Records tumble at Norton USA Luge Start Championships

Records tumble at Norton USA Luge Start Championships

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. – USA Luge athletes produced a flood of track records and personal bests at today’s start championships, held at the team’s headquarters and training facility. Held in late summer annually, the event serves as an informal kick-off to the luge season.

The winning times were determined by adding two traditional starts and one reaction start together. The reaction start features a gate that randomly opens, as used in the team relay competition.

In men’s single’s, Tucker West (Lake Placid., N.Y.) beat his own record in the traditional start time by .05 seconds with a 3.23 in the first heat. He also won a record 13th Norton Start Championship title, with a combined time of 10.68. Hunter Harris (East Fairfield, Vt.) clocked in at 11.13 to take second. Aidan Mueller (West Islip, N.Y.) was third in 11.29. Jonny Gustafson (Massena, N.Y.) and Matt Greiner (Park City, Utah) did not compete as they are dealing with minor injuries.

Two-time women’s World Championship bronze medalist Emily Fischnaller (formerly Sweeney of Lake Placid, N.Y.) tied the traditional start record with a best single heat of 3.54 and a combined time of 11.65 enroute to victory. Three-time Olympian Summer Britcher (Glen Rock, Pa.) was second in 11.69, while 2022 Olympian Ashley Farquharson (Park City, Utah) was third in 11.86.

The men’s doubles competition saw the duo of Zack DiGregorio (Medway, Mass.) and Sean Hollander (Lake Placid, N.Y.) win in 10.89 seconds. Their start times of 3.30 in both heats of the traditional start established a new record. Two-time Junior World Champions Marcus Mueller (Brookfield, Wisc.) and Ansel Haugsjaa (Framingham, Mass.) were second in 10.97, with Dana Kellogg (Chesterfield, Mass.) and Frank Ike (Lititz, Pa.) third in 11.37. Kellogg and Ike missed last season due an injury to Kellogg’s shoulder.

The women’s doubles team of Chevonne Forgan (Chelmsford, Mass.) and Sophia Kirkby (Lake Placid, N.Y.) set the start record of 3.54 in the traditional start, a record 4.61 in the reaction start and posted a combined time of 11.17. The tandem ranked third in last season’s overall World Cup standings. Maya Chan (Chicago, Ill.) and Sophia Gordon (Sussex, Wisc.) were second in 11.93 seconds.

Quotes

Tucker West: “I'm really happy with the level of starts today. It's been a really interesting summer for me. I was struggling with a lat injury for the majority of the summer, so I'm happy with how I've come back from that. It's feeling good, and I'm hoping to keep that feeling going into the season.”

Emily Fischnaller: “I'm pleasantly surprised with my times. I've been feeling a little rough the last couple of weeks, so it's good to be able to show up when it matters. And I'm really proud of all the work that our whole team has put in. I mean, the times that everyone in each discipline were posting up were awesome. So, it's a really great boost before the season for our team overall.”

Zack DiGregorio: “It feels good. It's been a hard training summer, so we're excited to see it pay off. It feels great.”

Sean Hollander: “I think on a couple of starts, we surprised ourselves today with how much (time) we dropped. It feels really good. I think we set two world records on the start. So, we're just going to take that momentum into the Olympic season, and we're excited to get sliding.”

Chevonne Forgan: “I'm super happy with our results. We managed to beat our previous record and on both the regular start and the reaction so (we’re) feeling good, feeling amped for the season.

Sophia Kirkby: I’m very excited that we broke our own start records. I look forward to the season as it comes up very closely, and we're just gonna go do our best and have fun.”

The team will hit the ice on October 9 in Lillehammer, Norway, with two stops at the 2026 Olympic track in Cortina, Italy before the World Cup season begins. The first five World Cup races of the season will be used to determine the nominees to the Olympic squad. The World Cup season kicks off in Igls, Austria on December 5-7, followed by races in Park City, Utah and Lake Placid, N.Y on December 12-13 and 19-20, respectively.