This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Kearns • A year ago, a slide-out cost John-Henry Krueger a shot at a clean sweep of the 2015 U.S. short-track championships.
A year later, Krueger ensured no mistake would prove as costly.
The 20-year-old short-track speedskater from Pittsburgh, Pa., swept all four of the 2016 U.S. short-track championships Sunday, winning the men's 1,000- and 3,000-meter final events a day after taking first in the 500- and 1,500-meter races Saturday.
Olympic veteran Jessica Smith-Kooreman won two of the four events this weekend, taking first in the 1,500-meter race Saturday and the women's 1,000-meter race Sunday. She finished second in both the 500 and 3,000.
Following the races, athletes will be selected to the World Cup squad for the last two stops of the season as well as earn spots at World Championships in March.
Due to his sweep, Krueger finished first in the men's overall classification in the U.S. short-track championships.
Keith Carroll Jr., who had three second-place finishes and a third, was second in the overall. Cole Krueger, John-Henry's brother, finished third overall.
Smith-Kooreman finished first in the women's overall. Kimberly Goetz finished second, while April Shin, who won the 3,000-meter race Sunday, finished third.
Three-time Olympic medalist J.R. Celski, who missed the 2014-15 season due to hip surgery, suffered a right knee injury in qualifiers Friday. U.S. short-track coach Jonathon Cavar said the program expects to know the extent of Celski's injury in the coming days.
"We'll assess what's going on," he said. "I think it's probably looking better than what we initially expected, which is good. [We] now have to get a timeline of his return to training."
Twitter: @chriskamrani