Uhlaender and Daly win again
(USBSF Press Release)
LAKE PLACID, N.Y. (Oct. 23, 2011)- Katie Uhlaender (Breckenridge, Colo.) and John Daly (Smithtown, N.Y.) continued their winning streak in the second skeleton selection race at Mount Van Hoevenberg tonight. Uhlaender and Daly currently hold the top ranked position in their respective divisions with just two competitions remaining in the four-race series of national team selections.
Uhlaender won the women’s race by only 0.06 seconds today as runner up Annie O’Shea (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.) inched closer to the lead. Uhlaender clocked a total time of 1 minute, 54.37 seconds after sliding runs of 57.05 and 57.32, and was once again thankful for the support she’s received since recovering from her latest surgery last year.
“There are so many people that didn’t stop believing in me, and I feel so blessed to even be competing at this level again,” Uhlaender said. “Today was fun, but it makes me stop and realize how grateful I am. Dr. Millett, Dr. Kali and Dr. Philppon put me back together and the U.S. Olympic Committee Sports Medicine staff helped me recover. I wish I could thank everybody, because there are so many people that helped me get to where I am today.”
O’Shea powered off the start block in 5.32 and 5.33 seconds to post the fastest push times again tonight. The veteran athlete slid a first run of 57.26 and inched closer to the lead after clocking the fastest time of the second heat, 57.15. O’Shea finished just hundredths of a second from Uhlaender with a total time of 1:54.43.
Rachelle Rasmussen (Belmont, Calif.) slid a two-run total of 1:55.61 to break into the top three tonight. Rasmussen posted her personal best start time in yesterday’s competition and is on track to earning her second national team nomination.
Daly widened the gap between the lead and the men’s field after winning his second consecutive team selection race by 0.67 seconds. The 2010 Olympian slid runs of 54.97 and 55.46 for a combined time of 1:50.43.
“I’ll be happy if I can slide that consistently all year,” Daly said. “If I do four runs like that at world championships here this year, I can’t complain.”
Kyle Tress (Trenton, N.J.) slid across the finish with a two-run total of 1:51.10 to maintain his second place position. The Intercontinental Cup medalist clocked runs of 55.41 and 55.69 to stay ahead of teammate Matt Antoine (Prairie du Chien, Wisc.). Antoine threw down the fastest time of the second heat, 55.45, but was unable to move up and finished third with a combined time of 1:51.16.
“We are the best of friends and we respect each other as sliders,” Daly said. “We’re competitive on the ice, but we’re able to congratulate each other and remain best friends. Any given day it could be any of these guys in the lead instead of me, so I can never get comfortable. It’s really awesome how we push each other to get better and we want to see each other perform well. In the end, we’re all part of the same team.”
