“It felt good,” said Smoke.  “We had good conditions and the times were fast.  I’m looking forward to racing in Europe in two weeks.”

Finishing second to Smoke in the K-1 1000 meters was Morgan House (Gainesville, Ga.), who was equally as happy to have finished where he did.  His time in the final was a personal best.  Behind House by half a second was Rami Zur (Newport Beach, Calif.) in third.

Athletes and spectators alike were blessed with fantastic weather on Saturday, as the clouds disappeared mid-morning giving way to an afternoon of sunshine.  Winds were non-existent in the morning with a slight breeze picking up toward afternoon.  Over two hundred people turned out to watch the best flatwater paddlers in the United States going head-to-head for spots on the US Teams.

In the men’s K-2 1000 meters, the race favorites Morgan House (Gainesville, Ga.) and Brandon Woods (Kaneohe, Hawaii) paddled to a strong win over Friday’s K-2 500 meter winning boat of Rami Zur (Newport Beach, Calif.) and Tim Hornsby (Gainesville, Ga.).  House and Woods had planned to win on Friday as well, but Saturday’s victory turned out to be quite satisfying.  Woods especially could not hide his huge grin after the win.  Finishing third was the veteran boat of Daniel Krawczyk (Bayside, N.Y.) and Andy Bussey (Kailua, Hawaii).

In the men’s C-1 1000 meters, the US’ dominant canoeist Jordan Malloch (Seattle, Wash.) paddled away from the field and won the race in a solid time.  25 seconds behind Malloch was the second place boat of Sam d’Entremont (Gillsville, Ga.), and Robert Finlayson(Gainesville, Ga.) finished third.

Also contested on Saturday were exhibition races in the women’s K-1 1000 meter distance.  While the senior women do not regularly race this event at the US Team Trials, it was included this year for coaches’ evaluation.  In this event Carrie Johnson (San Diego, Calif.) won by a few meters over second place Maggie Hogan (San Diego, Calif.).  Jennifer Burke (Seattle, Wash.) finished third.

US Head Sprint Coach Nathan Luce (San Diego, Calif.) had very positive things to say about the athletes’ overall performance at the US Team Trials.  “They raced well.  The levels improved from last year, and that’s what we are looking for so we can improve our ranking internationally.  We’re well on our way to seeing some improved results.”

Competition concludes Sunday at the US Team Trials in Chula Vista with races in the men’s and women’s K-4s.  These races are for coaches’ evaluation and will help to decide the initial composition of the athletes who will race in these boats on the US Team at the upcoming World Cup regattas.

Athlete Quotes:

Smoke, on winning the K-1 1000 meters – “It felt good.  We had good conditions and the times were fast.  I’m looking forward to racing in Europe in two weeks.”

House, on finishing second in the K-1 1000 meters – “The race probably couldn’t have been any better for me.  Jeff really deserves the win.  I got off the line well and it was a lot of fun.  That was my best time ever in the thousand.”

Stucchio, on his great K-1 1000 finish – “I had a great, well thought out race plan, but after the start I just red-lined it the whole way.”

Krawczyk, before the K-1 1000 – “Today is a new day.  Jeff is the man in the thousand.”

House, on winning the K-2 1000 – “Everybody got really fast this year.  We pretty much got ahead at the 500 and stayed ahead to the end.”

Woods, on the K-2 1000 victory – “I knew if we kept our legs together the wind wouldn’t be a factor.  We changed our mindset to not focus on anybody else, but just go.  We could have won yesterday, but we wanted to be much more aggressive today.”

USACK National Development Coach Guy Wilding (Manly, Australia), on the US athlete performance – “Vast improvements across the board.  The ship’s headed in the right direction.  Everyone stepped up in the past twelve months.  This isn’t a fast course, but the times were great.”

Luce, on US athlete performance – “They raced well.  The levels improved from last year, and that’s what we are looking for so we can improve our ranking internationally.  We’re well on our way to seeing some improved results.”

Saturday’s Results:

Men’s K-1 1000:

1. Jeff Smoke, 03:34.76

2. Morgan House, 03:37.35

3. Rami Zur, 03:37.92

4. Brandon Woods, 03:39.15

5. Taran Stucchio, 03:40.47

Women’s K-1 1000 Exhibition:

1. Carrie Johnson, 04:07.02

2. Maggie Hogan,04:13.04

3. Jennifer Burke, 04:28.54

4. Emily Vinson, 04:30.98

5. Maia Farrar-Wellman, 04:37.47

Men’s C-1 1000:

1. Jordan Malloch, 04:12.03

2. Sam d’Entremont, 04:37.01

3. Robert Finlayson, 04:44.42

4. Alden Keefe-Sampson, 05:03.36

5. Jorge Quionones, 05:09.42

Men’s K-2 1000:

1. Morgan House/Brandon Woods, 03:28.54

2. Rami Zur/Tim Hornsby, 03:29.49

3. Daniel Krawczyk/Andy Bussey, 03:30.53

4. Jeff Smoke/Zsolt Szadovszki , 03:31.23

5. Eric Abbott/Pat Dolan, 03:36.72

Men’s C-2 1000:

1. Chris Koressel/Alden Keefe-Sampson, 04:54.76

2. Alejandro Schwedhelm/Jorge Quionones, 04:58.43

3. Sam Wyckoff/Noah Skartvedt, 05:38.19

Complete results, write-ups and photos of the event will be available at www.usack.org. 

USA Canoe/Kayak, headquartered in Charlotte, NC, is the National Governing Body for nine canoe and kayak racing sports, and is a member of the US Olympic Committee and the International Canoe Federation.  For more information, please contact Luke Dieker at (704) 348-4330, or visit our website http://www.usack.org.