KENNEDY, DEARBORNE, WIGHT HAUSMAN WIN GOLD!

LAKE PLACID, NY (Mar 28, 2010) – Duncan Kennedy re-established himself as the U.S. National Masters Men's Champion with nearly a full-second victory in the 2010 National Masters Championships. Bill Dearborn took home the Gold Medal in the Senior Masters category, while Cynthea Wight Hausman laid claim to the Women's title.

Kennedy's runs of 44.648 and 44.624 were not only fast, but represented a consistency that eluded the rest of the sliders in the top 5.

Larry Dolan earned the Silver Medal, 0.805 seconds behind Kennedy. After swapping fast times with Kennedy during the week's training, Dolan had minor issues in the chicane, costing him the majority of the margin on his first run before securing his result with a solid second run.

Jim Murphy earned the Bronze medal, but nearly let it get away when he hit the chicane walls not once, but twice, on his first run. The resulting 46.344 second run was not only the worst for Murphy this week, but it slotted him in 5th position after the first run, setting the stage for one of the larger moments of drama during the race. In stark contrast to the first run, Murphy's second run of 45.362 was his best of the week.

Gordy Sheer followed Murphy down the track on the second run, owing to his first-run fourth place time of 46.298 second. Sheer's 45.860 mark improved from his first-run time but fell short of surpassing Murphy.

Brett West followed, slotted third after his first run time of 46.265, took to the track with a lead of 0.079 over Murphy. West's second run time of 45.589 was a person best time, keeping him ahead of Sheer, but coming up 0.148 short of Murphy and the podium.

In the Senior Masters Division, for sliders over the age of 50, Bill Dearborn's runs of 46.180 and 46.141 were exceptionally consistent and were enough to earn him a victory margin in excess of 2 seconds over his Adirondack Luge Club teammate Bob Young.

Young, father of current Senior National Team sliders Stacy Young, negotiated the course in 47.106 and 47.223 seconds to earn the Silver Medal.

The Bronze medal will travel home with Ty Danco. Danco, quite clearly the Court Jester of the start house, checked in with runs of 47.294 and 47.623.

Jim Mossey registered a very impressive effort in 4th, after only 1 day of training. Meanwhile, Dick Genovese received renewed and rejuvenated respect with a 5th place finish at the age of 72 years young.

Cynthea Wight Hausman came to Lake Placid on a mission. Moved by the tragic death of Nodar Kumaritashvili last month in Vancouver, she formed "I Slide 4 Nodar" as a charity and did the only thing that seemed natural – return to sliding after a 10 year absence and used that as a vehicle to raise funds for Nodar's family.

After a week of training, Hausman will return home with not only a Gold Medal but a healthy start to her fund.

"I never thought I could win a National Championships on a training sled," she remarked.  "But, the real winner is the charity."

Wight Hausman chronicled her exploits during the week on her blog at
http://islide4nodar.blogspot.com/.

Rookie slider Peggy Mousaw of Lake Placid, NY earned the Silver Medal, and former National Team Member Deb Sanders-Dame leaves with the Bronze medal.

The Adirondack / Wasatch Challenge Cup will be heading eastward once again.  The revised rules this year pitted a two-slider team of Brett West and Matt Gannon representing the Adirondack Luge Club against Bill Dearborn and Paul Suplinskas representing Wasatch.

The combined time for ADK was 3:04.663 seconds, while WLC checked in with 3:05.890 seconds resulting in a 1.227 second Adirondack victory.