WEST ALLIS, Wis. (AP) – Jennifer Rodriguez and Shani Dave gave the U.S. team a sweep in the 1,000 meters in a World Cup speedskating meet Saturday.

Rodriguez had a winning time of 1 minute, 15.50 seconds, and Davis won in 1:08.33 at the Pettit National Ice Center.

In the 500, China’s Manli Wang won the women’s competition in 38.01, and Kang-Seok Lee took the men’s race in 35.20.

Skaters from 19 countries competed, and rink records were set in every event. They will race again at both distances today.

Davis, who set the 1,000 world record of 1:07.03 in a World Cup race last weekend in Salt Lake City, said he felt good in breaking the Pettit mark of 1:09.14 that he set Oct. 21 in U.S. team trials.

“Because it’s an improvement,” Davis said. “As long as I’m improving, I’m pretty happy if it’s a world record or a rink record.”

Rodriguez, who won bronze in the 1,000 and 1,500 at the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002, was more excited about how she raced.

“It’s not really too much about winning,” Rodriguez said. “I had a really solid race. I really didn’t make any mistakes. All my other races, it’s always been a little bobble here, a little something stupid there. This time everything was going right, so I had a really good race.”

Chris Witty of West Allis, who won gold in 2002 at 1,000 meters, finished fourth in the 1,000.

Japan’s Joji Kato, who had a world record 34.30 last weekend in Salt Lake City, finished 19th, in last place, after slipping in the first two turns.

“I made a mistake,” Kato said through an interpreter.

AP-ES-11-26-05 1732EST


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