Uhlaender and Daly win first skeleton selection races
(USBSF Press Release)
LAKE PLACID, N.Y. (Oct. 22, 2011)-Katie Uhlaender (Breckenridge, Colo.) and John Daly (Smithtown, N.Y.) were victorious tonight in the first of four skeleton selection races at Mount Van Hoevenberg. A blend of 35 rookie and veteran sliders battled it out for the first win of the 2011-2012 season.
“It’s awesome to see our development athletes from last season in the mix with our veterans, and today was a close and competitive race in both the men’s and women’s fields,” said Tuffy Latour, skeleton head coach. “Our partnership with the Olympic Regional Development Authority and the Utah Olympic Park has been effective in feeding new athletes into our program, and it’s a really exciting time for USA Skeleton.”
Uhlaender posted the fastest runs of the women’s competition, 57.45 and 57.83 seconds, to win by 0.24 seconds with a total time of 1:55.28.
“I’m happy, but I still have a lot of work to do,” Uhlaender said. “My eye is on the prize, which is a world champion title here. I wouldn’t be here without the help I got from the U.S. Olympic Committee, sports medicine, Vail Valley Hospital, Steadman Hawkins Clinic, Dr. Kali and Dr. Philppon. There are so many people that have gotten me here since my surgery, so I didn’t win this race by myself.”
Uhlaender has been gaining strength since surgery last fall and is making a bid for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games as a weightlifting athlete. She said she hasn’t stopped thinking about sliding since beginning her training last spring.
“Every time I picked up the bar and moved it as fast as I could I was thinking about my skeleton start,” Uhlaender said. “I’m still getting my strength back that I lost while I was on crutches last year, and weightlifting has bettered me as an athlete mentally and physically.”
Annie O’Shea (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.) was the runner up with a combined time of 1:55.52, and dominated off the block with the fastest push times of 5.33 and 5.28 seconds. Kimber Gabryszak (Park City, Utah) finished third with a two-run total of 1:56.59.
Daly clocked a combined time of 1:51.80 in the men’s race to finish just one-tenth of a second ahead of Kyle Tress (Trenton, N.J.), who has made significant gains each season. Matt Antoine (Prairie du Chien, Wisc.) trailed his teammates by 0.12 seconds after finishing with a total time of 1:51.92, but made a statement that he’ll be a force to be reckoned with for the top spot by posting the fastest time of the second heat.
“Matt and Kyle are two of my best friends, so I’m glad to see all of us in the top three,” Daly said. “It feels good to be back on ice and to start where I left off last season. There’s always some doubt of whether or not you did enough over the summer to prepare, but I’m really happy with today. If I can have three more team selection races like that, I’ll be stoked.”
