April 26, 2007 (Lake Lanier Olympic Venue – Gainesville, GA) – House excels at USACK Senior National Team Trials
Morgan House continued to break records for 1996 Olympic Legacy athletes from the Lanier Canoe and Kayak Club with his performance at the USACK Senior National Team trials held at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California April 21-22. House won the K1 1000M event edging out US K1 specialist Rami Zur to win the defender status in that event. Morgan had personal best times in both the 500 and 1000M K1 events. The 1000M win was an exciting 20th birthday present for House! House teamed with Taran Stucchio from New York to win the Men’s K2 500M event. All of Morgan’s performances were very close to the time standard required to qualify for the 2007 United States Senior World Championships team that will be attempting to qualify spots for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. House said he is happy with the results and looking forward to the rest of the season. He appreciates the support from everyone at home and loves getting our words of encouragement.
Athletes close to the time standard were named to the US World Cup Tour where they will compete at the first two World Cup events in Zagreb, Croatia and in Szeged, Hungary. Lanier athlete Emily Mickle was also named to the World Cup tour where she will be vying for a spot in the US Women’s K4. Tim Hornsby from Lanier was also named to the team and will be attempting to qualify for a men’s team boat position. The team will leave for Europe on Monday, April 30.
Carrie Johnson from San Diego was the only US athlete to make the time standard at trials and is the only athlete currently named to the Senior World Championships team. The August 2007 Senior World Championships in Duisburg Germany will be the first chance for nations to qualify spots for the 2008 Olympics. A second chance will occur in Montreal for the Americas qualifier in May 2008. The competition will be fierce which is why USACK has set time standards for the team. The International Olympic Committee has allotted Flatwater Canoe Kayak with only 330 athlete positions for the 140 ICF member nations at the Beijing Olympics. There were 580 athletes attending the Lanier Canoe 2003 World Championships.
As athletes are named to the Senior World Championships team from the World Cup tour, the Pan American Games Team will be named. Robert Finlayson was named to the Pan American Games team at the conclusion of trials. The Junior World Championships trials will be held in Lake Placid June 28 and 29. Lanier Canoe and Kayak Club had 11 athletes at the trials. In addition to House, Hornsby, Mickle and Finlayson, the Lanier Senior trials team included: Emily Vinson and Mary Taylor who are training for the Junior World Championships trials. Vinson is currently the top Junior woman in the United States and favored to win the K1 position for the 2007 Junior World Championships in the Czech Republic. Taylor is second. Lanier athletes still vying for Pan American Games positions include: Josh Brandsma, Katie Hagler, Brady Bragg, John DePalma and Ann Blanchard. The group was lead by Lanier Head Coach Dave Robertson.
Photos are available upon request. Complete results can be found at www.usack.org.