AMANDA BIRD
ST. MORITZ, Switzerland (Feb. 2, 2020)– Hunter Church (Cadyville, N.Y.) and his powerhouse four-man bobsled push crew of Josh Williamson (Lake Mary, Fla.), Jimmy Reed (Garmisch, Germany) and Kris Horn (Pembroke, Mass.) finished eighth in today’s World Cup race in St. Moritz. USA Bobsled Head Coach Mike Kohn said it was a decent result for Church considering his inexperience on the elite circuit and the European tracks, but that the team expected more.
“I’m disappointed in today’s finish because I had a lot of high expectations coming into this week,” Church said.
“St. Moritz is an unpredictable track, and we don’t believe in excuses, but we are better than today,” Kohn said. “We had solid start times by the guys and the load into the sled is one of the best in the world. Hunter (Church) has been on this track once before, so our expectations may have been too high. It’s a great reminder that we can’t take any track for granted. We’ll debrief and turn our focus toward World Championships.”
Today was the final World Cup race for the U.S. bobsledders this season. The team will miss the final event in Sigulda, Latvia, traveling to Altenberg, Germany instead to prepare for the 2020 World Championships.
St. Moritz is the only European track Church had one experience on prior to this season. He raced in the 2018 Junior World Championships on the Swiss track and finished sixth in the two-man bobsled U23 division.
In today’s race, Church, Williamson, Reed and Horn powered the Under Armour branded sled off the block with the fourth fastest start time of 5.06 seconds, and Church piloted the crew to the finish in one minute, 6.08 seconds for ninth position. The team posted nearly identical start and finish times in run two with a push of 5.08 and downtime of 1:06.09. The Americans picked up a spot to finish eighth with a combined time of 2:12.17.
“Today was a great learning experience for me,” Church said. “I put too much emphasis on doing well because it’s a track I’ve been on before. I need to have an open mind, even if it’s a track I’ve driven on before or had success on so I can continue to get better.”
Canadians Justin Kripps, Ryan Sommer, Cameron Stones and Benjamin Coakwell were victorious with a two-run total of 2:11.12. Oskars Kibermanis, Lauris Kaufmanis, Arvis Vilkaste and Matiss Miknis from Latvia claimed silver in 2:11.25. Germans Johannes Lochner, Florian Bauser, Christopher Weber and Tobias Schneider held the lead after the first heat, but dropped back into third with an aggregate time of 2:11.46.
“Now it’s time to refocus and move on to Altenberg and embrace that track,” Church said.
Please contact USABS Marketing & Communications Director Amanda Bird at 518-354-2250, or amanda.bird@usabs.com, with media inquiries.
Results
1. Justin Kripps, Ryan Sommer, Cameron Stones and Benjamin Coakwell (CAN) 2:11.12 (1:05.56, 1:05.56); 2. Oskars Kibermanis, Lauris Kaufmanis, Arvis Vilkaste and Matiss Miknis (LAT) 2:11.25 (1:05.61, 1:05.64); 3. Johannes Lochner, Florian Bauser, Christopher Weber and Tobias Schneider (GER) 2:11.46 (1:05.41, 1:06.05); 8. Hunter Church, Josh Williamson, Jimmy Reed and Kris Horn (USA) 2:12.17 (1:06.08, 1:06.09);
About USA Bobsled & Skeleton USA Bobsled & Skeleton (USABS), based in Lake Placid, N.Y., is the national governing body for the sports of bobsled and skeleton in the United States. USABS would like to thank its sponsors, suppliers and contributors for their support: BMW of North America, Under Armour, Omaze, Kampgrounds of America, Snap Fitness, BiPro, Boomerang Carnets, Hudl, Tesa Tape, PVS International, Ferris Mfg. Corp, Machintek, deBotech and Carpenter. For more information, please visit the USABS website at www.usabs.com.
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Source: TeamUSA
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