News and results from the 100th Annual Chicago Silver Skates
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Carl Cepuran
Nov 3, 2017, 1:08:59 PM11/3/17
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Wrapping up a great event last weekend with the 100th Annual Chicago Silver Skates and Heartland #3! Lots of great hospitality provided by a great group of volunteers combined with lots of great racing provided by the skaters with the help of a great team of officials and coaches! Thank you all and congrats on a job well done!
Sending out a couple of emails with some post-event information for you to peruse and enjoy...
Here are two news items, one from US Speedskating and the other from the Daily Herald -
With links to the pics by John Kleba and the archived webcast by SpeediCast as well as to the Facebook pages for GESS and the Heartland Series -
100th Annual Chicago Silver Skate Combines The History And Future Of Speed Skating
NOV. 01, 2017, 1:56 P.M. (ET)
The 100th Annual Chicago Silver Skates and Heartland Racing Series Event #3, was held Sunday, October 29 at the Triphahn Ice Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.
The longest continuous running speed skating competition in the United States celebrated the century mark in grand fashion as 80 skaters ranging in age from 3 to 65 came together representing eight states and 18 different clubs from as far away as Utah and Virginia to compete in nine divisions. They raced for unique medals forged especially for the event made of 1.2 ounces of sterling silver which were cast using the old, historical medallion design going back to the 1920's.
The top division featured the skaters in the Heartland Racing Series, an elite class ages 12 and up, requiring a 1000m qualifying time to compete of 1:48 for men and 1:58 for women.
The Heartland Women first place finisher was 12-year-old Kamryn Lute (Arlington, Va.) of the Dominion Club of Virginia, who set two Illinois State records in the Junior D age group (11-12) in the 500m and 1000m.
"This was my first weekend of competition this season and I was nervous and excited,” Lute said. “There are so many good skaters in the Heartland group and now I have a better idea of what I need to meet my goals this season. It was a great experience!"
Topping the Heartland Men as champion was Jon Aquino (Carol Stream, Ill.) from the host club, Glen Ellyn Speed Skating. The 16-year-old swept all three distances of 500m, 1000m, and 1500m, battling back and forth at times in exciting races before finally prevailing in each.
"It was definitely a memorable 100th anniversary Silver Skates! It was fun," Aquino exclaimed.
Outside the top Heartland Division (which is a five-event, season-long series of meets), the skaters were grouped by seed time, age, and ability, into divisions. The divisions were named after Chicago parks that took turns hosting the Silver Skates over the years, or, smaller playgrounds that acted as local neighborhood "clubs," providing flooded fields and warming houses along with supervision and coaching.
Below are the top three male and female finishers in each ability grouping:
Peirce Playground -
1st - Owen King, Northbrook, Age 6
2nd - Chris Casas, Franklin Park, 7
3rd - Ben McDougal, Northbrook, 7
1st - Charlotte Benson, Franklin Park, 7
2nd - Elizabeth Thurston, Champaign, 6
Henry Playground -
1st Jerry Mech, Franklin Park, 10
2nd - Lucas King, Northbrook, 10
3rd - Andrew Walls, Glen Ellyn, 12
1st - Isabella Thurston, Champaign, 8
Humboldt Park -
1st - Quinn Derheimer, Indy Speed, 8
2nd - Sean Riley Coggin, Franklin Park, 9
3rd - Rocco Polverino, Indy Speed, 10
1st Melina Becker, Indy Speed, 13
2nd - Brooke Derheimer, Indy Speed, 9
3rd - Ella King, Northbrook, 8
Clarendon Park -
1st - Nathaniel Moore, Glen Ellyn, 13
2nd - Logan Sardina, Glen Ellyn, 13
3rd - Alex Thurston, Champaign, 11
1st - Lydia Pappas, Northbrook, 13
2nd - Maja Gackovic, Franklin Park, 12
3rd - Ynez Toth, Glen Ellyn, 12
Garfield Park -
1st - Calvin Williams, Madison, 14
2nd - John Schnor, Glen Ellyn, 15
3rd - Ryan Olijnyk, Park Ridge, 11
1st - Natasa Gackovic, Franklin Park, 12
2nd - Genevieve Levinson, Park Ridge, 12
3rd - Julia Lapporte, Northbrook, 15
Waveland Park -
1st - Jordan Stolz, Wisconsin, 13
2nd - Xavier Lawrence, Northbrook, 11
3rd - Oliver Rogalski, Park Ridge, 13
1st - Catherine Vandergriff, West Michigan, 12
2nd - Claire Kudlata, Wisconsin, 12
Washington Park (Heartland Women) -
1st - Kamryn Lute, Dominion, 12
2nd - Isabella Main, Glen Ellyn, 15
3rd - Anna Quinn, Gateway/ASE, 17
Lincoln Park (Heartland Men) -
1st - Jon Aquino, Glen Ellyn/ASE, 16
2nd - Evan Flaherty, Glen Ellyn/ASE, 18
3rd - Ben Fredeen, Cornerstone, 15
McFetridge Park - (Masters Men) -
1st - Marcus Merill, Champaign, 31
2nd - Eddie Kim, Park Ridge, 49
3rd - Gary Martin, Park Ridge, 65
Other notable performances included 65-year-old Dr. Gary Martin (Park Ridge, Ill.) of the Park Ridge Speed Skating Club, as he set all the Illinois age class records for the Master Men 65 and over division in the 500m, 777m, 1000m, and 1500m distances.
The host Glen Ellyn Club led all clubs with 23 skaters competing, with the other three Chicago area clubs in in Franklin Park, Northbrook and Park Ridge each making good showings with about 10 skaters each.
Glen Ellyn Head Coach, Melissa Koenig had the following assessment on the day, "I was very impressed with the level of skating this early in the season. The club had a number of first time competitors who did a good job of rising to the challenge. We focused on making this meet a celebration of all the hard work we've been doing on and off the ice and a celebration it was!"
The Heartland division featured five, first-time Heartland Series participants who received a special Heartland pin to commemorate the occasion - Kamryn Lute, Abigail Sorenson, William Morganti, David Scolare and Carl Tatelli.
In addition, all skaters received a solid brass pin with a gold competitor ribbon based on the historical design awarded beginning back in the 1920's through the end of the Chicago Tribune sponsorship in the 1970's. Also, per tradition, all officials and volunteers for the meet received a similar pin but with a green "official" ribbon.
The event also featured a display of past Chicago Silver Skates trophies, awards, memorabilia, and newspaper clippings in a 20-foot display for all to see. Past Silver Skates champions Chuck Burke (Olympian 1952 and 1956), his wife Donna McKenzie Burke, and Carol Beltramo Jackson were on hand to share their stories of the glory days of the Silver Skates and Chicago's speed skating history. Other past champions, Lee Radtke and Roger Arseneau, also stopped by during racing to give their regards.
The tribute to the history of the meet and Chicago speed skating extended to the ice with the first race being started by Honorary Starter Mike Neberz, Glenbard West High School guidance counselor, and grandson of Tony Neberz. Tony Neberz was a champion speed skater from Tilden High and the CYO in Chicago in the 1930's, as well as teammate and training partner of Olympians and Hall of Famers Leo Friesinger, Al Kucera, Eddie Schroeder and others from Chicago speed skating history.
Chicago's storied history includes the fact that it has always had a member on the US Olympic Team for speed skating since the first Winter Olympics in 1924. In some years, Chicagoans made up half of the Olympic team members. Many credit this success to the playground "system" that was crystallized and "souped up" by the Chicago Silver Skates, which was created by the Chicago Tribune newspaper in 1917. It helped having its legendary sportswriters and editors such asWalter Eckersall and Arch Ward building the event with front page coverage and an all-comers approach. The Trib followed up the rousing popularity of the Silver Skates with creating sporting events such as the Golden Gloves for boxing, the College Football All-Star Game, and Major League Baseball's All-Star Game in Chicago in 1933.
More recently, Silver Skates alums who made it to the Olympics includes such skaters over the years as Keith Meyer,Eddie Rudolph, Barb Lockhart, Dianne Holum, Leah Poulos, Anne Henning, Nancy Swider-Peltz and Bonnie Blair, through the present such as Shani Davis, Mitch Whitmore, Brian Hansen and Emery Lehman.
The Tribune shifted its focus away from events in the 1970's but the city of Chicago took on the sponsorship through the mid-1980's before giving up hosting, as the sport had almost completely shifted to the suburbs, which is when the Glen Ellyn Club picked up hosting the event. The event is still an inspiration and teaching ground for the next generation of top skaters.
Prior to racing, the event was honored by a unique rendition of the National Anthem by 14-year-old Glen Ellyn skaterJersey Chytla on classical guitar. At the end of the meet, Chief Referee Karen Street paid tribute to Assistant RefereeGreta Hall, a long-time member, skater and coach of the Glen Ellyn club as well as an Olympic referee and member of the National Speedskating Hall of Fame, as this was her last Silver Skates before she moves to Arizona next month.
The event was webcast live by Speedicast with play-by-play by Gordon Cepuran and is archived and available for viewing on demand, here.
Pictures of the event taken by John Kleba are also available post-event via the Glen Ellyn Shutterfly site, here.
Detailed results and more information will be available at the following links:
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Ultimate cool-down - The Daily Herald, 11/2/17 by Dave Oberhelman
On Saturday Jon Aquino was St. Francis' third finisher, 26th overall, at the Class 2A Wheaton Academy boys cross country sectional at Kress Creek Farms Park in West Chicago. The junior helped the Spartans to a third-place team finish, good for advancement to this Saturday's state meet at Detweiller Park in Peoria.
Aquino proved unbowed when the very next day he competed at the 100th annual Chicago Silver Skates and Heartland Racing Series Event No. 3 at Triphahn Ice Arena in Hoffman Estates. Silver Skates is the longest continually running speed skating event in the country.
Competing in the Heartland Racing Series, an elite class of skaters age 12 and up, and representing the 79-year-old host club Glen Ellyn Speed Skating, Aquino swept all three races at 500, 1,000 and 1,500 meters.
In her own events on the Heartland Series, Isabella "Bella" Main, a sophomore field hockey player at Glenbard West, took second place in each of those events. Outside of the Heartland series, in divisions grouped by age, seed time and ability, York freshman Nathaniel Moore won his bracket.
Full article -
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