2023 USA Luge Champions crowned

Lake Placid (FIL-USA Luge/13 Nov 2023) Under cloudy skies and temperatures around 20 degrees Fahrenheit (about minus 6 degrees Celsius), the 2023 Norton National Champions of the USA were crowned in four disciplines. The cold weather made for hard ice and difficult conditions as the best male and female luge athletes in the USA competed on the Mt. Van Hoevenberg luge track.

The warm weather over the past two weeks made track maintenance a challenge. So the track was relatively bumpy. USA Luge officials decided to count the best two of three runs toward the overall time.

In the men's singles, 2022 Olympian Jonny Gustafson (Massena, N.Y.) won with a time of one minute, 45.811 seconds. It was his second national title. 2018 Olympic silver medalist Chris Mazdzer (Salt Lake City, Utah) was second in 1:46.169 and Hunter Harris (East Fairfield, Vt.) was third in 1:46.340. Three-time Olympian Tucker West (Ridgefield, Conn.), one of the favorites to win, posted the second-fastest time of the day but was unable to finish the next two runs.

Beijing 2022 Olympians Zack DiGregorio (Medway, Mass.) and Sean Hollander (Lake Placid, N.Y.) secured the men's doubles victory in 1:29.859. This was the first time that DiGregorio and Hollander, both U23 World Champions, competed as a duo at a national championship. The pair first teamed up just a few months before the Beijing Olympics. The bronze medalists at the 2023 World Junior Championships, Marcus Mueller (Brookfield, Wisconsin) and Ansel Haugsjaa (Framingham, Massachusetts), finished second with a time of 1:30.666. Dana Kellogg (Chesterfield, Mass.) and Frank Ike (Lititz, Pennsylvania) finished third in their race debut with a time of 1:31.746. Kellogg had been partnered with Duncan Segger (Lake Placid, N.Y.) since 2016 and is now competing with Frank Ike for the new season. Segger is focusing on his studies in Utah.

Ashley Farquharson (Park City, Utah), a 2022 Olympian, secured her first national title with a winning time of 1:30.659. The next two podium spots went to members of the Junior National Team. In a close race, Sophia Gordon (Sussex, Wisc.) finished second in 1:32.158 and Emma Erickson (Park City, Utah) was third in 1:32.181. Summer Britcher (Glen Rock, Pennsylvania), who has more World Cup wins than any other woman in U.S. history, was unable to compete for personal reasons. Emily Sweeney (Lake Placid, N.Y.) wanted to rest her neck to focus on the upcoming World Cup season. The 2019 World Championship bronze medalist is still battling lingering issues from a crash at the 2018 Olympics.

In the women's doubles, 2022 World Championships bronze medallists Chevonne Forgan (Chelmsford, Massachusetts) and Sophie Kirkby (Ray Brook, New York) posted a combined time of 1:32.726. The duo of Maya Chan (Chicago, Illinois) and Reannyn Weiler (Whitesboro, New York), as well as Britcher and Sweeney, were on the start list but did not race. Chan and Weiler crashed during the training on Friday and withdrew from the race as a precaution.

On November 14, the U.S. national team will travel to Whistler, Canada, for training. They will then return to Lake Placid for the International Training Week (ITW). The highlight of the training week will be the International Start Competition on December 1 at 6:00 pm. The event will be held at the USA Luge Headquarters at 57 Church Street in Lake Placid and is free and open to the public. 

Information on media accreditation for the opening of the EBERSPAECHER Luge World Cup in Lake Placid can be found at https://orda.org/media/press-room/#tab-media-credentials.

photos: USA Luge