Julia Clukey Wins Jet Blue Start Championship 11 Days after Surgery

LAKE PLACID, N.Y.--- Julia Clukey, who underwent surgery on September 28 to repair a torn meniscus in her right knee, bounced back to win her third JetBlue USA Luge Start Championship title. The competition, held at the USA Luge Start Training Facility, featured the top luge athletes in the nation. 

Clukey (Augusta, Maine), winner of the 2009 International Start Competition held in Meransen, Italy in August, clocked a two-run combined time of 2.667 seconds to claim the win. Ashley Walden (Westborough, Mass. and Lake Placid, N.Y.), silver medalist at the Meransen start competition, finished second, stopping the clock at 2.680 seconds. 2009 World Champion Erin Hamlin finished third with 2.744 seconds. 

“The win says a lot about my preparation and the condition I’m in,” said Clukey, the 2009 World Championship fifth-place finisher. “I worked hard in the weight room and on my start all summer long.”

In the men’s competition, 2006 World Championship sixth-place finisher Bengt Walden (Westborough, Mass. and Lake Placid, N.Y.) won after posting a time of 2.541 seconds. Tony Benshoof’s (White Bear Lake, Minn.) return to form following back surgery seems on track, as he took the silver medal with a time of 2.565 seconds. 2007 National Champion Chris Mazdzer (Saranac Lake, N.Y.) was third with a posting of 2.567 seconds. 

The doubles team of Matt Mortensen (Huntington Station, N.Y.) and Preston Griffall (Salt Lake City, Utah) showed their power after a strong second heat vaulted them from third place to first, with a combined time of 3.383 seconds. Mazdzer and Jayson Terdiman (Berwick Pa.), last year’s winners, were nine one-thousandths of a second behind, posting a time of 3.392. Veterans Mark Grimmette (Muskegon, Mich. and Lake Placid, N.Y) and Brian Martin (Palo Alto, Calif. and Lake Placid, N.Y.) were third. The two-time Olympic medalists crossed the line in 3.417 seconds.

The team resumes sliding in Lake Placid tomorrow morning in preparation for a series of four team selection races, which begins on October 21. 

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