Originally published Monday, December 24, 2007 at 12:00 AM

Speedskating | Ohno returns in style, wins 2 finals in Utah

Apolo Ohno of Seattle led the final men's standings at the U.S. Senior Short-Track Speedskating Championships, a three-day event that ended...

By Seattle Times news services

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SCOTT SOMMERDORF / THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE

Seattle's Apolo Ohno, shown competing in a 1,000-meter semifinal Sunday, led the men's final standings at the U.S. Senior Short-Track Speedskating Championships in Kearns, Utah.

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KEARNS, Utah — Apolo Ohno of Seattle led the final men's standings at the U.S. Senior Short-Track Speedskating Championships, a three-day event that ended Sunday at the Utah Olympic Oval.

Ohno took time off after the world championships in March and, according to The Salt Lake Tribune, returned to serious training about four months ago. In May, Ohno and dance partner Julianne Hough combined to win ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" competition.

Ohno, 25, won the 1,000-meter final and was second in the 3,000 Sunday.

The winner of five Olympic medals captured the 1,500 title Friday and finished first but was disqualified for cross-tracking in Saturday's 500 final.

Last week, Ohno said he was seeking to get a reading on his fitness.

"I basically took two full summers off," he told The Salt Lake Tribune. "Not a good idea, for any athlete. But the transition has been going well."

Ohno finished with 3,136 points in the standings, comfortably ahead of second-place Jeff Simon of Long Beach, Calif. J.R. Celski, who is from Federal Way, was 11th.

Ohno and Simon head the U.S. men's world team that qualified to compete at the world championships from March 7 to March 9 in South Korea. They are joined by Ryan Leveille of Atlanta, J.P. Kepka of St. Louis and Jordan Malone of Denton, Texas.

Katherine Reutter of Champaign, Ill., swept the women's 500, 1,000, 1,500 and 3,000.

Reutter leads a women's world team that also features Allison Baver of Sinking Springs, Pa.; Kimberly Derrick of Memphis, Tenn.; Lana Gehring of Glenview, Ill.; and Carly Wilson of Jefferson City, Mo.

"We are looking forward to seeing what this team does in the next two months," said Bob Crowley, U.S. Speedskating executive director.

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