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USA Luge Crowns Two New National Champions
By Jon Lundin // U.S. Luge Association // March 4, 2007
LAKE PLACID, N.Y. --- USA Luge crowned two first-time national champions during Sunday’s, March 4, Verizon U.S. National Luge Championships held in Lake Placid, N.Y. Chris Mazdzer (Saranac Lake, N.Y.) won his first men’s singles crown, while Ashley Hayden (Westborough, Mass.) captured her first-ever women’s singles title.
Cold temperatures, steady snow and hard ice made the 1,455-meter long track’s lower section tricky for a number of sliders. Thirteen sliders began Sunday’s men’s singles event, but only eight finished.
“The ice was really hard today and you really had to rely on your experience to make it down,” noted Mazdzer, who slid to a two-run time of one minute, 49.510 seconds. “My two runs were far from perfect, but I think that with all the experience I’ve had on this track it helped me get out of some trouble.”
Mazdzer was able to hold off both Bengt Walden (Lake Placid, N.Y.) and Joe Mortensen (Huntington Station, N.Y.), who won the silver and bronze medals, respectively. Walden, who is trying to join the U.S. program after sliding for Sweden since 1988, recorded a combined time of 1:50.217, while Mortensen, who raced on the 2006-07 Junior (to age 20) World Cup tour, posted a total time of 1:51.222.
Tony Benshoof (White Bear Lake, Minn.) was eying his seventh-career men’s singles title, but was disqualified for a rules violation.
En route to her first-career women’s singles title, Hayden, a Salt Lake Olympian, recorded a combined time of 1:30.709. “I wasn’t too happy with both of my starts, but I think that I had two somewhat solid runs,” remarked Hayden. “Others were having some troubles in the chicanes and in curve-18, but I was able to stay away from it.”
Erin Hamlin (Remsen, N.Y.), a 2006 Olympian, came away with the silver medal after racing to a total time of 1:30.758, while Courtney Zablocki (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) slid to bronze. The two-time Olympian finished her two runs in a time of 1:30.849.
Mark Grimmette (Muskegon, Mich.) and Brian Martin (Palo Alto, Calif.) powered their way to their seventh-career doubles title. The two-time Olympic medalists set a new start record of 6.294 seconds, during their second run, and finished in a combined time of 1:29.811.
Christian Niccum (Woodinville, Wash.) and Patrick Quinn (Lombard, Ill.) shook some rust after having not raced together in more than a year and won Sunday’s silver medal in a combined time of 1:29.860, while USA Luge’s newest doubles team of Matt Mortensen (Huntington Station, N.Y.) and Preston Griffall (Salt Lake City, Utah) clocked a two-run time of 1:32.307 and emerged as the bronze medalists.
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