Whistler, British Columbia - November 5, 2016 - Tucker West made it two-for-two Saturday when he won his second Norton USA Luge seeding race on the 2010 Olympic track in this western Canadian resort.

West, who also took last weekend’s event in Lake Placid, was joined on the top rung of the podium by Emily Sweeney and the doubles team of Justin Krewson and Andrew Sherk.

“The two race runs were pretty good today,” said West, of Ridgefield, Conn. “We had a solid week of training. We’ve been here for five days and got in over 30 runs (each) here so I felt comfortable with the track. It’s been a while since I’ve been here so I had some nerves coming in. But I really felt like I figured out the track and it’s starting to agree with me.”

West and his teammates will return to Whistler for the third World Cup event of the season December 9-10.

The 2014 Olympian had the two fastest runs of the day – 50.483 and 50.646 seconds – for a combined 1 minute, 41.129 seconds. He was followed by Chris Mazdzer in 1:41.417. Mazdzer, of Saranac Lake, N.Y., was in PyeongChang for pre-certification of the 2018 Olympic run, and did not compete in Lake Placid.

Taylor Morris, of South Jordan, Utah, was third in 1:42.015. Jonny Gustafson, of Massena, N.Y., was fourth, with John Fennell, of Rouses Point, N.Y., fifth. Riley Stohr, of Whitehall, Mich., suffered a training crash earlier in the week and did not enter.

Sweeney, of Suffield, Conn., second last week to Summer Britcher, is getting the job done with driving skill and a fast sled. Her start effort is currently less than 100 percent (paddling seven, she said, on a scale of one to 10) after undergoing wrist surgery in late summer. Sweeney deals with swelling, depending on the level of exertion spent paddling down the start ramp.

“I’m feeling really good on the sled right now,” stated Sweeney. “It’s going really well for me. I can’t complain. I’m not 100 percent on the start, but on the sled, I’m pretty close to 100 percent. We want to figure out how to keep that going throughout the season.”

The winner had two identical runs of 39.076 for a total of 1:18.152. She bested Erin Hamlin by nearly 0.1 of a second. The Remsen, N.Y. veteran came from fourth place after one heat to claim the runner-up spot in 1:18.251. Britcher, of Glen Rock, Pa., was 0.002 behind Hamlin and placed third in 1:18.253. Raychel Germaine, of Roswell, Ga., second after the first heat, trailed Sweeney by merely 0.01 of a second. She finished fourth on the day. 

The Whistler course, used during the Vancouver Winter Olympics, presents a contrast as the layout starts flat and slow. Sleds then transition onto the vertical section of the run and push speeds in the mid to upper 80 mile-per-hour range. The women and doubles enter at curve seven.

“It’s kind of an open track,” continued Sweeney. “There are a lot of lines you can take down. I’m a big fan of basics. If you have the basics of sliding down, it’s great and the track really amplifies that.”

Sweeney and West are exempt from qualifying after winning World Cup medals last season.

Other 2015-2016 World Cup medalists automatically headed to the World Cup tour are Hamlin, 2014 Olympic bronze medalist and 2009 World Champion; Britcher, a 2014 Olympian, who won three World Cup races last season; and Mazdzer, a two-time Olympian who won a pair of World Cup races on his way to a career-best third place overall. The doubles team of Sochi Olympians Matt Mortensen and Jayson Terdiman, fifth in the World Cup last year, are also exempt.

Krewson and Sherk anchored USA Luge’s World Cup team relay victory in Lake Placid last December. On this day at Whistler, they gave ample credit to Mortensen and Terdiman for their seeding race victory.

“We could not have won (today) without them,” remarked Krewson, of Eastport, N.Y., who is an Eagle Scout and a Lake Placid volunteer firefighter. “Matt and Jayson help us out so much during the season. We really won because of them, helping us with lines, sled set-ups. We all feed off each other, cheering each other on.”

Krewson and Sherk took the lead in the opening leg, and then held on for a 0.03 of a second triumph. The winners had runs of 38.833 and 38.963, totaling 1:17.796.

“Times were so spread out during the week,” commented Sherk. “But race day comes and we’re all close together. It was awesome.

“Our starts today were phenomenal compared to what they were in training. That really gave us a good edge.”

Mortensen, of Huntington Station, N.Y., and Terdiman, of Berwick, Pa., improved from third place to land in second with a clocking of 1:17.829.

Jake Hyrns, of Muskegon, Mich., and Andrew Sherk, of Fort Washington, Pa., second at the mid-point of the race, wound up third in 1:17.913.

With the week now concluded, USA Luge is set to depart Whistler Sunday – destination Park City, Utah and another week of fall training leading up to Friday’s final seeding race on the 2002 Olympic course. The World Cup squad for the first four events of the season will be completed at that time.

Standings After 2 OF 3 Seeding Races with Current Points

Men:
Tucker West* 200
Taylor Morris 155
Jonny Gustafson 130
John Fennell 110
Chris Mazdzer* 85
Riley Stohr 60

Women:
Emily Sweeney* 185
Summer Britcher* 170
Erin Hamlin* 155
Raychel Germaine 120
Brittney Arndt 55
Grace Weinberg 50

Doubles:
Matt Mortensen/Jayson Terdiman* 185
Justin Krewson/Andrew Sherk 185
Jake Hyrns/Anthony Espinoza 140

*Denotes exempt from World Cup qualifying