In The News

December 6th, 2006

Pettit Speed Skaters Shatter Records At Recent Competition
Short Track Team Member Performs Well At World Cup

The Pettit National Ice Center, a U.S. Olympic Training Site, is proud to announce the success of local speed skaters that train daily on the Pettit Center's Olympic Oval.

Brent Aussprung, a 17-year old from Waunakee, Wisconsin (who now lives in Brookfield, Wisconsin) shattered both the Junior A Samalog record and the Junior Mini Samalog record at the Can Am International competition held in Calgary, Alberta Canada November 23 - 29.

Samalog scoring is used in allround competitions to convert results at various distances into points in order to determine an overall champion. All times are measured in seconds and then converted to points, using the average times on 500 meter units; thus the number of points for a 1,000 meters race is the time in seconds divided by two (so the average time for each of the two 500 meter "units" in a 1,000 meters race).   Points are calculated to 3 decimal places and then added up; the lowest score is deemed champion.

Aussprung, who attends Brookfield East High School, bested two records that stood for over 6 years.   Tucker Fredricks, a current U.S. Olympian from Janesville, Wisconsin, previously held the Junior American Mini Samalog record; which included the 500 meter race, the 1000 meter race, the 1500 meter race and the 3000 meter race.

Also making records fall was Waukesha, Wisconsin's Mitch Whitmore. The 17-year old Waukesha West High School student broke the Junior B American Short Samalog record.   The Small Samalog is a combination of the 500 meter race, the 1500 meter race, the 3000 meter race and the 5000 meter race.

Whitmore and Aussprung, both 2006 World Junior Team members, not only competed against American skaters; they also raced against skaters from Canada, Belarus, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

"It was an awesome weekend of skating and the tough thing for me is I was less than ½ a second from 4 other records, " Whitmore said after a recent training session.   "But it's incredible feeling to take the Samalog record home and to be viewed as the best overall skater. Plus, it's always fun to beat other countries, especially the Canadians."

Joining Whitmore and Aussprung with a successful skating showing was Pettit Center Short Track Team member Ryan Leveille.   Leveille, a 2006 U.S. Long Track Olympian, advanced to the "A" Final in the 1500 meters and finished a respectable sixth at the Short Track World Cup III held December 1-3 in Saguenay, Canada.

Aussprung, Whitmore and Leveille will be in action again at the upcoming U.S. Long Track Championships, to be held at the Pettit Center December 19 - 23.   The 3 Pettit Skaters will be joined by all of the other top long track athletes from around the United States as they skate for the rite to be called National Champions.

Contact: Rob Multerer
Director of Operations
Pettit National Ice Center
414.266.0100, ext. 132
rmulterer@thepettit.com