House, U.S. National Team keep improving at World Cup races

DUISBURG, Germany -- Morgan House and his U.S. National teammates continued to impress this weekend at their second World Cup event at Duisburg, Germany.

One week after their first-ever competitive race -- in a ICF World Cup event in the Czech Republic -- House and his four-man kayak (K-4) teammates finished fifth in the 1000 meter B final. The group led for much of the race and were a close third through 750m before being passed in the last few meters.

The finish impressed U.S. coach Guy Wilding, as the Gainesville native House continues his quest for a spot in the 2012 London Olympics.

"Team USA was stronger in almost every Olympic event than we have been for several years," Wilding said. "The results overall were very promising."

That certainly included House's K-4 boat.

"This result has European crews, plus one crew from Oceania (Australia) and one crew from Asia (China) in front of USA right now," Wilding said. "The goal for Olympic qualification is to finish inside the top 10 crews and/or finish as one of the top three continents. After the two World Cups, I am confident that with some solid preparation in Hawaii during June and July that this is a realistic goal for the boys."

Meanwhile, the U.S. Men's K1 relay team of House, Luke Michael (Sydney, Australia/Hawaii), Hornsby and Ryan Dolan placed fourth in their heat and did not advance to the final.

The following athletes did not advance to the final rounds in their events: House and Pat Dolan placed fifth and seventh, respectively, in their K1 200m heats. House reached the semifinals where he placed eighth. In K2 500m, Burke and McElroy placed fifth in their heat and ninth in their semifinal. The duo then finished sixth in their 200m heat and eighth in the semifinal. Canoeists Ben Hefner and Robert Finlayson, both of Gainesville, each placed ninth in their respective 200m semifinals. Hefner placed sixth in his heat while Finlayson took seventh. Finlayson and Alejandro Schwedhelm (Potomac, Md.) placed sixth in their C2 200m and eighth in their semifinal.