saturday, March 15th and
Sunday, March 16th.World Teams run a little differently -
all skaters have to be ready to skate all distances at the
start of each distance. Teams/Countries draw line
positions - the coaches of each team getting to select who
they want on the line based who is on the line in previous
positions. So let's say the USA draws position 1 on the
line for the 1500, knowing Katherine's strength is
endurance the coaches select Katherine. Then the
country drawing position 2 will select their skater based
on the fact that Katherine is on the line, position 3 then
decides their skater based on skaters 1 and 2 - etc.;
whereas if it were the 500 they would be looking at putting
the best sprinter on the line.At this meet points will be
going to the country, not the skater. For that reason I
don't know if skaters will be identified by name or by
country on the ISU site while racing. In either case - it's
TEAM USA this weekend. The U.S. finished 4 overall in
both men and women.
Order of events, results, and live link can be found at:
http://www.sportresult.com/federations/ISU/ShortTrack/
Live video of the meet can seen at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeuBO_CeEFQ
Her mom, Beth, has shared with us a journal of her days in Torino, Italy. Enjoy!
Thanks to Katherine, Beth & Jay for allowing Metros to publish this. Good luck, Katherine!!!
DAY 1 - Jan. 23, 2007:
Ciao - Katherine Fans!
Katherine is in Torino, Italy for the 2007 Winter Universiade.
Today she ran the 1500 - got first in her heat - ahead of China and Canada- moving on to the quarter finals was
advanced out the quarter finals to the semi-finals due to a Canadian getting DQ'd - the Canadian doing something that
knocked Katherine off her track, keeping Katherine from qualifying. A skater typically gets advanced if the referees
think they would have qualified anyway if
they hadn't been impeded and in turn, Katherine got DQ'd in the semi-final...moved into 2nd
position on the last lap, but the referees decided she touched an Italian skater as she moved back in from the pass -
women not getting away with
as much jostling on the ice as the men do.
As a spectator of short track, take note: a race isn't over until after the referees huddle so you hope to goodness there'
no huddling! But if
they do and if the head referee skates over to the announcer you know someone is going to be DQ'd. Often the skater
isn't even aware of having
done something to be DQ'd. So believe me - if the referees huddle after *your* skater just finished, you are praying
like mad that there's not going to be a DQ's called, and if there is a call that it's not your skater getting the DQ!
Jay [Katherine's father] talked to Katherine this afternoon - despite the DQ she was thrilled she got as far as she did,
proving she can stay with the best: China, Korea, and Canada.
Below is the link to the calendar for all of the events at the World Universiade - a smaller version of the Olympics, all of
the athletes
qualifying not only by rank in their own country but also having to be a college student. If you click on any of the dots
you will be taken to
the days activities for that sport, as well as heat lists and results. NOTE: Katherine's sport is Short Track; long track is
noted as Speed
Skating:
http://www.universiadetorino2007.org/ENG/calendario.aspx
Tomorrow/Wednesday Katherine will skate the 500 and 3000, and the USA women's team will skate the 3000 relay.
The other U.S. skaters are: Cherise Wilkens, Sonia Milan, Erika Lanser,
Al Johnson, Kyle Carr, Levi Kirkpatrick, Derek Grey, and Nick Frank
Until tomorrow - Ciao!
DAY 2 - January 24, 2007
Ciao - Katherine Fans!
Katherine goes down in history - breaking the Jr.
American time for the Ladies' 500-meters. OLD RECORD: Hallie Kim,45.840,Beijing, China, 1/10/04. NEW RECORD:
KATHERINE REUTTER,45.48,Torino, Italy, 1/24/07.
"If I have given my all and still do not win, I
haven't lost. Others might remember winning or
losing; I remember the journey." -Apolo Anton Ohno-Olympic medalist. And what a journey Katherine is on...
Today/Wednesday Katherine ran the 500-meters - not getting a medal but she's certainly on her way! Let me count the
ways....
1) came in first on Preliminaries - beating a Korean, Japanese, and Austrian; 2) then came in 2nd in the Heat, behind a
Czech-beating a Korean and a Canadian and breaking the Jr. American time for the 500, not to mention that time also
being Katherine's personal best 3) then came in 3rd on the Quarterfinal behind a Chinese and Canadian, but beating a
Korean - only top 2 moved on to the semi's, Katherine not moving
on. BUT she gave it her all and look where it got her: holding a Jr. American time record, and proof
positive she has what it takes to run with the best:
China, Korea, and Canada....if nothing else -
between Junior Worlds and World Universiade - the heads are turning...Katherine becoming known as a force to be
reckoned with!!!
The 3000 was cancelled today - both individual and relays runs at this distance being run on Friday.
Tomorrow/Thursday, the 1000 will be run - the distance Katherine enjoys most.
Talked to Katherine today - she's feeling really
relaxed, it finally settling in that she has what it
takes to run with the best. But at the same time is
looking forward to the competition being over on
Friday so that she can let loose and go gelato shop hopping and if there's room afterwards, indulging in what Torino is
known for - chocolate!
Yesterday I brought you a bit of speed skate speak - 'DQ' for disqualification, being 'advanced' because of a DQ, the
officials 'huddling'; and today, I share with you the extent of my Italian
vocabulary....Gelato - an Italian frozen dessert
made from milk and sugar, combined with other
flavourings. Gelato being Italian for "frozen" and
comes from the Italian word gelare, meaning "to
freeze".
Ciao - meaning both hello and GOODBYE...Beth
DAY 3 - January 25, 2007
Oh my gosh - oh my gosh - oh my gosh....
Katherine was hot today....came in 1st in the Preliminaries - followed by China, France, Great
Britain grabbed 1st in the Heats - followed by Italy, China, Canada took 2nd in the Quarter finals - behind China, ahead
of Japan and Korea. That put Katherine in the 1000m semi-finals and look at what the line-up was in her group:
MENG, Xiaoxue CHN
REUTTER, Katherine USA
LIU, Cuijia CHN
CHO, Ha-Ri KOR
I'm tempted to enlarge it, frame it, display it:
Skating in the 2nd group of the semi-final was:
KIM, Hye-Kyung KOR
CAPURSO, Marta ITA
SUN, LinLin CHN
LIU, Qiuhong CHN
In case you didn't notice...the top 8 (out of 43) in the 1000m consisted of 4 Chinese, 2 Koreans, 1 Italian, and
KATHERINE - not a single Canadian in the bunch.
We haven't heard from Katherine today so can only guess from the times (below) that because Meng got DQ'd she
must have bumped Katherine,
causing Katherine to fall and Katherine not close enough to Lie and Cho to be advanced to the finals.....
CHO, Ha-Ri KOR 1:38.060 Q
LIU, Cuijia CHN 1:39.346 Q
REUTTER, Katherine USA 2:05.371
MENG, Xiaoxue CHN DQ
KIM, Hye-Kyung KOR 1:31.872 Q
CAPURSO, Marta ITA 1:32.194 Q
SUN, LinLin CHN 1:32.203
LIU, Qiuhong CHN 1:34.415
If my math is correct that should place Katherine in overall 7th for the 1000m.
Tomorrow/Friday: 3000m and 3000m relay
Till then...
Beth
Wow, what a winning weekend Katherine had at World Cup VI in Salt Lake City last weekend. She made her mark -
all in the international world of speedskating now knowing who she is. The Deseret News in Salt Lake City had this to
say:
For Katherine Reutter, it was like a coming-of-age moment. The 19-year-old rising star of the U.S. short track
speedskating team has not been skating in World Cup competition for long. In Quebec (World Cup V) she said some
of her competitors didn't really know who she was or what to expect from her.
This weekend, skating at the Utah Olympic Oval in front of a friendly audience and on familiar ice, Reutter was not
only noticed, she was planned for. "They adjusted their strategy," she said. "They were more defensive. I think it's a
compliment when another skater looks at you and
says 'You're good.' "
She made the podium THREE times - silver in the 1500m, silver in the 1000m, and bronze in the women's 3000m
relay. Even the Associated Press
picked up on her accomplishments - posting a page on the internet of photos featuring her wins, and her
skating....http://www.daylife.com/search/photos/all/1?q=katherine+reutter
You can also catch a free on-line video of Katherine skating the 1000m final at the following link...a preliminary taste
of watching her skate
the 2010 Olympics on tv :-) When you bring up the following link there will be a promotion for
Puerto Rico then the race starts...it's a long link so be sure to cut and paste all of it:
http://web.wcsn.com/media/player/mp_tpl.jsp?w=mms%3A//a1272.v22145.g.vm.akamaistream.net/7/1272/22145/v000
1/wcsn.download.akamai.com/22145/2008/open/highlights/archive02/021008_isu_w_ss_1000_350.wmv&type=v_free
&id=9442&catCode=wcsn_ath_events&w_id=9442&_mp=1
There's absolutely no doubt about it - we have us a World Class athlete....
With World Cup VI being the end of the 2007-2008 World Cup Series, Katherine's current World Cup Classification is:
5th overall in the 1000m (behind 2 Chinese, 2 Koreans), 6th overall in the 1500m (behind 2 Chinese, 3 Koreans)
giving Katherine a current overall *World* ranking of 9th - behind 4 Chinese and 4 Koreans.
Congratulations can be sent directly to Katherine using the e-mail address of: katherinereutter2010@hotmail.com
The 2007-2008 season wraps up next month with:
World Championships in Gangneung City, Korea
March 7th-9th & the World Team Championships - Harbin, China, March 15th -16th
Many of you have heard me say 'It's taken a village' to help Katherine get to where she is today - all of you, and more.
At U.S.Championships last December three fan clubs of Apolo Ohno came and before leaving had adopted
Katherine - showing up at World Cup VI wearing bright green sweatshirts declaring themselves Reutter's (roy-ter's)
Rooters! Of
course they kept their allegiance to Apolo - wearing their trademark red 'Un(apolo)getic' t-shirts when he was on the
ice, but switched to the
green sweatshirts whenever Katherine was on the ice - the crowd, and the media, noticing...a welcome addition to
Katherine's village of
supporters.
And to those in the 'village' who have made a financial contribution to Katherine's 2007-2008 season - we thank you...
Champaign Cops for Kids;Primelight Studio;Industrial Surfacing Corporation;Nutrition on the Move;Food Service
Operator's Training Achievement Program/Chimera Solutions;Jack and Ruth Doublin;Lee and Fern Doublin;Steve
and Diane Doublin;Barry and Denise Cooper;Mike McDonnell;Barbara Curtis McDonnell;Dick Reutter;Barbara Smith;
Melodie and Wayne Summers;Gary and Candy Williams;Saville and Jan Williams.
