Kearns • Kristen Santos waited for her competitors to get greedy.
For most of the 1,000-meter final at the US Speedskating Short Track National Championships at the Utah Olympic Oval on Sunday, the cagy elder member of Team USA held back. She glided along in third or fourth place, ready to make her move.
It came when Maame Biney, who was in second, tried to pass leader Corrine Stoddard with less than two laps to skate. The two got tangled and Santos, 24, took the inside track to slip into the lead. She then made a mad dash to the finish, claiming the national title in the distance.
Combined with a runner-up finish in the 500 and the 1,500, Santos made a strong case to be given one of the nation’s four berths — two per gender — to the FIS Short Track World Championships in Seoul, South Korea, in March.
Santos said the win was the bright spot in her weekend.
“While I’m glad I won overall, I honestly had a fairly disappointing weekend,” she said. “Honestly (I) just didn’t feel like myself out there. Obviously the goal is always to win, but to skate safe was the main priority of the last race.”
Biney felt she had nailed down the other women’s spot Saturday by winning the 500 and 1,500 titles, but officials from US Speedskating said worlds selections won’t be announced until later in the season. In the 1,000 final on Sunday, she crossed the finish second but was penalized for her contact with Stoddard, who took the silver. Hailey Choi placed third.
Thomas Insuk Hong claimed his second national title of the weekend by winning the men’s 1,000 national title in a race that was heated from the start. Junior racers Andrew Heo and Brandon Kim finished with silver and bronze, respectively, after Ryan Pivirotto and Aaron Tran both suffered penalties.
Hong won the 500 on Saturday and Pivorotto won the 1,500.
While the world championship competitors weren’t announced, World Cup teams were. Heo and Choi both made both the senior and junior teams.
“[This weekend] I learned that I skate my best when I take each race one by one, and I always have more in me at the end of races than I usually think,” Heo said. “I just need to be more confident once I’m at the world level.”
The final two senior World Cup stops will be in Germany and The Netherlands in February.
Senior World Cup Team Men
Thomas Hong
Ryan Pivirotto
Andrew Heo
Brandon Kim
Aaron Tran
Joonhwa Hong
Senior World Cup Team Ladies
Kristen Santos
Maame Biney
Corinne Stoddard
Hailey Choi
Shreya Arun
Julie Letai
Junior World Cup Team Men
Andrew Heo
Jonathan So
Brandon Kim
Joonhwa Hong
Junior World Cup Team Ladies
Corinne Stoddard
Hailey Choi
Kamryn lute
Shreya Arun
