Norton US National Luge Championship Series set to begin

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. - The nation’s top luge athletes will race in their final two events on March 13-14 before officially ending the competitive portion of the 2008-09 season. Friday’s National Seeding race and Saturday’s Norton U.S. National Championship will both kick off at the Olympic Sports Complex in Lake Placid, N.Y. at 8 a.m. local time both days. Fans not able to attend in person can follow the event with real-time result updates, courtesy of West World Media, by logging on to www.usaluge.org.

In the women’s division, 2009 World Champion Erin Hamlin (Remsen, N.Y.) will face tough competition from fifth-place World Championship finisher Julia Clukey (Augusta, Maine) and seventh-place World Championship finisher Ashley Walden (Westborough, Mass. and Lake Placid, N.Y.). Stacey Young (Merrick, N.Y.), who posted the 10th fastest second heat time at the World Championships, and 2006 Olympic fourth-place finisher Courtney Zablocki (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) will also vie for top honors during the two events. 2008 Junior World Champion Kate Hansen (La Canada, Calif.) and two-time National Championship bronze medalist Megan Sweeney (Suffield, Conn.) are also considered medal contenders.

2009 World Championship bronze medalists Mark Grimmette (Muskegon, Mich. and Lake Placid, N.Y.) and Brian Martin (Palo Alto, Calif. and Lake Placid, N.Y.) will face defending Norton National Champions Christian Niccum (Woodinville, Wash.) and Dan Joye (Carmel, N.Y.) in the doubles competition. Last year’s National Championship silver medal winners, Matt Mortensen (Huntington Station, N.Y.) and Preston Griffall (Salt Lake City, Utah) will be in the medal hunt, as will the 2008 National Championship bronze medal winning duo of Chris Mazdzer (Saranac Lake, N.Y.) and Jayson Terdiman (Berwick, Pa.).

Bengt Walden (Westborough, Mass. and Lake Placid, N.Y.) hopes to cap off his best-ever season with a 2009 Norton National Championship title. Tony Benshoof (White Bear Lake, Minn.), looking to regain his form following back surgery in December of 2008, aims to capture his seventh career national title. 2008 overall singles Junior World Cup silver medalist Mazdzer will also compete in singles, as will 2008 National Championship silver medalist Robby Huerbin (Pittsburgh, Pa.), along with fellow Junior National Team member Trent Matheson (Bountiful, Utah), all of which will lead a contingent of young sliders during the two days of competition.

The National Seeding and National Championships will help to determine the 2009 fall National Team, which will be an interim stop for athletes looking to earn a spot on the 2010 Winter Olympic Team that will compete in Vancouver, Canada in eleven months.

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