KEARNS — As expected, Apolo Anton Ohno had little trouble during the first day of competition at the short-track speedskating World Cup competition Friday at the Utah Olympic Oval.

The face of the American speedskating team competed in the two individual races and easily advanced to today's round of competition, where he will try to find his way to the top of the podium in the 1,000- and 1,500-meter races.

He was part of a very successful day on the ice for the U.S. team, as it sought to defend its home rink against the best international competition.

In the women's 1,000-meter race, Americans Katherine Reutter, Lana Gehring and Kimberly Derrick easily advanced with victories in their respective qualifying races. They'll compete in the quarterfinals today.

This weekend's competition has dual 1,500 races, with athletes having a chance to race twice at the distance. Essentially, it is like having two identical competitions, with skaters able to earn double points.

Jeff Simon earned a trip to the quarterfinals in the men's 1,500 with a qualifying-round win in his first race. He was joined in that round by Travis Jayner, who advanced despite a fall in his qualifying race due to being tripped up by a disqualified Japanese skater.

Ohno skated in the second flight of 1,500-meter races and also easily advanced to today's quarters, where he will be joined by J.R. Celski.

On the women's side, Allison Baver, Maria Garcia and Alyson Dudek made it out of the first set of 1,500-meter races, while Derrick, Reutter and Baver each advanced from the second set of races.

The U.S. women didn't have much luck in the 500-meter races. After all three entrants advanced past the first round, none got out of the second round as Alyson Dudek, Maria Garcia and Gehring were unable to hold off the competition.

Anthony Lobello also advanced to the 500-meter quarters on the men's side, but Jayner was disqualified for impeding in his qualifying round. That was Lobello's second qualifying performance of the day after he also advanced to today's quarters in the 1,000 with Ohno and Celski.

The American relay teams both advanced to the semis, with the women taking second in their 3,000 quarterfinal round to the always impressive Koreans. The men also advanced, easily outskating the Italian, Polish and Ukrainian teams in the 5,000 quarterfinals.

Competition continues today at 6 p.m. with quarterfinal and semifinal races in most events, plus finals in the 1,000 and one round of the 1,500 for the men and women.

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