Stolz, Jackson, Men’s Team Pursuit Capture World Cup Trophy Championships

Jordan Stolz, Erin Jackson and the Men’s Team Pursuit squad locked down season championships as U.S. long track skaters combined to earn seven total medals in the final ISU World Cup stop of 2024-25 this weekend in Heerenveen, Netherlands.

Stolz finished second in the Men’s 500m for his lone medal of the weekend and ends the season with championships in the 500m, 1000m and 1500m. Jackson reached the podium in both Women’s 500m races to secure her third season title in that event. Meanwhile, Casey Dawson, Emery Lehman and Ethan Cepuran defended their championship in the Men’s Team Pursuit with another win in Heerenveen. The U.S. Men’s Sprint Team also clinched a 2024-25 championship last week.

Other U.S. medalists this weekend included Cooper McLeod with a career-best Silver medal in the Men’s 1000m. Winning Bronze medals were Mia Manganello in the Women’s Mass Start, and Manganello, Brittany Bowe and Greta Myers in the Women’s Team Pursuit.

The seven medals in Heerenveen pushed the U.S. World Cup season total to 44 medals, including 25 Gold medals.

The skaters now have a week off before returning to competition March 13-16 for the ISU World Speed Skating Single Distances Championships in Hamar, Norway.

Stolz, the two-time reigning World Champion in the Men’s 500m, 1000m and 1500m, captured season championships at all three distances while skating only in the 500m and 1500m this weekend. He won a Silver medal in the first 500m with a time of 34.27 seconds and finished fifth in the 1500m.

After racing twice Friday, Stolz, who is recovering from strep throat and pneumonia, rested for the remainder of the weekend.

“I’m healthy now and just getting back into shape,” said Stolz, who won 17 Gold medals and two Silver medals in six World Cup stops. “I’ve done some training and my recovery is a little slow now, but I’ll be back.”

Jackson, the reigning Olympic champion in the Women’s 500, clinched another season title in that event with Bronze- and Silver-medal performances in Heerenveen. Recovering from a back injury, Jackson, who is also the defending World Cup champion, finished the season strong with six straight podiums, including two Golds.

“It was definitely an interesting season,” said Jackson, who finished third in 37.71 seconds on Friday, then second in 37.43 on Sunday. “Probably the most interesting one for me, with ups and downs and things like that.”

Dawson, Lehman and Cepuran polished off another championship in the Men’s Team Pursuit with a win Sunday. They defeated Italy by nearly two seconds, winning in 3:39.40.

“It was just all-around solid,” Cepuran said. “It wasn’t amazing, but it was far from bad. Nothing went wrong.”

The American trio finished just off the podium in fourth place at last year’s World Championships. Stolz, who raced in the Team Pursuit early in the season, is a potential option as a fourth member of the squad heading into Hamar.

“I think the three of us have some unfinished business at the World Championships,” Lehman said, “but it’s good to have him (Stolz) as a fourth. He’s the fastest skater in the world, so I don’t think there’s a better backup plan than him.”

McLeod finished second in the Men’s 1000 with a time of 1:07.87, putting him just 0.42 behind Jenning De Boo of the Netherlands. McLeod, whose previous best World Cup finish was third place, ended the season third in the 1000m standings behind Stolz and De Boo.

“I’ve been fourth, fifth place a bunch of times this year, so I knew I was close,” McLeod said.

McLeod added 13th- and fifth-place finishes in the Men’s 500m, coming within .10 seconds of earning his first World Cup podium in that event. Dawson added a sixth-place finish in the Men’s 5000m, while Cepuran was 12th in the Men’s Mass Start.

Manganello’s second podium of the season in the Women’s Mass Start put her in second place in the season standings. Myers placed sixth.

“My season started pretty rough, so to be able to finish off the season (in second place), I hope to take the momentum into Norway and even into next season,” Manganello said.

Bowe, who medaled twice this season in the 1000m, ended second in the season standings for that event behind Japan’s Miho Takagi. Bowe finished sixth in the 1000m and 11th in the 1500m in Heerenveen.

The U.S. also finished third in the Women’s Team Pursuit standings following the third-place performance by Manganello, Bowe and Myers in Heerenveen.

Paul D. Bowker has been writing about Olympic and Paralympic sports since 1996, when he was an assistant bureau chief in Atlanta. He is a freelance contributor to USSpeedskating.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.