(USABS Press Release)
LAKE PLACID, N.Y. (Oct. 23, 2016)- Codie Bascue (Whitehall, N.Y.) and Chris Kinney (Stockbridge, Ga.) and 2014 Olympic bronze medalists Jamie Greubel Poser (Newtown, Pa.) and Aja Evans (Chicago, Ill.) began their 2016 USA Bobsled National Team Trials with first-place finishes in the men’s and women’s races, respectively, in Lake Placid, N.Y. today.
“I’m really impressed with the start of the season this year,” said USA Bobsled Head Coach Brian Shimer. “The push times have really come down for the whole group, and four of our top sleds were within a couple tenths of each other. It could go either way going into the last heat. We have another race tomorrow, and it certainly is going to put some pressure on the rest of the field.”
Pilots are battling for one of three spots on the USA Bobsled National Team, which will compete on the World Cup circuit, by racing in a four-race series in Lake Placid and Park City, Utah. Push athletes will be selected based on a combination of not only trials race results, but also combine results, USA Bobsled National Push Championships and past results from previous seasons.
The victory was a breakout for the 22-year-old Bascue, who has competed on the national team for the past two seasons, but had never won a team trials race. Coach Shimer said Bascue is “coming into his own,” and that his brakeman, Kinney, is a “diamond in the rough.”
“It’s awesome,” Bascue said. “I was expecting to do well because I’ve been working so hard this offseason, and I had a great brakeman in Chris Kinney, and I couldn’t be happier.”
Bascue and Kinney, who was an All-American 110m and 60m hurdler at Georgetown University, posted a combined time of 1:53.43 after runs of 56.91 and 56.52 seconds in the two heats. The times edged Justin Olsen (San Antonio, Texas) and Evan Weinstock (Las Vegas, Nev.), who recorded a total time of 1:53.58 after winning the first heat. Bascue’s second heat time, however, was enough to earn his first-ever team trials victory.
“I always have race day jitters, but having so many runs down the track and feeling comfortable here- I know the track like the back of my hand- is just another weight off my shoulders,” Bascue said. “There’s so many good guys right now, and one through four being so close, we really push each other and make each other better, which is really awesome.”
Olsen and Weinstock paired together for the fastest start times of the competition, 5.05 and 5.03, to close in on the Lake Placid track push record. Olsen was a push athlete on Steven Holcomb’s (Park City, Utah) 2010 Olympic four-man team that won gold, and went on to compete for Nick Cunningham (Monterey, Calif) at the 2014 Sochi Games before making the switch to the driver’s seat. Coupled with Weinstock, a four-time Ivy League champion in decathlon, the duo challenged the field for the lead after day one.
“Evan and I talked about getting a 5.05, and after we hit our goal in the first heat he said, ‘Alright, let’s get some more,'” Olsen said. “He’s a new guy, even younger than me, and keeps me motivated and is reassuring. Sometimes you stumble upon a good dynamic and you just have to be thankful for that.”
Olsen and Weinstock posted runs of 54.06 and 54.34 to narrowly miss the lead by 0.15 seconds.
“I’m really feeding off the coaches and my guys,” Olsen said. “I’ve been up there before, and I’m not saying I’m there as a pilot, but I know what it takes to be up there and be competitive and the sport is a lot more fun when you’re contending for the podium. Hopefully we get there sooner than later, but that’s what got me addicted to the sport back in 2008, and I think we found something that has potential.”
Three-time Olympic medalist Holcomb is coming back from a two-year recovery from various injuries and finished third today with Carlo Valdes (Newport Beach, Calif.). The pair, who celebrated two World Cup medal performances together last season, clocked a two-run total of 1:53.62 after sliding to the finish in 57.03 and 56.59. Holcomb and Valdes posted identical start times of 5.18 seconds in today’s two heats.
On the women’s side, Greubel Poser teamed with her Sochi brakeman Evans for the first time since they placed third at the 2014 Olympics. The pair beat out Sochi silver medalist Elana Meyers Taylor (Douglasville, Ga.) and her brakeman Lauren Gibbs (Los Angeles, Calif.) by posting a total downtime of 1:56.31. Because of her third-place finish at last year’s World Championships, Meyers Taylor has a bye onto the national team roster.
For Greubel Poser, however, the victory puts her one step closer to a national team berth after she earned six medals in seven World Cup races last season.
“It’s always hard in the fall with the weather, it’s something nobody can control, but the track crew did the best they could to get us on the ice, even though the weather wreaked havoc on it,” Greubel Poser said. “I train here a lot and this is my home track, so even though we didn’t have much time to train before race day, I felt comfortable and ready.
“It’s great getting back in a sled with Aja, it was our first race together since Sochi. We felt great today, our timing was spot on. Overall today was great, and the snow actually helped make it feel like bobsled season was really here.”
Kristi Koplin (Cedar City, Utah) and Terra Evans (Phoenix, Ariz.) took third behind the two Olympic drivers. Koplin served as a brakeman on the World Cup and North American Cup circuits before switching to driving in 2014. She has raced the past two seasons on the North American Cup as a driver, including a fourth-place finish in Park City, Utah, last season. Meanwhile, Terra Evans, who received the 2015-16 Women’s Bobsled Athletes’ Choice Award in her rookie season, returns to the ice looking for her second consecutive national team berth.
Results:
Men’s bobsled
1. Codie Bascue and Chris Kinney 1:53.43 (56.91, 56.52);
2. Justin Olsen and Evan Weinstock 1:53.58 (56.86, 56.72);
3. Steve Holcomb and Carlo Valdes 1:53.62 (57.03, 56.59);
4. Nick Cunningham and Nathan Gilsleider 1:53.88 (57.10, 56.78);
5. Geoffrey Gadbois and David Simon 1:56.72 (58.48, 58.24);
6. Hunter Church and David Cremin 1:56.91 (58.59, 58.32);
Women’s bobsled
1. Jamie Greubel Poser and Aja Evans 1:56.31 (58.22, 58.09);
2. Elana Meyers Taylor and Lauren Gibbs 1:56.50 (58.37, 58.13);
3. Kristi Koplin and Terra Evans 1:58.11 (59.19, 58.92);
4. Brittany Reinbolt and Lolo Jones 1:58.46 (59.20, 59.26);
5. Nicole Vogt and Briauna Jones 1:59.09 (59.88, 58.21)
