Germans Strong at Junior Luge Event
Robby Huerbin Sixth ALTENBERG, Germany --- Enjoying home-track advantage, German luge athletes dominated the fifth Junior World Cup event of the 2008-2009 season, held in the eastern German town of Altenberg. In the Junior men's division (to age 20), Ralf Palik, Julian Von Schleinitz and Sascha Benecken, lead a German 1-2-3 finish with times of one minute, 47.993 seconds, 1:48.101, and 1:48.194, respectively. Robby Huerbin (Pittsburgh, Pa.) was the top U.S. finisher in sixth place with a two-run combined time of 1:49.091. Trent Matheson (Bountiful, Utah) was 13th with 1:49.728, while Taylor Morris (South Jordan, Utah) finished 22nd with a time of 1:51.084. In the Youth A men's competition, Germans Chris Eißler and Chris Görlitzer took gold and silver with respective times of 1:26.978 and1:27.179, while Dominik Fischnaller of Italy and Vladimir Pitilimov of Russia tied for the bronze with 1:27.412. Aaron Barge (Saranac Lake, N.Y.) was 17th with 1:29.680, while Andrew Sherk (Ft. Washington, Pa.) clocked a time of 1:34.725 in 20th place. Germans were also dominant in the Junior women's division, where Lisa Liebert took gold in 1:26.649. Madeline Teuber, also of Germany was second with a time of 1:26.728, while her teammate Karina Schwab took the bronze in 1:27.199. 2008 Junior World Champion Kate Hansen (La Canăda Calif.) was eight thanks to a solid second run. She was ranked 16th after the first heat, but was able to move up the timesheet considerably. Lea Vanderlinden (Midway City, Utah) finished 26th in 1:46.560 In the closest race of the day, Luzie Löscher and Aileen Frisch took gold and silver in Youth A women's race after clocking respective times of 1:23.219 and 1:23.245. The two Germans finished in front of Canadian bronze medal winner Kim McRae, who stopped the clock in 1:23.941. Emily Sweeney (Suffield, Conn.) was seventh with 1:24.477, while Summer Britcher (Glen Rock, Pa.) was 19th with 1:25.774. Junior World Cup racing resumes on January 23 and 24, 2009 in Igls, Austria. Junior Women Results Junior Men Results Youth A Women Results Youth A Men Results |
