Jordan Malone is happy to be back on home ice for the finale to his individual World Cup circuit race season.

The Denton native will compete beginning today in the Samsung ISU World Cup short track speed skating event at the Utah Olympic Oval in Salt Lake City.

Malone, 23, has been training in Salt Lake City, which hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics, with the United States national team for the past year after the squad moved from Colorado Springs in 2007.

He said this weekend’s meet is critical because it represents one of the last opportunities of the season to determine individual and team rankings.

“It’s the most important,” Malone said. “The world rankings are very important.”

After this weekend, Malone will continue training because he will be a part of the American relay team at the ISU World Championships next month in South Korea.

He didn’t qualify for any individual events at Worlds after struggling at the U.S. Championships in December in Salt Lake. He raced individually at Worlds a year ago in Italy, qualifying for finals in three of four events.

However, Malone said his overall World Cup season, which has included two events each in Asia, Europe and North America, has been a success. He has earned about the same number of medals while qualifying for more individual race finals.

“It’s gone really well this year,” said Malone, who switched over from inline racing to short track about four years ago.

“I’ve actually been way more consistent this year than I was last year.”

He has improved to eighth in the world rankings, and has consistently been the top American finisher during the World Cup season.

Last weekend, at the fifth World Cup event in Quebec City, Canada, Malone placed fourth in the 1,500 meters, where he was the only American skater to reach the finals. He also helped the Americans to a runner-up finish in the 5,000 relay, but did not get past the semifinals in the 1,000.

“I just didn’t race very well in the quarterfinals,” said Malone, adding that several top skaters didn’t advance to the medal podium in the 1,000 for various reasons. “There was a lot of bad luck for a lot of people.”

His best showing of the World Cup season so far came on Dec. 2 in Turin, Italy, where he placed third in both the 1,000 and 1,500.

Malone said that regardless of his showing this weekend, he has continued to pick up valuable experience this year. He said he has improved his agility and race technique without sacrificing speed.

Malone also is confident in the improvement of the U.S. team this season. Besides the new training facilities, the athletes have had a full season under the tutelage of new coach Jae-Su Chun, a former coach for the powerful South Korean team.

In fact, Malone has noticed the Americans begin to close the gap on South Korea and Canada, traditionally the sport’s two dominant countries.

Last weekend in Quebec, the U.S. relay team, which included Malone and Olympic gold medalist Apolo Anton Ohno, passed the Canadians to finish second behind Korea.

“There’s always been a Korean-Canadian battle in the relay, and no one else has challenged them,” Malone said. “Now we’re a contender. This really is the strongest team we’ve ever had.”

TODD JORGENSON can be reached at 940-566-6871. His e-mail address is tjorgenson@dentonrc.com .