Women’s Skating: Park Ridge skater Tamara Fredrick wins silver at World Cup

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Updated: February 22, 2012 12:14PM

Team USA had a strong close to the Korean Air ISU World Cup Sunday in Moscow, adding three medals to bring the team’s 2011-12 World Cup total to 17.

Team USA’s ladies (Alyson Dudek (Hales Corners, Wis.), Tamara Fredrick (Park Ridge), Lana Gehring (Glenview) and Emily Scott (Springfield, Mo.) took silver in the relay with a time of 4:14.127. Team China won gold with 4:13.374, and the Netherlands won bronze with 4:24.114. The relay silver is Fredrick’s first career World Cup medal.

Gehring also won bronze in close 1500m (2) A final with a time of 2:27.993.

“I was happy with my results today, winning a bronze in the 1500m and silver in the relay,” said Gehring. “I’m hoping to straighten up some of my mistakes next weekend and be able to compete even stronger at World Championships in Shanghai.”

In her first year with the U.S. Short Track National Racing Program, Frederick is making her World Cup debut this season. Frederick switched to speedskating in second grade after deciding she wasn’t graceful enough for figure skating, and she was too aggressive for hockey. During the 2010-11 season, she placed fourth overall in the American Cup racing series.

In addition to speedskating, Frederick, 22, participated in swimming, track and cycling, but focused on speedskating full-time upon moving to Marquette, Mich., to train at the United States Olympic Education Center at Northern Michigan University.

Team USA now travels to Dordrecht, Netherlands. for the sixth stop on the Korean Air ISU Short Track World Cup series. Racing begins in Dordrecht on Friday.