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USA Luge Claims World Cup Team Relay Gold
By Jon Lundin // U.S. Luge Association // November 19, 2007
LAKE PLACID, N.Y. --- Erin Hamlin (Remsen, N.Y.), Tony Benshoof (White Bear Lake, Minn.) and the doubles team of Christian Niccum (Woodinville, Wash.) and Dan Joye (Carmel, N.Y.) teamed together to win gold during Saturday’s, Nov. 17, luge World Cup team relay race in Lake Placid, N.Y. Saturday’s race was the first of four scheduled for the 2007-08 World Cup season.
The relay race begins when the first slider breaks the timing eye at the top of the course. At the end of the first run, the slider strikes a touch pad which releases the start gate for the second slider, who also strikes the touch pad to release the final sled. Once the third and final sled crosses the finish line and strikes the touch pad, a final combined, three-sled time is recorded.
Hamlin, a 2006 Olympian, got the U.S. team off to a fast start, sliding to a single run time of 50.288 seconds, before releasing Benshoof from the start gate. Benshoof, a two-time Olympian, blasted down the course in 52.739 before reaching up to strike the pad to release Niccum and Joye. The pair secured the U.S. victory, crossing the finish line in 52.607, giving USA Luge a final combined time of two minutes, 35.634 seconds.
“Everyone did their part in this win,” said Benshoof. “This is a fun event and a lot of it depends on your reaction time at the top. There’s also a build up to the third and final sled, which makes it exciting for the fans.”
Team Austria, which featured women’s singles slider Nina Reithmayer, men’s singles slider Daniel Pfister and the doubles team of Andreas Linger and Wolfgang Linger, claimed the event’s silver medal in 2:35.912, while team Germany won bronze. Silke Kraushaar-Pielach, Felix Loch and the duo of Patric Leitner and Alexander Resch combined to slide to a time of 2:36.019.
In Saturday’s men’s singles race, Italy’s Armin Zoeggeler captured his fourth-career victory on the one-mile long, Lake Placid course. The two-time Olympic champion, who has also won four consecutive series races dating back to last season, raced past the 32-sled field in a time of 1:45.238, more than two-tenths of a second in front of German and silver medalist David Moeller, who stopped the clock in 1:45.498. Fellow German Jan Eichhorn emerged as the bronze medalist in 1:45.628.
Benshoof and his teammate, Bengt Walden (Westborough, Mass.), each posted top-10 finishes. Benshoof crossed the finish line in seventh place, with a two-heat total of 1:46.022, while Walden made his debut as a member of the U.S. squad (coming over from Sweden) and was ninth after clocking a combined time of 1:46.061.
USA Luge’s Joe Mortensen (Huntington Station, N.Y.) and Robby Huerbin (Pittsburgh, Pa.) both competed in their first-career senior World Cup event and were 24th and 29th, respectively. Mortensen was clocked in 1:47.064, while Huerbin completed his two runs in a time of 1:50.282.
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