Park Record | 2012-01-14 | Page 24

B-4 The Park Record USA Luge ready for first Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck Continued From B-1 Races to return Jan. 18 afterward," said Jesse Hunt, who is the executive director of the Park City Ski Team and helped organize the return of the Town Race Series. On the four Wednesdays in 2011, Hunt said, the average turnout was about 200 people. In 2012, the aim isn't a number, he said, but to spread the word throughout the community that the Town Race Series isn't strictly for former U.S. national team ski team stars, but for everyone who wants to try it out. The scoring will be based on the NASTAR scoring system once again this season, which includes platinum, gold, silver and bronze-level ski racers. PCMR will use a pacesetter to certify the handicap levels as it did last year, Hunt said. "That was one of the big messages from last year," he said. "There's some serious competition, we've got a town full of great ski racers, to share in all the fun. "The goal is to get more silver and bronze level skiers out on the hill. We've really got a solid group at platinum and gold levels. We want to see growth." Hunt said there will be four award categories for individual male and female performances. He said team awards will be presented once again, which will be divided into age and gender categories. Kim Stephens, in her first Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, January 14-17, 2012 Local athletes prep to slide in Igls this week Courtesy USA Luge PARK RECORD FILE PHOTO year helping to organize the Town Race Series, grew up ski racing in Park City. A Winter Sports School graduate and Park City Ski Team alumna, Stephens skied four years for the University of Utah and participated in her first Town Race Series last year. Ideally, Stephens said, the Town Race Series will eventually rival the recreational summer softball leagues in Park City. "We really want to get people excited," she said. "We want the hype to get going for skiing like there is for softball. "We don't care what abilities are. We want people to not be so worried, that there's a chance to just have fun. You don't have to be the best skier out there." Stephens echoed Hunt's comments, saying she'd like to see more diverse age ranges when it comes to skiers on the hill. "We just want more of the community involved, not just all the old skiers," she said. "That's the goal-we just want to make the parties bigger." The Town Race Series schedule is slated for Jan. 18, Feb. 1, Feb. 15 and March 14 at PCMR. Each race is scheduled to run from 4 to 6 p.m. Entry fees are $20 for one race or $60 for all four. A team (four skiers) fee will cost $75 per race or $225 for all four events. Hunt said The Corner Store and The Pig Pen Saloon will host this year's post-race parties. The first and last series party will be at The Corner Store, while the second and third are scheduled to be at the Pig Pen Saloon. "In terms of delivering the event, we're just going to get better and better," he said. "We want to make sure that people understand that it's fun for all. You can get a sense of the atmosphere. Everybody is psyched. It's energy." The Town Race Series is sponsored by Cole Sport and The Corner Store. To register via email, contact [e-mail]. To register via phone, call the Park City Ski Team at [phone]. For more information visit www. parkcityskiteam.org. IGLS, Austria - With one silver and two bronze medals in the first half of the current Junior World Cup luge season, Tucker West leads a contingent of five Americans preparing this week for the inaugural winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Innsbruck, Austria. The U.S. team arrived in the Austrian Tyrol on Monday. The 2012 YOG will take place from Jan. 13-22; the Opening Ceremony is set for Friday in Innsbruck; the luge events will be held Sunday through Tuesday outside Innsbruck in Igls. The YOG is for athletes born in 1994 or 1995. "It's been interesting so far. Everything is different from a normal trip overseas," said American coach Pat Anderson, a former luge athlete and current development coach from Ironwood, Mich. "We're getting acclimated to the logistics….the meals, housing and transportation. "Our athletes, as well as other sports, are primarily interacting among their teammates for now, but I can see them getting more comfortable as they settle in." Anderson continued to say that temperatures have been in the comfortable 20s and 30s the past few days, with much more snow than the junior national team saw in its last visit to the region a month ago. The International Luge Federation (FIL) established a fivesled maximum quota per nation for the luge races that will be held in Igls, Austria, home to the Olympia track, where the Olympic luge events were held in 1964 and 1976. USA Luge has earned all five slots. Luge athletes from four continents will be in the field. "On behalf of the USA Luge family, we want all of the athletes that qualified for the first-ever Winter Youth Olympic Games to know how very proud we are of their hard work and accomplishment," said USA Luge CEO and Executive Director Ron Rossi. "Not only did they race well for themselves, but their excellent performances also allowed the USA to qualify a full contingent of sleds for the event." The 16 year old West, from Ridgefield, Conn., will be joined in men's singles by Ty Andersen, 17, of Alpine, Utah. Summer Britcher, of Glen Rock, Pa., and Raychel Germaine, of Roswell, Ga., will race in women's singles. Britcher, 17, won two Junior World Cup races last winter competing in the Youth A division, and finished 11th in the 2011 World Junior Championships. She has since moved up to the Junior Women category. Germaine has been racing this winter in the Youth A division of the Junior World Cup for the first time. She won a bronze medal in the Norton National Seeding Race last spring in Lake Placid. Ty Andersen will also compete in doubles as the front driver for Patrick Edmunds, 17, of Park City, Utah. The duo are the tallest doubles team in luge annals, as Andersen stands 6-foot7, and his "diminutive" partner is 6-foot-1. They picked up a bronze in last winter's Igls, Austria Junior World Cup. In addition, Andersen placed 29th in the 2010 Park City, Utah World Cup singles event racing with the elite Olympians of the sport. West, Andersen and Edmunds, along with one of the two women, will also race in the concluding luge event of the YOG - the Team Relay - which will also be included in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. "The group's excellent performances allow us to look forward to the actual competition with high hopes for all of the races," continued Rossi. "Just as important, we hope each athlete takes the time to enjoy the total experience as the Austrians have a great reputation for hosting major winter sporting events, including the 1964 and 1976 Winter Olympics, along with a host of World Cup and World Championship events in many sports over the years." Continued From B-1 Sports briefs Silver Mountain Strength Circuit class Want to get stronger in just one hour? Try the Silver Mountain Sports Club's new Strength Circuit class. This group fitness class, set up in a circuit format to keep participants moving and burning calories, works every body part. The class is taught by certified personal trainer Kate Zuser on Mondays at 5:30 p.m. at Silver Mountain Sports Club's Prospector Square location, 2080 Gold Dust Lane, Park City. The class is free for all SMSC members; nonmembers are welcome for a day-use fee. Call [phone] for more information. Adult-only openskating session/group class Park City Ice Arena invites all adults to take a skating lunch break and join the fun lunch bunch to "‘ICE'ercise." On Wednesdays, from noon to 1 p.m., the arena will offer an adult-only open-skate session which will include an adult ice-skating class from 12:30 to 1 p.m. open to skaters of all ability levels. Register for a six-week session or drop in weekly. Registration fees cover: 30-minute class, practice time, skate rental, and a punch card for three open-skate sessions. Contact Erika Roberts for more information at [phone] or eroberts@ parkcity.org or visit online at www. parkcityice.org. Team Altitude Speed & Conditioning Session This program for boys and girls 5th through 8th grade is designed to improve overall condition, strength, endurance, speed and footwork. The class is scheduled to run Mondays 7 to 8:45 p.m. from Jan. 3 through March 18 at the Treasure Mountain Middle School. Strength and conditioning will run from 7 to 8 p.m., with basketball shooting practice/clinic from 8 to 8:45 p.m. There will be no sessions when school is closed. Full punch card (eight visits) is $28; partial punch card (five visits) is $20; drop-ins are $5/session. To register or for more information contact Nicky Lecher: [e-mail] or Margaret Hyatt: [e-mail]. (CLASS CANCELLATION: Team Altitude drop-in coed basketball, Wednesdays 6 to 8 p.m. at Ecker Hill Middle School, has been canceled.)