Dec 08

U.S. finishes fourth and fifth in Winterberg team event

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Contact: Amanda Bird, USBSF Marketing & Communications Director
(518) 354-2250, abird@usbsf.com

U.S. finishes fourth and fifth in Winterberg team event

WINTERBERG, Germany (Dec. 8, 2012)- The U.S. finished fourth and fifth in the Winterberg World Cup team event today.  Athletes from women’s and men’s skeleton and women’s and men’s two-man bobsled took one run each, and the nation with the lowest four-run combined time was declared the winner.  The international federation offered an additional incentive this week by offering $1,000 Euros to the competitor with the fastest time in each discipline. U.S. athlete Noelle Pikus-Pace (Orem, Utah), who is celebrating her 30^th birthday today, was the fastest competitor in the women’s skeleton heat and was awarded the cash prize.

“This is awesome,” Pikus-Pace said.  “I had my personal best push time and a really great run, so it was great for that reason alone.  Winning prize money is icing on the cake, and I’m taking my family to Disney for Christmas.”

The U.S. entered two teams into the event.  Men’s skeleton athlete Kyle Tress (Ewing, N.J.) set the pace for the top U.S. team by posting a run of 57.38 seconds in the first heat.  This morning’s women’s bobsled silver medalist Elana Meyers (Douglasville, Ga.) teamed with track star Lolo Jones (Des Moines, Iowa) for a run of 57.74 seconds to maintain the team’s position in the second heat.  Women’s skeleton competitor Pikus-Pace put together a blistering run of 58.24 seconds to not only gain time on the other nations, but to win $1,000 Euros for clocking the fastest time of the heat. Chris Langton (Melrose, Mass.), brother of champion Steve Langton, made his World Cup debut with National Guardsman Nick Cunningham (Monterey, Calif.) in the men’s bobsled heat.  The duo slid a run of 56.15 seconds to bring the four-run total time to 3:49.51 for fourth place.

The second U.S. team included men’s skeleton athlete John Daly (Smithtown, N.Y.), women’s bobsledders Jazmine Fenlator (Wayne, N.J.) and Tianna Bartoletta (Elyria, Ohio), women’s skeleton racer Katie Uhlaender (Breckenridge, Colo.) and men’s bobsledders Steven Holcomb (Park City, Utah) and Justin Olsen (San Antonio, Texas).  The crew clocked a four-run total of 3:49.83 to trail their teammates for fifth place.

Team Canada was victorious with a combined time of 3:48.45.  Two team members posted the fastest times of their heats to contribute to the win, and to earn the prize money.  Kaillie Humphries and Chelsea Valois, today’s women’s bobsled World Cup winners, posted a run of 57.20 seconds to win their prize.  Lyndon Rush and Neville Wright were the recipients of the award for their fastest men’s bobsled heat of 55.94 seconds.

The Germans navigated their way to the medals for the first time this weekend to claim silver and bronze.  The silver medal team threaded together third and fourth fastest runs for an aggregate total of 3:48.90.  Frank Rommel won the men’s skeleton prize for his speedy run of 56.76 seconds to contribute to the overall time of 3:49.12 for the team bronze.

The Winterberg World Cup will conclude tomorrow with the men’s four-man bobsled race at 10 am local time (4 am ET).  You can watch the event live by visiting the Bobsleigh and Skeleton TV channel on YouTube.

Please contact Amanda Bird, USBSF Marketing & Communications Director, at abird@usbsf.com or 518-354-2250 with media inquiries.

Results (Men’s skeleton/Women’s bobsled/Women’s skeleton/Men’s bobsled):

1. Eric Neilson/Kaillie Humphries and Chelsea Valois/Cassie Hawrysh/Lyndon Rush and Neville Wright (CAN) 3:48.45 (56.79, 57.20, 58.52, 55.94);

2. Alexander Kroeckel/Anja Schneiderheinze and Stephanie Schneider/Anja Huber/Manuel Machata and Gregor Bermbach (GER) 3:48.90 (56.97, 57.36, 58.58, 55.99);

3. Frank Rommel/Sandra Kiriasis and Franziska Bertels/Marion Thees/Maximilian Arndt and Rene Tiefert (GER) 3:49.12 (56.76, 57.22, 58.98, 56.16);

4. Kyle Tress/Elana Meyers and Lolo Jones/Noelle Pikus-Pace/Nick Cunningham and Chris Langton (USA) 3:49.51 (57.38, 57.74, 58.24, 56.15);

5. John Daly/Jazmine Fenlator and Tianna Bartoletta/Katie Uhlaender/Steven Holcomb and Justin Olsen (USA) 3:49.83 (57.05, 58.06, 58.68, 56.04);

About the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation
The United States Bobsled and Skeleton Federation, based in Lake Placid, N.Y., is the national governing body for the sports of bobsled and skeleton in the United States. The USBSF would like to thank its sponsors, suppliers and contributors for their support: BMW of North America, Under Armour, United States National Guard, Kampgrounds of America, Vivat!, Global Forwarding, KBC Helmets, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Autism Speaks, Park City Lodging, EDAS/Ripxx, UberSense, Tesa Tape and Ferris Mfg. Corp. For more information, please visit the USBSF website at http://bobsled.teamusa.org.

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