Friday, October 23, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Team Trials
Team trials have officially begun! Team trials consists of a series of four races, two in Lake Placid, New York, and two in Park City, Utah. We are currently in Park City, Utah, about to begin the second round with the final races this Friday and Saturday to decide the World Cup team. Last week in Lake Placid I raced the first race with pilot Jamia Jackson, where we placed second and pushed a new start record- a 5.46, smashing the previous start record by .08 (a huge margin in bobsled)! The second day, I raced with pilot Erin Pac and we pushed the fastest start times of the day, with starts of 5.49 and 5.48, and finished second as well. The top 2 women's pilots will be named to the World Cup team (pilot Shauna Rohbock has already been named to the team), and the races are very close! This week I will race with pilot Bree Schaaf and then with Shauna Rohbock as a pilot sled (not officially in the race). Someone's Olympic dream may begin, or end, this weekend- so stay tuned for the finale!
Monday, October 5, 2009
Back on the Ice!
Today was the first day back on the ice as the bobsled track opened in Lake Placid, NY, for the season. I slid today with pilot Jamia Jackson and we took two trips, down and safe! As always, the track in October is a little bumpy and slow- as it's pretty warm for bobsledding, but I'm so excited the season has started. We race next week on October 14-15 and I'll be sure to re-post all the details. As of now, I'm scheduled to race with pilot Jamia Jackson on Oct 14 and Erin Pac on Oct 15. As exciting as it is, there's other things coming up sooner- like my 25th birthday on Saturday.....
In the meantime- here's some push video from today.
In the meantime- here's some push video from today.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Push Video
This video is from a training session in the Ice House in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. I am pushing on the brakes with driver Jamia Jackson.
It's Been a Longggg Time!
I know it's been a while since I've blogged, but I hope to be more consistent once again. So much has happened, but in some areas so little has happened! First, I'd like to give a shout out to my new manager, Frank Johnson. Frank has worked very hard on sealing up some sponsorship for me and getting my name out in the media. He's a great guy and a welcome addition to the team!
I've been training hard and working hard and the season is almost upon us! We had our push championships Sept 14-20 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, which included our combine testing. I finished the combine testing setting personal bests in every event and finishing first overall in the combine by one point! Just a testament to how talented all our brakeman are this season! I also accomplished one of my goals for this year and defended my title as the U.S. National Push Champion, and set an ice house record in the process. The previous record was held by the Canadian brakeman Shelley-Ann Brown, who I had the pleasure of staying with in Calgary, along with her roommate and teammate Amanda Moreley.
I have been home this past week, and if you follow the news, you know that Douglas County was torn apart by massive amounts of flooding and has been named a disaster area by the president. My poor county has had more deaths than any other county due to the flooding and we are still under a boil water advisory as there have been sewage leaks into our water. Much of the county has lost everything- homes and other possessions, I count my blessings that all that was flooded at my house was the back yard. Many trees have fallen as the ground is too saturated, creating further damage. All the creeks, rivers, and lakes have overflowed and many roads around the county have completely disappeared- not under water- but just crumbled from all the flooding. I was unable to leave the county until Wednesday or Thursday as there was no way out- all the roads out in every direction were flooded! Luckily, people are kind and they have come to the rescue of Douglas County, providing assistance and bottled water to all those in need. Please keep us in your prayers, as I can imagine this is going to be a long recovery.
I leave for Lake Placid in the morning and team trials start soon!!! Wish me luck...
I've been training hard and working hard and the season is almost upon us! We had our push championships Sept 14-20 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, which included our combine testing. I finished the combine testing setting personal bests in every event and finishing first overall in the combine by one point! Just a testament to how talented all our brakeman are this season! I also accomplished one of my goals for this year and defended my title as the U.S. National Push Champion, and set an ice house record in the process. The previous record was held by the Canadian brakeman Shelley-Ann Brown, who I had the pleasure of staying with in Calgary, along with her roommate and teammate Amanda Moreley.
I have been home this past week, and if you follow the news, you know that Douglas County was torn apart by massive amounts of flooding and has been named a disaster area by the president. My poor county has had more deaths than any other county due to the flooding and we are still under a boil water advisory as there have been sewage leaks into our water. Much of the county has lost everything- homes and other possessions, I count my blessings that all that was flooded at my house was the back yard. Many trees have fallen as the ground is too saturated, creating further damage. All the creeks, rivers, and lakes have overflowed and many roads around the county have completely disappeared- not under water- but just crumbled from all the flooding. I was unable to leave the county until Wednesday or Thursday as there was no way out- all the roads out in every direction were flooded! Luckily, people are kind and they have come to the rescue of Douglas County, providing assistance and bottled water to all those in need. Please keep us in your prayers, as I can imagine this is going to be a long recovery.
I leave for Lake Placid in the morning and team trials start soon!!! Wish me luck...
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Colorado Springs
It's been a while since I blogged, but in that time we had a team camp out in Colorado Springs, Colorado. During that time- all the bobsled and skeleton athletes come together to have an annual board meeting and to do some team bonding activities, including a Gala- which is an award's ceremony and a chance for everyone to get dressed up. The picture above is from that event. Although it can be nice to see everyone, it brings the reality that the season is almost here. Time to buckle down and get to work!
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