The Pettit National Ice Center, a U.S Olympic Training Facility, will serve as host for the 2004 Fall World Cup Qualifier, starting Friday, October 22 and continuing through Monday, October 25, 2004.
Many members of the US National Long Track team are in Milwaukee for the World Cup Qualifier and look to have a successful 4 days of racing at the Pettit National Ice Center. A good sign comes from last weekend’s time trials where 2002 Bronze medallist Joey Cheek set a new Pettit record in the 1000 meters. It was the first track record to be broken in over 4 years.
Officials expect other Pettit track records to fall, mainly due to the high quality of the Olympic Oval ice. The US team is closing out a 2-week training session in Milwaukee and the ice conditions along with performances have been exactly where they need to be.
Derek Parra, 2002 Olympic Gold medallist said, “When I saw the Oval, it’s shine and how smooth it looked, I knew things were alright. Right now the ice is fantastic and we should have some great races this weekend!”
Racing alongside Parra this weekend are other Olympians, skaters who are positioning themselves for a spot on the 2006 Olympic team, as well as a group of Wisconsin skaters. Those that are racing at the Pettit this weekend include:
Casey FitzRandolph – Verona, Wisconsin’s 2002 Olympic Gold Medallist
Chris Witty – 1998 & 2002 Olympic Medallist who hails from West Allis
Joey Cheek – 2002 Olympic Bronze Medallist
Jennifer Rodriquez –2002 Olympic dual Bronze Medallist
Kip Carpenter – Brookfield, Wisconsin’s 2002 Olympic Bronze Medallist
Elli Ochowicz – A 2002 Olympian originally from Waukesha, Wisconsin
Nick Pearson – A 2002 Olympian from Vernon, Wisconsin
Amy Sannes – 1998 & 2002 Olympian
Racing begins at 10am on Friday with the meet coming to an end on Monday. This World Cup Qualifier has the potential to be a history-making weekend here at the Pettit Center, where more track records may fall as the fastest in the U.S. are in Milwaukee for some hot racing action!
For more information on the 2004 Fall World Cup Qualifier held at this weekend at the Pettit Center, please contact Rob Multerer at the Pettit National Ice Center by phone at 414.266.0100, ext. 132 or by email at rmulterer@thepettit.com.
Contact: Rob Multerer
Director of Marketing
Pettit National Ice Center
414.266.0100, ext. 132
rmulterer@thepettit.com
