KEARNS — There were more thrills and spills at the U.S. Olympic short track trials Sunday afternoon after a dangerous fall by the ladies' leader and a couple of disqualifications threw the competition for the women's team wide open.
Trying a dangerous pass midpoint in the semifinal round of the 1,000 meters Caroline Hallisey of Natick, Mass., tangled skates with Sarah Lang of Arlington, Mass.
Lang recovered and continued to skate, but Hallisey lay motionless on the ice as medical personnel rushed to her side. She was taken by stretcher to the emergency room of Cottonwood Hospital. There, according to a U.S. speedskating spokesman, doctors performed diagnostic tests for head and neck injuries that all came back negative.
Team coach Susan Ellis indicated Hallisey would be able to skate when the short track trials resume on Thursday.
"That was a rough fall, but I think she's going to be fine," Ellis told reporters.
In addition to a trip to the hospital, Hallisey's ill-fated pass got her disqualified from the 1,000-meter event.
"She kind of charged me, and I had to hold my position," Lang said of the crash. "It was a bad pass on her part, but you never want to see someone get hurt."
Team contenders Allison Baver of Sinking Spring, Pa., and Amy Peterson of Maplewood, Minn. were also disqualified from from the 1,000 meters Sunday, opening the way for Julie Goskowicz of Colorado Springs to take first place in the final with a time of 1 minute 33.407 seconds. Erin Porter of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., skated to second place at 1:33.482, and Lang took third with 1:33.537.
Hallisey still leads the overall standings for the women but only by 55 points over Goskowicz. Six skaters will make the Olympic team, but only two will be allowed to compete in each event.
The five top ladies are clustered within a span of just 671.5 points.
Compare that with the 952 points that separate second place Rusty Smith of Sunset Beach, Calif., from any other men's competitor and the 1,741-point lead that Apolo Anton Ohno of Seattle holds over Smith.
Smith came close to catching Ohno Sunday in the 1,000 meters with a time of 1:27.825 compared with Ohno's winning 1:27.646. Daniel Weinstein skated to third with 1:27.976.
Ohno has won every heat of every race so far in the week's competition, but he still does not believe he's skating at his best. "I have a ways to go," he said of where he hopes his performance will be come the Games in February."
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