Nationals Skate Sprint

After a week of racing, I felt pretty tired going into the sprint, but I was excited since I've gotten to like sprinting a lot recently. I gave it my all in the prelim, my legs were dying and I felt like I didn't go very fast, but I ended up qualifying 23rd. I guess I had hoped to qualify a little higher, but it was still solid, and I was only 2 seconds out of 12th. I went into my quarterfinal hoping to relax into around 3rd or 4th and then be able to hammer over the last hill to be a contender for the top two in the sprint to the finish. I ended up relaxing into last place, and then hammering to 3rd, and trying to make it up at the end, but I was too far back to be a threat. Since I qualified 23rd, I didn't make it as lucky loser, but I was still 15th overall, and 3rd junior, which was definitely good!

30 seconds into the prelim, Herve Pelletier photo

cresting the final hill in the prelim, Hallie Herz photo



It turned out to be a great week for me at Nationals! I had four very solid races, which should be enough to grant be at least two starts at World Juniors! Thanks to all of the volunteers and race organizers for putting together a great week of racing despite the lack of snow!