All posts by Jon Green

From Omaha, Nebraska. On Twitter @MaverickManiacs
Figure Skating, Olympics, Recaps, Sochi 2014

Sochi Figure Skating Recap – A Gold For The US, but a Down Year for Singles

Leave a comment

The US won two medals in Sochi but it was certainly a disappointing Olympics still as the men weren’t in contention for a medal and the team wasn’t close enough to silver to make the end of the team event interesting. There were disappointing performances in a few events but also some bright moments as well with the first gold in ice dancing and a strong showing by some young women in the ladies’ singles.

Men’s Singles

Mens Singles

In the men’s competition we didn’t necessarily expect the US to be a strong medal contender but we certainly hoped for a better result than we got. The best finisher for the US was Jason Brown, but he finished just 9th in the competition. It was the first time since 1936(!!) that the US didn’t have a finisher in the top six. Brown is young enough that he may be the leading man in 2018 and hopefully if he is he’ll be able to finish a little higher. The US isn’t used to being out of the medal race like this.

Mens Singles Yearly Best

Continue reading Sochi Figure Skating Recap – A Gold For The US, but a Down Year for Singles →

ATP Tour, Tennis

All Four Americans Done at Mexican Open, Just Doubles Players Remain

Leave a comment

Mexican Open (ATP)

Previous Mexican Open Coverage

Two Americans were left in the single’s draw going into Wednesday’s play at the Mexican Open, but neither survived long against seeded players. Donald Young took on #6 Gilles Simon and lost 6-4, 6-3 in a match where serve was held just 10 times in 19 games. Young was broke six times though to three for Simon so he came out the loser. Sam Querrey put up a real battle against #5 Kevin Anderson, there was only one break in the two sets played, but still lost 7-6 (2), 6-4.

That’s the end of singles play for the Americans in Acapulco. We’ll have more coverage of men’s singles very soon with the BNP Paribas Open starting on Monday.

Mexican Open - Singles - 2-27-14
In doubles action. Eric Butorac and South African Raven Klaasen didn’t even have to take the court as Jeremy Chardy and Gilles Simon retired due to a Chardy injury. The other American, Scott Lipsky, teamed up with Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico, took out #2 Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau 6-4, 4-6, 10-5. This was a very even match with Lipsky/Gonzalez winning just three more overall points. In the next round Butorac/Klaasen take on Kevin Anderson/Matthew Ebden while Lipsky/Gonazlez take on the all Mexican-team of Cesar Ramirez/Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela.

Both are first time meetings and in both the team featuring the Americans would seem to be favored. If they do both advance they would meet in the semifinals on Friday.

Mexican Open - Doubles - 2-27-14

Click Image to Expand

Schedule

  • Approx. 6 PM – Scott Lipsky/Santiago Gonzalez (Mexico) vs. Cesar Ramirez/Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela
  • Approx. 10 PM – #4 Eric Butorac/Raven Klaasen (South Africa) vs. Kevin Anderson/Matthew Ebden
Archery, World Championships

Erika Jones Sets New World Record as 9 of 12 Americans Advance at World Archery Indoor Championships

Leave a comment
Previous World Archery Indoor Championship Coverage

There were 12 athletes in competition for the US but there was no doubt the headline maker was Erika Jones. The 25-year old compound archer broke the world record by two points scoring a 595 (out of a possible 600) in her ranking round. She has three team gold medals at the World Championships and an individual gold at the World Games last year, but still is searching for the individual world championship she is quite capable of winning. We’ll see if breaking the 13-year old record is a sign of how strong she’ll be in the knockout round beginning tomorrow where she will be the #1 seed.

A busy day is ahead on Thursday. We start the day with 32 alive in each of the individual competitions. Those will all be narrowed to four as will the team competitions that begin with between eight and 16 teams a piece. The rest of the World Championships is at a bit of a slower pace, but which Americans will get to take part in that?

Men’s Compound

World Archery Indoor Championships - Compound Men Individual - Ranking RoundJesse Broadwater and Braden Gellenthien, led the way with 598s to take the top two spots in the elimination rounds. American Reo Wilde had a good day as well shooting a 594 to get seeded 10th. All three will start competition on Thursday in the round of 32 with the field being narrowed down to just four by the end of the day. Gellenthien and Wilde would meet today in the quarterfinals if both win their first two matches.

World Archery Indoor Championships - Compound Men Individual - Elimination Rounds - 2-27-14

World Archery Indoor Championships - Compound Men Team - Ranking Round

On the team side the US had a good day and topped the Dutch by four points for top spot. They have earned a bye for the round of 16 but will have to beat a team in the quarterfinals on Thursday to advance to Friday’s semifinal.

World Archery Indoor Championships - Compound Men Team - Elimination Rounds - 2-27-14

Continue reading Erika Jones Sets New World Record as 9 of 12 Americans Advance at World Archery Indoor Championships →

Cycling, World Championships

UCI Track Cycling World Championships Set to Begin in Cali, Colombia

Leave a comment

The UCI Track Cycling World Championships begin on Wednesday evening in Cali, Colombia with seven women and one man set to represent the US. The first American to get underway will be Jennifer Valente. Valente will take part in the women’s scratch 10km race on Wednesday evening. The scratch race is the simplest race in the World Champions to explain. It starts with all of the competitors together at the start and the first one across the line wins. Just your basic race. Valente is just 19 and won the Junior World Championship scratch race in 2011.

We’ll have coverage of the results of Valente’s event tomorrow along with information about tomorrow’s women’s team pursuit event.

Schedule:

  • 7:40-8 PM – Women’s Scratch 10km
    • Jennifer Valente
ATP Tour, Tennis

John Isner Upset at Mexican Open, Donald Young Into Second Round

Leave a comment

Mexican Open (ATP)

Previous Mexican Open Coverage

The top American in the Mexican Open, #3 seed John Isner started his tournament on Monday vs.  Ivo Karlovic. To say he played poorly wouldn’t be accurate, he won 74% of his service points. The problem is, as can happen with Isner, that this game turned into a “I can’t break you but you can’t break me” deadlock. Both men were only broken once, in the first set, and Karlovic won an even higher 86% of his service points, with Isner only winning 11 points off him all night. On a side note managing to break once while only winning 11 points off your opponents serve in 12 service games is kind of amazing. Lots of 40-0 games I imagine…

Anyways this match went to tiebreakers in both of the first two sets and in those small sample sizes Karlovic was better, winning the match 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5). Isner has not had the greatest start to 2013 and it will be interesting to see how he does next month with the two big tournaments back in the US looming.

In other action on Tuesday Tim Smyczek looked out of his league against Gilles Simon as he lost 6-1, 6-2 and was broke four times in seven service games. Donald Young, who Smyczek had originally knocked out of the event in qualifying, will get his shot at Simon on Wednesday after beating Jarkko Nieminen 6-3, 6-3. Young is 0-4 against Simon with their last meeting a 6-2, 7-5 win in Rome last year in the round of 64.

Wednesday means the return of Sam Querrey to action with a second round matchup with #5 Kevin Anderson. Querrey holds a 6-3 all-time edge in the matchup with the two splitting four matchups last season. Querrey won the last meeting, a 6-4, 6-4 decision in the quarterfinals in Washington D.C.

Mexican Open - Singles - 2-26-14
Things get underway in the doubles draw for two Americans on Tuesday as well. Eric Butorac is teamed up with South African Raven Klaasen and they’ll take on Jeremy Chardy and Gilles Simon in the first round. The teams have never met in doubles play. The other American in the draw is Scott Lipsky who is teamed up with Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico and is taking on #2 Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau. These teams have never met as well.

Mexican Open - Doubles - 2-26-14

Click Image to Expand

Schedule

  • 5 PM – Sam Querrey vs. #5 Kevin Anderson – Querrey leads 6-3 all-time
  • 5 PM – Donald Young vs. #6 Gilles Simon – Simon leads 4-0 all-time
  • Approx. 9 PM – Eric Butorac/Raven Klaasen (South Africa) vs. Jeremy Chardy/Gilles Simon – First ever meeting
  • Approx. 1 AM Thursday – Scott Lipsky/Santiago Gonzalez (Mexico) vs. Jean-Julien Rojer/Horia Tecau – First ever meeting
Olympics, Recaps, Ski Jumping, Sochi 2014

Sochi Ski Jumping Recap – US Women Provide Hope For Future

Leave a comment

The US men have not really been a factor in the ski jumping competitions in the Olympics in a long time (just once since 1992 has the US had a top 25 finisher in an event). So with the debut of women’s ski jumping this year it was a chance to see the potential for that new event, and for the US that might be where the success comes from in the future. Two US competitors were in the top 15 and the one who didn’t, Sarah Hendrickson, was the World Champion last year at 18 but suffered a knee injury that hurt her Olympic chances.

Men’s Normal Hill

Ski Jumping - Mens Normal Hill

The US did advance three of their four jumpers to the first round on the normal hill but none were able to place higher than 34th there, missing out on the top 30 who advance to the final round. Nick Alexander was the best for the US in the event with a first round score of 116.0. Alexander’s 34th place finish was an improvement on his result from 2010 and the best for the US since 2002.

Ski Jumping - Mens Normal Hill Yearly Best

Continue reading Sochi Ski Jumping Recap – US Women Provide Hope For Future →

FIS Ski Jumping World Cup, Ski Jumping

Nick Alexander Advances From Qualifying Round at Ski Jumping World Cup Event in Falun

Leave a comment
Previous FIS Ski Jumping World Cup Coverage

Both Anders Johnson and Nick Alexander started the qualification round on Tuesday vying for two of 40 spots in the first round on Wednesday. Johnson traveled just 104m on his jump so despite decent judges scores he only scored an 82.1 and was over 13 points short of a qualification spot. Alexander soared 111.5m and just barely squeaked into the field as he tied Manuel Fettner for 39th and the last two spots in the field. He was just 0.2 points ahead of 41st.

FIS World Cup - 2013-14 - Falun - Qualification Round

Alexander will now take part in the First Round on Wednesday. There’s no indication on the website that there is a final round, but one would assume there is one (probably for the top 30) based on the term “first round”.

Schedule

  • 10:30 AM – First Round
    • Nick Alexander
Archery, World Championships

World Archery Indoor Championships Begin Wednesday Morning in Nimes, France

Leave a comment

The World Archery Indoor Championships are set to begin on Wednesday in Nimes, France with the qualification round getting things started. The qualification round will set the field for both the individual events and the team events.

The US has a team in all four events (compound and recurve for both men and women) and three individuals in all four events as well.

The US competitors in men’s recurve will be Jeremiah Cusick, Brady Ellison, and Victor Wunderle. In the men’s compound it’ll be Jesse Broadwater, Braden Gellenthien, and Reo Wilde.

On the women’s side the recurve competitors are Meghan Collins, Rebekah McLeod, and Laura Shelton. The women’s compound competitors are Christie Colin, Crystal Gauvin, and Erika Jones.

The qualification round will be the only part of the Championship held on Wednesday, elimination rounds will get moving quickly on Thursday.

Schedule

  • February 26th
    • 7:45-10:30 AM – Qualification – Individual Recurve (Men’s and Women’s), Individual Compound (Men’s and Women’s)
Olympics, Recaps, Skeleton, Sochi 2014

Sochi Skeleton Recap – Success Abounds as US Medals on Both Men’s and Women’s Side For First Time Since 2002

Leave a comment

Hard to not call the performance by the US skeleton team anything but a smashing success. The US had failed to medal in both men’s and women’s skeleton in Turin and Vancouver after winning both the men’s and women’s competitions when they debuted in Salt Lake City. They medaled in both events again this time around and were one unlucky problem on John Daly’s final run from having four top four finishers.

Men’s Skeleton

Mens Skeleton

It was a very strong men’s event for the US. They posted five top five times on individual runs and would have two top five finishers if John Daly’s sled hadn’t gotten caught in the ruts on the start of his final run. Matthew Antoine won bronze and the US would not have gotten a second medal even if Daly had topped Antoine. The medal was the first for the US since Salt Lake City and the fourth time the US has medaled in six Olympics with skeleton.

Mens Skeleton Yearly Best

Women’s Skeleton

Womens Skeleton

It was great to see Noelle Pikus-Pace take home a silver for the US but there was definite heartbreak in Katie Uhlaender coming up 0.04 seconds short of winning a medal of her own. The US double medaled on the women’s side in 2002 and nearly did it again in Sochi. It was the first medal for the US since Salt Lake City but you can see how experienced the team was this year with the top finisher for the US from both the Turin and Vancouver games competing again this year.

Womens Skeleton Yearly Best

ATP Tour, Tennis

Michael Russell, Only American in the Draw, Out In First Round of Dubai Tennis Championships

Leave a comment

Dubai Tennis Championships (ATP)

Previous Dubai Tennis Championships Coverage

As quickly as it started it was over. The only American to enter the Dubai Tennis Championships this week was Michael Russell. Russell got off to a really strong start against Radek Stepanek, taking the first set 7-5. Stepanek rebounded to a 6-3 win in set two before slamming the door 6-1 in the third set. The 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 win ended Russell’s stay and sent Stepanek into a second round matchup with Roger Federer.

Dubai Tennis Championships - Mens Singles - 2-25-14

We’ll have continuing coverage of the other ATP World Tour 500 event this week, the Mexican Open, as there are still six Americans left competing in Acapulco.