Contact: Amanda Bird, USABS Marketing & Communications Director, (518) 354-2250, amanda.bird@usabs.com
Kristen Gowdy, USABS Media and Marketing Assistant, (719) 722-0522, kristen.gowdy@usabs.com
Daly, O’Shea on top as 2017-2018 USA Skeleton National Team Trials conclude in Lake Placid
Photos: Molly Choma
LAKE PLACID, N.Y. (Oct. 17, 2017)- John Daly (Smithtown, N.Y.) and Annie O’Shea (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.) won the fourth and final USA Skeleton National Team Trials competition at Mount Van Hoevenberg tonight to conclude the race series.
“The start times for all the athletes are better and pretty consistent this year across the board,” said Tuffy Latour, USA Skeleton head coach. “It’s nice to see the guys who were riddled with injuries last year step up and give John [Daly] and Matt [Antoine] a run for their money. On the women’s side, we just never know who’s going to win the race. It’s a really good problem to have. We’ll have a really strong national team this season, and if we aren’t able to qualify that third sled through World Cup, we’ll hopefully be able to qualify it through the Intercontinental Cup.”
USA Skeleton National Team Trials consisted of four races; two in Calgary and two in Lake Placid. The top three ranked women’s and men’s athletes after the four race series will be named to the World Cup team, which is expected to be announced at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow morning.
Daly completed a sweep of the Lake Placid races with another win tonight. The two-time Olympian posted the fastest times of the competition, 54.44 and 55.14 seconds, for a combined time of 1:49.58 to lead by 0.22 seconds over teammate Matt Antoine (Prairie du Chien, Wis.).
Daly returned to the sport last season after a three-year hiatus with the goal of making the 2018 Olympic Team. He disappeared from the sliding scene after a heartbreaking 15th place at the 2014 Sochi Games. Daly was in bronze medal position, but his sled popped the groove at the start, sending him into a skid and dropping him out of medal contention. He enters his third Olympic season as the top ranked American men’s competitor.
“It took every bit of last season to get me to this point and I’m glad I have the whole season before the Olympics because I still have some work to do,” Daly said. “I couldn’t think of a better way to end my team trials career than as USA-1. I’ll take it.”
Antoine slid across the finish line in 54.82 and 54.98 seconds to claim second place with a two-run total of 1:49.80. Greg West (Springfield, Mo.), who swept the Calgary races and was third yesterday, was third again tonight. West clocked an aggregate time of 1:49.81 to solidify a top-three position.
“Matt’s pushing better than I’ve ever seen in his career,” Latour said. “He’s stronger, he’s faster, and the driving will come back to him as the season progresses. Greg was riddled with injuries last season and it’s really good to see him come back as strong as he is.”
Kyle Brown (Concord, N.H.) finished fourth in 1:49.89, followed by Stephen Garbett (Parker, Colo.) in fifth (1:50.22) and Mike Rogals (Orwell, Vt.) in sixth (1:50.54).
Several athletes took the final run of their careers tonight, including 16-year veteran Kyle Tress (Ewing, N.J.). Daly and Antoine carried their teammate’s sled to the line in an emotional send off for their longtime friend. Tress, Daly and Antoine grew up together in the sport and fulfilled a lifelong dream when they represented Team USA as the three men’s skeleton competitors at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
“Kyle’s been a friend, a sliding teammate and like a brother since I started this sport,” Daly said. “I’ve known Kyle since 2004 and every season that I’ve slid, Kyle was there. And now to finish out my career without him there will be tough, but I know he’s just a phone call away and will always help me out.”
In the women’s race, O’Shea was dominant tonight with runs of 56.26 and 56.50 seconds to lead the field by 0.28 seconds to take her first win of the season with a combined time of 1:52.76.
“I think the whole start to the season has been different for me, it’s been really difficult as well,” O’Shea said. “My family is in town, so they were here for the two races here, and I just kind of put it all out there. It was everything that I had in me just to get to the bottom of the track twice with the one next to my name. Having my family around me makes me smile though. Competing is fun, it’s a privilege and a thrill, but having my family here is everything to me. I wish they could come everywhere with me.”
Kendall Wesenberg (Modesto, Calif.) had another strong result tonight, finishing second with a two-run total of 1:53.04. Wesenberg, who became the first American woman to win the overall European Cup during the 2014-2015 season, has been competing on the World Cup circuit the past two seasons. She won her first World Cup medal last season, a silver in St. Moritz, Switzerland, and with her second place finish tonight, she’s in a strong position to make the World Cup team once again.
Savannah Graybill (Denver, Pa.) followed Wesenberg in third place, recording her second third-place finish of the team trials races. Graybill also took second in one of the Calgary races, and placed fourth in last night’s race on her home track. A former track record holder in Lake Placid, Graybill looks for her fifth national team berth after a strong showing at team trials.
Just 0.04 seconds behind Graybill, three-time Olympian Katie Uhlaender (Breckenridge, Colo.) placed fourth (1:53.50), followed by Gracie Clapp-Taylor (Saint Johns, Fla.) in fifth (1:53.74) and Veronica Day (Vienna, Va.) in sixth (1:53.89). Uhlaender won two of the four team trials races.
The men’s and women’s skeleton national teams, as well as European Cup and North American Cup teams, will be posted on USABS’ website and social media pages tomorrow morning.
USA Bobsled National Team Trials kicked off on Oct. 13 with the two-man race after several weather delays. The four-man race has also been delayed and is now scheduled for this Friday, Oct. 20.
For media inquiries, please contact Amanda Bird, USABS Marketing & Communications Director, at amanda.bird@usabs.com, or at (518) 354-2250.
Men
1. John Daly 1:49.58 (54.44, 55.14);
2. Matt Antoine 1:49.80 (54.82, 54.98);
3. Greg West 1:49.81 (54.90, 54.91);
4. Kyle Brown 1:49.89 (54.66, 55.23);
5. Stephen Garbett 1:50.22 (54.96, 55.26);
6. Mike Rogals 1:50.54 (54.99, 55.55);
7. Austin Florian 1:50.57 (55.19, 55.38);
8. Alex Ivanov 1:50.80 (55.23, 55.57);
9. Austin McCrary 1:51.09 (55.23, 55.86);
10. Jake Miter 1:51.26 (55.47, 55.79);
11. Kyle Tress 1:51.64 (55.70, 55.94)
12. Mike Brandt 1:52.11 (55.81, 56.30);
13. Allen Blackwell 1:52.31 (56.25, 56.06);
14. Max Delance 1:52.55 (56.21, 56.34);
15. Andrew Blaser 1:52.57 (56.58, 55.99);
16. Jimmy Nguyen 1:54.33 (56.99, 57.34);
Women
1. Annie O’Shea 1:52.76 (56.26, 56.50);
2. Kendall Wesenberg 1:53.04 (56.36, 56.68);
3. Savannah Graybill 1:53.46 (56.47, 56.99);
4. Katie Uhlaender 1:53.50 (56.55, 56.95);
5. Gracie Clapp-Taylor 1:53.74 (56.57, 57.17);
6. Veronica Day 1:53.89 (56.67, 57.26);
7. Meg Henry 1:53.95 (56.65, 57.30);
8. Sam Culiver 1:54.47 (56.93, 57.54);
9. Kellie Delka 1:54.65 (56.99, 57.66);
10. Morgan Tracey 1:54.86 (57.34, 57.52);
11. Kristen Hurley 1:55.42 (57.36, 58.06);
12. Kelly Curtis 1:55.71 (57.55, 58.16);
13. Megan Dovell 1:55.87 (57.67, 58.20);
14. Leslie Stratton 1:56.32 (58.17, 58.15);
15. Michelle Toukan 1:56.65 (57.65, 59.00);
About USA Bobsled & Skeleton
USA Bobsled & Skeleton (USABS), based in Lake Placid, N.Y., is the national governing body for the sports of bobsled and skeleton in the United States. USABS would like to thank its sponsors, suppliers and contributors for their support: BMW of North America, Under Armour, Kampgrounds of America, Thorne, Boomerang Carnets, Hudl Technique, Tesa Tape, PVS International, Ferris Mfg. Corp, Stress Engineering, Machintek, deBotech and Carpenter. For more information, please visit the USBSF website at www.usabs.com.
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