Meyers Taylor Sweeps Women’s Monobob Team Trials;
Church Teams With Williamson, Niederhofer And Volker For Four-man Bobsled Win
LAKE PLACID, N.Y. (March 21, 2021)– Elana Meyers Taylor (Douglasville, Ga.) swept the women’s monobob trials with another win today, while Hunter Church (Cadyville, N.Y.) and his push crew of Josh Williamson (Lake Mary, Fla.), Boone Niederhofer (San Antonio, Texas) and Charlie Volker (Fair Haven, N.J.) are 2-for-2 in four-man bobsled races with their victory in Lake Placid this afternoon.
Meyers Taylor was dominant today with the fastest push times of 5.82 and 5.84 seconds, and the quickest downtimes of 56.83 and 57.32 seconds, represpectively. The three-time Olympic medalist finished 1.80 seconds ahead of the field, which is a wide margin in a sport contested to the hundredths of a second. Meyers Taylor was victorious with a two-run combined time of 1:54.15.
Brittany Reinbolt (Searcy, Ark.) was runner-up with a total time of 1:55.95, followed by Nicole Vogt (Dallas, Texas) in third with a cumulative time of 1:56.79.
Church, Williamson, Niederhofer, and Volker dominated the four-man competition from start to finish, claiming today’s win by a distant 1.11 seconds with a combined time of 1:49.97. The crew powered the sled off the block in 5.07 and 5.08 seconds for runs of 54.86 and 55.11 seconds, respectively.
Codie Bascue (Whitehall, N.Y.), Carlo Valdes (Newport Beach, Calif.), Gage Smith (Whitefish, Mont.), and Kyle Wilcox (Tampa, Fla.) finished second with a combined time of 1:51.08 after clocking finish times of 55.50 and 55.58 seconds. They were third fastest off the block with start times of 5.14 and 5.13 seconds.
Geoff Gadbois (Milton, Vt.) teamed with Mike Fogt (Alpine, Utah), Nic Taylor (Hayward, Calif.), and Kris Horn (Pembroke, Mass.) to finish third with a total time of 1:51.24. The crew posted start times of 5.17 and 5.13 seconds for runs of 55.45 and 55.79 seconds.
Frank Del Duca (Bethel, Me.), David Simon (San Antonio, Texas), Chris Avery (San Diego, Calif.), and Adrian Adams (Reidsville, N.C.) were on the cusp of the top three in fourth place. The team pushed the second fastest start times of 5.09 and 5.11 seconds.
Today concludes bobsled racing for the 2020-2021 season. If the schedule allows, additional team trials races for the 2021-2022 team will be held in the fall. Please contact USABS Marketing & Communications Director Amanda Bird at 518-354-2250, or amanda.bird@usabs.com, with media inquiries.
Results
Women’s monobob
1. Elana Meyers Taylor 1:54.15 (56.83, 57.32)
2. Brittany Reinbolt 1:55.95 (57.89, 58.06);
3. Nicole Vogt 1:56.79 (58.21, 58.58);
Four-man bobsled
1. Church, Williamson, Niederhofer, and Volker 1:49.97 (54.86, 55.11);
2. Bascue, Valdes, Smith, and Wilcox 1:51.08 (55.50, 55.58);
3. Gadbois, Fogt, Taylor, and Horn 1:51.24 (55.45, 55.79);
4. Del Duca, Simon, Avery, and Adams 1:51.70 (55.64, 56.06);
5. Hickey, Johnson, Calafiorie, and Christofferson 1:52.67 (56.29, 56.38);
6. Moeller, Blueberg, Mustard, and Muhammed-Ray 1:53.17 (56.60, 56.57);
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. For more information, please visit the USABS website at www.usabs.com.
Source Amanda Bird for TeamUSA