Bobsled and skeleton teams compete in Europe and Canada
WHISTLER, BRITISH COLOMBIA — Team USA slid on three different tracks in three different countries this past week: Whistler, British Columbia, Lillehammer, Norway and Bludenz, Austria.
The two-day action began on Nov. 29 with the North American Cup women’s monobob and two-man bobsled. In the first monobob race, Riley Tejcek had the best finish for Team USA with a two-run time of 1 minute, 53.44 seconds. Tejcek earned sixth place.
Sylvia Hoffman placed eighth with a time of 1:54.49 and Lauren Brzozowski placed ninth with a time of 1:54.92. In two-man, Kris Horn and Jace Johnson slid into fourth with a time of 1:48.72.
The sliding continued on Nov. 30 with second race for both events. Brzozowski placed sixth in monobob, with a time of 1:54.54, Tejcek placed seventh in 1:54.73 and Hoffman placed eighth in 1:54.92. In two-man, Horn and Johnson earned a silver finish with their time of 1:48.08.
The Para Sport World Cup began in Lillehammer, Norway on Nov. 30. In the opening race, Will Castillo placed fourth with a combined time of 1:53.72. Bob Balk placed fifth with a time of 1:53.89, David Christopher placed ninth with a time of 1:54.03 and Austin Parker placed tenth with a time of 1:54.05.
Castillo earned a gold medal in the second race on Dec. 1 with a time of 1:54.13. Balk also made the podium with his time of 1:54.22. Additionally, Parker placed eighth with his time of 1:54.38.
The first day of December brought more races in the Europe Cup women’s and men’s skeleton races in Bludenz, Austria. On the women’s side, Michelle Toukan slid into 14th (1:08.14), while Nick Tucker had the top finish in the men’s competition, earning 17th in 1:05.61.
In the NAC women’s skeleton on Dec. 1, Logan Wudi secured a fourth-place finish in the NAC Whistler races with her time of 1:53.91. In NAC men’s skeleton, Bradley Nicol placed 11th in his first race with a time of 1:50.35, Darryl Payne placed 13th with a time of 1:53.41, Nick Brooks placed 15th in 1:55.79 and Sam Allred was 16th in 1:58.15.
The NAC skeleton races continued the following day with Wudi again placing fourth, this time with a time of 1:54.90. For the men’s sliders, Nicol placed ninth with a time of 1:51.82, Payne (1:53.63) was 13th and Allred (1:59.01) was 14th.
In the opening race for NAC two-women bobsled, Hoffman and Amoni Ashby placed third overall and Brzozowski and Sydney Milani took sixth.
The next day, Brozowski and Milani placed fifth with a time of 1:54.53 while Hoffman and Ashby placed sixth with a time of 1:54.89.
Team USA will make its season debut in the World Cup circuit in La Plagne, France, on Dec. 8. The event will start with men’s and women’s skeleton.