2024 TEAM USA PUSH CHAMPS CONCLUDE

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. (October 5, 2024) - USA Bobsled/Skeleton (USABS) hosted their annual Push Champs at Mt. Van Hoevenberg’s indoor ice push track, the only one in the United States. Competitions were held Sept 30, Oct 1, Oct 3 and Oct 5. 

The first day of competition focused on bobsled pilot racing. In the Women’s Pilot race, Kaysha Love took first with a three-heat time of 11.33s. Sylvia Hoffman placed second with a time of 11.35s, Lauren Brzozowski took third with a time of 11.53s and Elana Meyers-Taylor placed fourth with a time of 11.82s. In the men’s pilot division, Kris Horn placed first with a combined time of 10.78s while C.J. McNeal, Grady Mercer and Geoff Gadbois took second, third and fourth respective times of 10.91s, 11.15s and 11.18s. 

The second day was filled with women and men push athlete competitions. Jasmine Jones placed first with a time of 11.22s followed by Emily Renna’s time of 11.52s and Bailey Golden’s time of 11.53s. In the men’s division, Charlie Volker took first with a time of 10.26s followed by Carsten Vissering’s time of 10.41s and Dylan Gilbert’s time of 10.42s.

Day three brought the first of two days of two-woman and three-man pairings. Love and Jones had the fastest one-run time of 5.41s and the fastest velocity of 12.177m/s in the women’s division. Vissering, Gilbert and Volker had the fastest time of 4.98s and fastest velocity of 12.791m/s.

The fourth and final day brought more 2-woman and three-man competitions as well as skeleton competitions. The day began with Women’s Skeleton. Sara Roderick took first with a 2-heat time of 10.35s, followed by Mystique Ro with a time of 10.50s and Michelle Toukan with a time of 10.51s. In Men’s Skeleton, Andy Whittier placed first with a time of 9.48 while Tyler Lutz and Nick Tucker placed second and third with times of 9.52d and 9.57s, respectively. A Mixed Team skeleton competition also took place. Toukan and Austin Florian placed first with their combined time of 10.63s, followed by Sha’Londa Terry and Sam Allred’s time of 10.67s and Darryl Payne Jr. and Hunter William’s time of 10.93s. In the second day of 2-woman combos, Hoffman and Jones placed first with a time of 5.472s and a velocity of 12.18m/s. In the second day of 2-man combos, Vissering, Gilbert and Manteo Mitchell had the fastest combo speed of 5.04s while Adrian Adams, Gilbert and Manteo was the grouping with the highest velocity for the day at 12.755m/s.

Next up for the team is Team Trials/Selection Races at the beginning of November, held in Park City, U.T. for the skeleton athletes and Lake Placid, N.Y. for the bobsled athletes. 

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About USA Bobsled/Skeleton

USA Bobsled/Skeleton is the national governing body for the sports of bobsled and skeleton racing in the United States. Based in Lake Placid, NY, USA Bobsled/Skeleton oversees the development and training of American athletes at all levels of competition.