Southern Skaters Sebastian Cano (center) and Jono Gorman (right)

Worlds 2004 came to a close with a string of nice victories for the USA. Although expectations were high to lead in the medal count like we did last year, it was not to be. Italy had the home team advantage, having been able to train all year on the track and road courses that would host the World Championships. Columbia, who beat even Italy, brought a powerhouse team, full of specialists, to this year's championships. Team USA still garnered third place in the medal count. However, this placement doesn't begin to describe the performance of the young men and women on this year's World Team. Each and every individual on the team gave every race their best, whether it was their first race or their fifth race of the Championships. That's all we can ask of anyone, that they give it 100%.

Kyle Lazzell, front and center, at Opening Ceremonies - Road

For first time Junior World Team members from the Southern Region, Kyle Lazzell (Team Florida) and Sebastian Cano (SuperWheels), it must have seemed more than daunting to show up to a meet and have more than 5000 people watching the Opening Ceremonies. But, although impressed with the crowds, they weren't intimidated. Sebastian won his first World Gold Medal in the 5000m relay with Jono Gorman and Darren Kauffman. Sebastian was also 10th in the 300m, 5th in the 500m on the track, and 10th in the 200m and 11th in the 500m on the Road. Kyle placed 9th in the 15000m Eliminatory on the track and won a silver medal with Jono and Darren on the Road 10K relay. He also was the highest placing junior man in the Marathon. Jono Gorman (GT Speed), returning for his second year on the team, also garnered his first individual world medal, a bronze, in the 20K Elimination race on the Road. In addition, Jono also won the 2nd place overall title for his consistent performance on the Road and was awarded a world cup.

Finally, A Gold they don't take away!
Read about the controversy!

Joey on the podium for one of many.

But that's not all! Southern Region also contributed Brittany Bowe (Team Florida) on the Jr Team and Joey Mantia (Team Florida) as a first year Senior Team member, who were both returning as veterans. Worlds this year for Brittany was a series of near misses, almost none of them her fault. After several declassifications for minor infractions and one outright controversy, Brittany finished with an impressive 4 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze and two fourth place finishes that should have been medals. Better yet, she showed tremendous sportsmanship and tenacity by overcoming the calls and returning day after day to even more strength. Joey Mantia really stepped up to the big leagues this year in the completely different world of Senior Worlds. He proved that his success as a junior was not a fluke and he will be a force to reckon with in the coming years. Joey garnered the respect of the old regime as he pulled in five individual medals and 2 relay golds.

A Typical Finals Night

For the spectators at this year's World Championships, we were overwhelmed with the number of people at each nights event. The bleachers, which ringed all sides of both venues, were always full to overflowing. The sides of the track and the hillsides above were packed with people. The electricity in the air was most gratifying, especially coming from a country were Inline Speedskating is mostly ignored. It gave us reinforcement that we are not nuts for loving this sport and that there are plenty of other sane people out there that enjoy this as much as we do. Keep the faith!