USA Luge announces next gen national team and potential future Olympians
by Sandy Caligiore
LAKE PLACID, N.Y. – Junior World Championship, Junior World Cup and Youth World Cup medalists headline the 2022-2023 USA Luge Junior National Team (JNT). The luge national governing body made the announcement on Thursday.
“We see lots of good, young talent in these athletes,” said Pat Anderson, JNT Head Coach and two-time junior world champion. “I expect that many of these athletes will eventually move up to the national team, and ultimately, put themselves in the mix for Olympic selection in 2026 and 2030. The 2022-2023 Junior World Cup tour will continue to be a stepping stone to those goals.”
In an abbreviated season due to injury, Matt Greiner, of Park City, Utah, a bronze medalist at the 2022 Junior World Championships has been named to the JNT “A” Team. He also grabbed a pair of gold medals in the first two Junior World Cups of the year.
Greiner will be joined in the “A” group by the doubles team of Maya Chan, of Chicago, and Reannyn Weiler, of Whitesboro, N.Y. Chan and Weiler recorded three bronze medals in women’s World Cup doubles racing last winter, the first season for the discipline. They were fourth in the World Championship. Their strong campaign also placed them on the USA Luge National “A” Team, to be announced next week.
Emma Erickson, of Park City, and Elana Morrison, of Twin Lake, Mich., are the two women athletes on the Junior National “B” Team.
Their men’s singles counterparts on the “B” squad will be Marcus Mueller, Aidan Mueller (no relation), Hunter Harris and Ansel Haugsjaa.
Marcus Mueller, of Brookfield, Wis., was the 2022 Youth World Cup doubles champion with Haugsjaa. Mueller also finished runner-up in the Youth World Cup singles rankings.
Aidan Mueller, of West Islip, N.Y., was fourth overall last year in both Youth singles and doubles, and scored two bronze medals internationally. In the latter discipline, he raced with Frank Ike.
Harris, from East Fairfield, Vt., gradually improved over the course of the Junior World Cup schedule before hitting his stride in the spring Norton seeding races. In those competitions at the Utah Olympic Park, he collected gold and silver medals in seeding events and a silver in the Norton Youth National Championships.
Haugsjaa was a steady Youth World Cup singles performer, with a cluster of results just outside the medals. But the Framingham, Mass. athlete finally hit the podium in the final event in Bludenz, Austria.
In the JNT “B” group, Marcus Mueller will partner with Haugsjaa in doubles, along with Aidan Mueller and Ike, of Lititz, Pa.
Junior National “C” Team (Junior Class, Training/Traveling Internationally, With Year of Birth)
Delaney Duncan (03), Park City, UT
Sophia Gordon (04), Sussex, WI
Junior “C” Team (Youth/Youth Olympic Games Eligible, With Year of Birth)
Logan Barnes, (05), Milwaukee, WI
Gavin Davis (06), Berwick, PA
Adeline Albert (07), Worthington, OH
Sadie Martin (07), Vermontville, NY
Josh Berzowski (08), Pulaski, WI
Joey Heuser (06), Park City, UT
Haidyn Bunker (07), West Farmington, OH
Goldie Miller (06), Englewood, OH
Nathan Bivins (08), Castleton, NY
Jonathan Howard (06), Syracuse, NY
Emma Ford (07), Saratoga Springs, UT
Theresa Prehn (05), Saratoga Springs, NY
Seth Coates (07), Potsdam, NY
Wolfgang Lux (07), Swanton, VT
Ella Gelston (07), Park City, UT
Maggie Richardson (06), Mt. Vernon, OH
Orson Colby (06), Riverton, UT
Tomas Ziemiecki (05), Mason, NH
Brianna Gosnell (06), Evansburg, PA
Macey Schomaker (05), Park City, UT
Darryl Cooper (06), Lake Placid, NY
Elizabeth Kleinheinz (07), Santa Clara, CA
Talia Tonn (07), Cecil, WI
Caylin Weaver (07), Indianapolis, IN
Junior “D” Team (Youth B Class)
Tristan Gable (10), Camano Island, WA
Molly Schomaker (10), Park City, UT
Dane Ahrens (08), Duluth, MN
Kendall Achen (09), Manheim, PA
Quattro McDonald (10), Park City, UT
Miriel Schomaker (12), Park City, UT
Brock Bartol (07), Suamico, WI
Lillian Arnold (08), Hanscom Air Force Base, MA
Andrew Robertson (08), South Jordan, UT
Christopher Brand (08), Downers Grove, IL
Rebecca Cramer (07), Kimberly, WI
Ben Wingfield (09), Park City, UT
Hayes Carlson (09), Lancaster, PA
Kylie Landberg (08), Puyallup, WA
Gabriel Desautels (08), Georgia, VT
Breckan Luedke (09), Menasha, WI
Riley Dombard (08), Downers Grove, IL
Ellie McCarty (08), Weymouth, MA
Finn Gibson (10), Chester Springs, PA
Emryn McCarty (09), Swampscott, MA
Joshua Hobday (10), Wilmington, NY
Cailey Peterson (07), Greenleaf, WI
Cooper McCarty (08), Weymouth, MA
Kassandra Schaeberle (08), Concord, MA
Michael Montegari (09), Remsen, NY
Elin Weaver (10), Indianapolis, IN
AJ Prahm (08), North Liberty, IA
Sinatra Robles (10), Castleton, VT
Jonathan Sigg (11), Columbus, OH
Chase Somers (08), Saginaw, MI
Jack Wolfe (09), Fishers, IN