U.S. speed skaters Apolo Ohno (Seattle, Wash.) and J.P. Kepka (St. Louis, MO) skated strong early rounds in the 500 meters and qualified for the semifinals.

After maintaining third position and with two laps to go, Ohno tried to overtake second place and was disqualified in his semifinal.

After skating in the second position, Kepka took over first place two laps into the race. He was not able to hold his turn and was passed by two skaters. He finished in third place in a time of 43.345 and did not qualify for the final.

“I feel like I skated well and got some good experience racing the top guys," Kepka said of his performance.

Travis Jayner (Midland, Mich.) clashed blades with another skater on the start and was forced out of the race with a damaged blade and was not able to finish.

In the 5000 meters men's relay, the U.S. team of Ohno, Kepka, Rusty Smith (Long Beach, Calif.), and Alex Izykowski (Bay City, Mich.) qualified first in their semifinal in a time of 6:48.233 and will join the teams from Korea, Canada, and China in Sunday’s final event.

Allison Baver (Sinking Springs, Penn.) had a strong showing in her 500 meters race and qualified for the quarterfinals. After a good start, Baver maneuvered herself into second position before being overtaken with two laps to go and finished in third place in a time of 45.485. Baver did not advance to the semifinals.

Hyo-Jung Kim (Fullerton, Calif.) was eliminated in her heat after placing third in an impressive time of 44.878, while Kimberly Derrick (Caledonia, Mich.) did not qualify out of her preliminary round after placing third in a time of 47.601.

Good news came to the U.S. ladies team in the 3000 meters relay where Baver, Kim, Kristen Biondo (Broadview Heights, Ohio) and Caroline Hallisey (Natick, Mass.) skated to an American record of 4:18.752 and finished in second place. After starting in fourth position the U.S. ladies worked their way into second place and were able to hold off a late surge from the Japanese team. The team will compete in Sunday’s final against China, Korea, and Canada.

U.S. Speedskating Head Coach Li Yan commented positively on the day’s events. "The team's spirit and teamwork was very good today. This is the first final that we made for quite some time so it gives the team a lot of confidence.”

Results:
(For more detailed results, please visit http://isu.cyberscoreboard.com/index.asp?SUBSPORTID=5&VIEW=RESULTS&SCOPE=0&DIVISIONID=&COMPETITIONID=340&SEASONID=31)

Ladies’ 500-meters:
1. M. Wang CHN 44.249; 2. T. Fu CHN 44.388; 3. E. Radanova BUL 44.611; 4. N. Evteeva 45.121

Americans:
11. A. Baver; 19. H. Kim; 35. K. Derrick

Men’s 500-meters:
1. J. Li CHN 41.922; 2. H. Ahn KOR 41.933; 3. F. Tremblay CAN 42.111; 4. H. Li CHN 42.113

Americans:
5. J. Kepka; 8. A. Ohno; DNF T. Jayner