WINTERLEITEN, Austria –The USA Luge natural track team took part the first Junior World Cup race of the season.

Natural track luge uses an unrefrigerated track without the banked walls seen in Olympic-style luge. The U.S. team is based out of Lucy Hill in Negaunee, Michigan.

Leading the charge for the United States were Marquette, Mich. athletes Torrey Cookman, placing 15th in the men's division and Katie Cookman, 17th in the women's division. The Cookman siblings are the veteran members of the national team, with seven and four years on the team, respectively.

“Today I beat my previous time (at Winterleiten) by a lot and had much better technique than I did last year, I am already seeing substantial progress and am aiming to continue this progress,” said Katie Cookman.

Other U.S. athletes the men’s competition included Mason Palecek of Oshkosh, Wisc., who placed 29^th. He relied heavily on previsualization before the race.

"I imagine the track, think through every aspect, then breathe and repeat my mantra. On the track, I just do what I thought of before,” said Palecek.

Thomas Matthews, also of Marquette, Mich., is the youngest member of the US team at 14 years old. In his debut Jr. World Cup race, he finished 32nd, soaking up valuable experience.

"It's definitely a change. Watching my team and other sliders go down was fun, and the track here is so alive with activity," said Matthews.

19-year-old Leonard Pizziola of Ishpeming, Mich. Is also new to the natural track National Team. He finished in 35th place.

“I was feeling really good the day of the race because I had two good training runs without any crashes,” said Pizziola. “I was super nervous before the training runs because I hit the wall pretty hard two days before.”

The next race for the US natural track team is the Junior World Cup in Ulten, Italy on January 4th-5th, 2024.

USA Luge natural track team competes in Junior World Cup

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