KEARNS — With the last stop of the short track speedskating World Cup on tap this weekend, there will be no shortage of drama.
With points to be earned and championships to be won, the skating will be fast, furious and will undoubtedly feature high-speed crashes as skaters from around the world try to will their way to the podium.
With an eye on next month's world championship meets in Korea and China, this weekend's races (starting at 9:30 a.m. Friday and 6 p.m. Saturday at the Olympic Oval) also serve as an opportunity to fine-tune before going for those medals.
"This is huge for us," said Katherine Reutter, a 19-year-old rising star who swept the national championships recently and is making her mark on the world scene. "It's another step toward the world championships and the 2010 Olympics. So having it here, at home, is really big for us."
Reutter, however, will have her hands full trying to earn a spot on the podium against the world's best. Chinese skaters, led by Wang Meng, hold the top three spots in the current women's 500 standings and are matched by the Koreans, led by Jin Sun-Yu, who have a stranglehold on the 1,500 standings.
The top United States skaters are Reutter (8th in the 1,000, 10th in the 1,500) and Lana Gehring (14th in the 500).
The U.S. men are led into the competition by Apolo Anton Ohno, but it's skaters like Jeff Simon, Jordan Malone and J.P. Kepka who have performed best in international competition this year.
Malone is only 166 points out of third place in the 1,500 standings and will certainly be pushing for a podium finish here in Utah as he tries to climb into a bronze medal in the overall World Cup race.
Kepka enjoyed a third-place 500 finish in Italy, while Simon has flirted with the podium as well. Malone has the top ranking in the 1,000 on the U.S. squad at sixth and could move as high as fourth with a strong performance this weekend.
As a team, the American men are only 26 points out of third in the team standings behind China. With a few quality races on the home ice, the U.S. may snag third behind Korea and Canada.
Other races to keep an eye on include the women's 3,000 and men's 5,000 relays. Ohno helped the U.S. men earn a spot on the podium in Quebec last week and a repeat this week would give them a third-place finish in the World Cup race.
Ohno has raced on a limited basis this year but said he is gearing up for worlds and this weekend is one of his last chances to show he's still among the best skaters on the planet.
E-mail: jeborn@desnews.com