It’s time for kids to shine at the Utah Olympic Park (UOP) ice track. On Sunday, the nation’s best young sliders kicked off two weekends worth of competition to crown the national champions at the youth and junior levels.
This past weekend at the U.S. Luge Junior Nationals, the Youth A, ages 14-17, and Youth B, ages 12-14, competed, and next week the juniors will take to the track.
Upstate New York native Vinny Simkin was beside himself after his win in the Youth A men’s division. After a disappointing sixth on Sunday, his victory on Monday was cause for celebration. Simkin grew up with the Lake Placid, N.Y., ice track nearby and had to make some adjustments on Park City’s fast track.
“There’s a fine line between the switch over. I guess I got it today,” said the smiling Simkin.
Simkin and his East Coast-based buddies had only about 20 runs on the UOP ice before competition started.
Some of the hometown sliders also had a good day. Members of Park City program, Matt Wolbach and Patrick Edmunds, completed the podium, winning second and third, respectively.
Wolbach, a 16-year-old Park City student, said that the two-day competition went well, but he had trouble with a couple of curves on the track. Wolbach is one the smallest guys on the team, and short, fast tracks like the UOP’s can be problematic for him. Instead he prefers technical tracks like the one in Lake Placid, N.Y.
“I’m better at steer tracks than speed tracks,” Wolbach said after the race.
It was a great two days for Yakima, Washington’s, Breanna Rosencrance. The 12-year-old made the trek to Utah with her family for her very first luge competition and ended taking second on Sunday and won gold Monday.
“I didn’t expect to get a gold,” Rosencrance said. “It’s like a dream come true.”
Rosencrance was discovered during the USA Luge Slider Search, which takes the show on the road, recruiting athletes around the country. This was her first time on the Park City ice. Although it is much farther away, Rosencrance does the bulk on her training on the Lake Placid track. However, as an avid snowboarder, she said she loves the ski culture of Park City.
“I really like being here,” she said.
Rosencrance said that there will be plenty of luge competition in her future and already has plenty of inspiration headed her way. With next year’s Winter Olympic Games just a few hours away, she plans to watch the luge competition in person with her family.
The Junior National competition will be held next Saturday and Sunday on the UOP track beginning at 9 a.m.