CALGARY, Alberta—In the season-opening World Cup race held today at the Canada Olympic Park track in Calgary, Alberta, 2006 Olympian Katie Uhlaender (Breckenridge, Colo.) won her first-ever World Cup gold medal and Noelle Pikus-Pace (Orem, Utah) claimed bronze as the U.S. women’s skeleton team placed all four members in the top-11 sliders.

“Overall, our women’s team did a fabulous job today,” U.S. skeleton team assistant coach Greg Sand said. “Katie threw down, especially on her second run. She nailed it.”

Uhlaender was second after her first run of 58.80, just .01 seconds behind Canada’s Michelle Kelly. Uhlaender came out blistering on her second run and with the day’s fastest start of 5.43 seconds, slid the field’s best run of 58.39. Her combined time of 1:57.19 was .79 seconds quicker than 2006 Olympic gold medalist Maya Pedersen of Switzerland, who won the 2005 World Championships on the Calgary track. Kelly was disqualified from her second-place finish for an overweight sled, moving Pedersen into the runner-up spot with a time of 1:57.98 (59.19, 58.79).

Pikus-Pace jumped to third to win her sixth-career World Cup medal in a total time of 1:58.09. Having some trouble in the track during her first run of 59.33, Pikus-Pace turned in the second run’s third-fastest time of 58.76, improving by .57 seconds. Her bronze medal today marked her first World Cup medal since returning from a double-compound fracture to her lower right leg that she suffered in October 2005.

Racing in just her first World Cup, Bree Schaaf-Boyer (Bremerton, Wash.) earned a sixth-place finish in 1:58.59. After sliding a time of 59.53 on her initial run, she jumped two spots with her second-run time of 59.06. Schaaf-Boyer had the first run’s top start of 5.44 seconds and matched it on her second run.

“Bree stepped up in her first World Cup on a track that we didn’t have a whole lot of time on because of the weather,” Sand stated. “She’s a rookie, so you never know how a rookie’s going to do, but she managed to come together very well on race day.”

Completing the U.S. women’s excellent opening race was Courtney Yamada (Boise, Idaho) in 11th in a total time of 1:59.19. She had runs of 59.78 and 59.41 to go with her starts of 5.47 and 5.51.

Canadian Lindsay Alcock was fourth and teammate Carla Pavan placed fifth in 1:58.19 (59.50, 58.69) and 1:58.39 (59.21, 59.18), respectively to round out the top-six sliders.

Temperatures today were about 40 degrees Fahrenheit higher than the previous days on which the athletes trained. The extreme change in temperature makes it hard for the athletes and coaches to know what to expect on the track.

“It was a little bit of a gamble because we slid in extremely cold weather over the last couple of days,” Sand stated. “The ice was warmer than it has been. I don’t know if it worked to our advantage or not. Our girls have standard runners that they like to slide with, so they slid with them and it worked out.”

The Calgary World Cup skeleton race will be televised nationally on SPEED Channel on Saturday, Dec. 2, at 1 p.m. EST. For complete results of today's race, visit http://www.bobsleigh.com/, the Web site of the Fédération International de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganning (FIBT). The next World Cup skeleton race will be held Dec. 7 in Park City, Utah. Media interested in attending the Park City World Cup can contact Utah Olympic Park’s Jennifer Nichols at (435) 658-4247 or jennifer.nichols@olyparks.com.

The Calgary World Cup continues on Friday with the men’s two-man and women’s bobsled races beginning at 2:30 p.m. MST and 6:30 p.m., respectively. Closing the Calgary World Cup is the men’s four-man bobsled race on Saturday at 4 p.m. All listed times are Mountain Standard Time. For live, in-race results, visit the FIBT Web site at http://www.bobsleigh.com/.

RESULTS:

1. Uhlaender (USA), 1:57.19 (58.80, 58.39); 2. Pedersen (Switzerland), 1:57.98 (59.19, 58.79); 3. Pikus-Pace (USA), 1:58.09 (59.33, 58.76); 4. Lindsay Alcock (Canada), 1:58.19 (59.50, 58.69); 5. Carla Pavan (Canada), 1:58.39 (59.21, 59.18); 6. Schaaf-Boyer (USA), 1:58.59 (59.53, 59.06); … 11. Yamada (USA), 1:59.19 (59.78, 59.41).