Huerbin, Sweeney win Luge Junior National Championships

PARK CITY, Utah (March 2, 2009) - On Sunday, March 1, Robby Huerbin (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Emily Sweeney (Suffield, Conn.) slid to first place victories in the men’s and women’s categories, respectively, at the Junior (to age 20) National Championships in Park City Utah.

Huerbin slid to a combined time of one minute, 33.879 seconds to claim the gold in the men’s category of Sunday’s race, edging out the competition by 0.482 seconds. Huerbin also took first place in the seeding race on Saturday Feb. 28, and when the points from the two races were combined, it placed him on top of the 2008-2009 overall season rankings. Finishing on top of this ranking also qualified him for the Junior National Team Select for next season.

Trent Matheson (Bountiful, Utah) raced to Sunday’s silver medal, while Taylor Morris (South Jordan, Utah) picked up the bronze medal, just behind Matheson by only 0.005 seconds. Matheson, who will be too old for the Junior level next year, did not qualify for points for the rankings. Fourth place in Sunday’s action went to Isaac Underwood (Skandia, Mich), just 0.027 seconds behind Morris. In Saturday’s action, Matheson was also second while Underwood (third place) and Morris (fourth place) were reversed. As a result, Morris, and Underwood tied in the points earned, with Morris officially taking second in the rankings by winning the tie breaker by having the fastest single run out of the four runs taken over the weekend’s action. As a result, this also qualified Morris for the Junior National Team Select for next season.

Sweeney raced to a two run total of one minute, 29.130 seconds, beating out the second place finisher, Kate Hansen (La Canãda, Calif.) by 0.250 seconds to claim gold in the women’s category of Sunday’s Junior National Championship race. She also added a second place finish in the first seeding race on Saturday. This caused Sweeney to tie for the most overall points in the rankings with Hansen, who won Saturday’s race. As a result of the tie-breaker rules, Hansen won the tie breaker by having the fastest single run out of all the runs taken this weekend, and ended up first in the overall standings. Both Hansen and Sweeney qualified for the Junior National Team Select for next season. Lea Vanderlinden (Midway City, Utah) slid to the bronze medal in both races.

West World Media provided the live updates for the event online. They will also provide live coverage for the Senior National Championships in Lake Placid, N.Y. Mar. 13-14.

For more information on the Fastest Sport on Ice®, log on to www.usaluge.org.