Summer Britcher, Tucker West and Mueller/Haugsjaa win at USA Luge Start Championships

Lake Placid (FIL/16 Sept 2024) Tucker West clinched the title at the USA Luge Start Championships for the twelfth time on Friday, September 13. In the women's event, Summer Britcher continued her winning streak with her eighth title, while junior national team athletes Marcus Muller and Ansel Haugsjaa claimed their first victory.
The winning times were determined by adding two traditional starts and a reaction start. In the reaction start, a gate opens randomly, as it also does in the team relay competition.
The USA Luge Start Championships take place annually in late summer and traditionally mark the start of the new luge season.
Tucker West (Lake Placid, N.Y.) is one of the best starters in the world. This strength gave him a significant lead in the national start championships. With a total time of 10.73 seconds in three runs, the 29-year-old three-time Olympian took the win. Hunter Harris (East Fairfield, Vt.), a sophomore on the national team, finished second in 11.18 seconds, edging 2022 Olympian Jonny Gustafson (Massena, N.Y.) by 0.01 seconds for third place. 2024 Junior World Championship silver medalist Matt Greiner (Park City, Utah) finished fourth in 11.47 seconds, while Junior World Cup medalist Aidan Mueller finished fifth in 11.58 seconds, with Logan Barnes (Clarksville, Tennessee) sixth in 11.61 seconds.
The women's singles field included another familiar face: five-time World Cup winner and three-time Olympian Summer Britcher. The athlete, who was born in Glen Rock, Pennsylvania, also won convincingly in 11.80 seconds. World Cup medalist, 2022 Olympian and reigning national champion Ashley Farquharson (Park City, Utah) finished second in 11.98 seconds. Park City-based National Team newcomer Emma Erickson finished third in 12.20 seconds. Emily Sweeney (Lake Placid, N.Y.) missed the event due to a long-planned trip.
The doubles competition was won by Marcus Mueller (Brookfield, Wis.) and Ansel Haugsjaa (Framingham, Mass.). The current junior world champions clocked a time of 11.10 seconds. The 2022 Olympians and Lake Placid World Cup champions Zack DiGregorio (Medway, Mass.) and Sean Hollander (Lake Placid, N.Y.) finished second in 11.16 seconds. Last year, both teams had the same time of 11.24 seconds, which clearly shows that the US team has improved their starting speed. The 2023 tie was broken in favor of DiGregorio/Hollander based on the fastest individual start.
Dana Kellogg (Chesterfield, Massachusetts) and Frank Ike (Lititz, Pennsylvania), silver medalists in the 2024 World Championship relay, took third place in 11.34 seconds.
Three-time World Championship medalists Chevonne Forgan (Chelmsford, Massachusetts) and Sophia Kirkby (Ray Brook, New York) were the only female participants in the race and crossed the finish line in fourth place in the doubles category in 11.75 seconds. The junior doubles team of Logan Barnes and Gavin Davis (Berwick, Pennsylvania) took fifth place in 11.97 seconds.

The national team will be on the ice for the first time at the beginning of next month during training sessions in Norway and Latvia. The EBERSPAECHER Luge World Cup will kick off in Lillehammer, Norway, from November 30 to December 1, 2024.

Photo: USA Luge

For more information on USA Luge, visit www.usaluge.org.