Scott, Smith move into 1500m short track semis

Sochi, Russia (SportsNetwork.com) - Emily Scott and Jessica Smith of the United States both earned spots in the semifinals of the women's 1,500 meters short track speedskating event Saturday at the Sochi Games.

Scott won the sixth and final heat Sunday at Iceberg Skating Palace, posting a time of 2 minutes, 22.641 seconds to claim one of the group's three semifinal berths. South Korea's Kim Alang and Veronika Windisch of Austria finished second and third, respectively to punch a ticket to the semis.

The semifinals and final of the 1,500 also will be held on Saturday.

Smith placed second in her heat, finishing behind China's Zhou Yang to qualify for the semifinals. Zhou won the gold in this event four years ago in Vancouver.

Shim Suk Hee, silver medalist at this distance at the 2013 World Championships, won the first heat with a time of 2:24.765. Canada's Marie-Eve Drolet and Anna Seidel of Germany also qualified for the semifinals from the opening heat.

Italy's Arianna Fontana, a two-time Olympic medalist, won the second heat with a time of 2:29.645. Fontana took bronze in the 500 at the 2010 Games and grabbed a silver at the same distance earlier in Sochi.

Jorien Ter Mors of the Netherlands had the fastest qualifying time of Saturday's heats, taking the fourth heat with a time of 2:21.626.

Alyson Dudek of the U.S. failed to move on in this event with a fourth-place finish in Heat 3. Canada's Valerie Maltais qualified for the semis with a second-place finish in the same heat.

China and South Korea have won eight of the nine Olympic medals awarded in the women's 1,500-meter race since its debut in 2002, including the last six.