Contact: Amanda Bird, USABS Marketing & Communications Director, (518) 354-2250, amanda.bird@usabs.com
Kristen Gowdy, USABS Media and Marketing Assistant, (719) 722-0522, kristen.gowdy@usabs.com

Reinbolt and Jones claim bronze to lead Team USA in Whistler North American Cup bobsled races

WHISTLER, Canada (Nov. 27, 2016)-  Brittany Reinbolt (Searcy, Ark.) and Briauna Jones (Charlotte, N.C.) earned their first medal of the season, a bronze, in the second North American Cup women’s bobsled race in Whistler, Canada. In the men’s races, Nick Cunningham (Monterey, Calif.) drove to a seventh and two eighth-place finishes in the two-man and four-person events to lead Team USA’s men’s squad.

With World Cup competition beginning in Whistler next weekend, Reinbolt’s medal came at an opportune moment. After earning her first national team berth as a pilot this season, Reinbolt will be competing alongside Olympic medalists Elana Meyers Taylor (Douglasville, Ga.) and Jamie Greubel Poser (Newtown, Pa.) on the highest circuit.

“Being a part of this group of athletes has definitely helped prepare me for the next level of competition,” Reinbolt said. “I absolutely love the Whistler track, and always have a blast sliding here, so I hope to carry this momentum into next week’s World Cup race.”

Reinbolt’s medal came after a seventh-place finish in the opening women’s bobsled race, in which she posted a combined downtime of 1:51.78, falling short of the podium. Canadian Alysia Rissling earned the gold in 1:50.07, followed by Russia’s Aleksandra Rodionova (1:50.26) and Great Britain’s Mica McNeill (1:50.44) in second and third, respectively.

The first men’s two-man race saw two Russian sleds and a Swiss sled fill out the podium. Russian Alexander Kasjanov claimed the gold in 1:46.56, fending off Switzerland’s Rico Peter by 0.26 seconds and Maxim Andrianov by 0.37. Meanwhile, Cunningham and Nathan Gilsleider (Claremore, Okla.) struggled in the first heat, managing just the 11th-fastest downtime of the run, but rallied in the second round for the seventh fastest time to finish in eighth.

“This was an extremely tough North American Cup race with many World Cup teams racing in preparation for next week’s World Cup race,” Cunningham said. “What I need to mainly focus on is getting healthy. My adductor is still torn and the pain while pushing and running is pretty extreme. Being on the North American Cup may be blessing in disguise as I will be able to have some time off to recover and regain my strength and speed.”

Geoff Gadbois (Milton, Vt.), racing with JC Cruse (Detroit, Mich.), threaded together consistent runs of 54.53 and 54.56 to finish in 12th.

Reinbolt held off Russian Nadezhda Sergeeva by 0.03 seconds in her second race to earn a spot on the podium. After a 56.14-second run in her first heat that put her into fifth, Reinbolt and Jones threw down the third-fastest run of the second heat to boost them into the bronze medal position.

“The competition on this year's North American Cup has been some of the toughest I've seen at the development level by both the Americans and by the international field,” Reinbolt said.

Reinbolt recorded a combined downtime of 1:52.38, behind Rissling, who took gold again in 1:51.59 and McNeill, who finished in 1:51.91. Nicole Vogt (Dallas, Texas) and Bonnie Kilis (Marlborough, Conn.) were the second-fastest American team, finishing in 10th with a combined downtime of 1:53.48.

Meanwhile, Canadian Nick Poloniato won the second men’s two-man race in 1:47.95, followed by Korean Donghyun Kim in 1:48.28. Russian Alexey Stulnev (1:48.31) took the bronze.

For Team USA, Cunningham, racing with Hakeem Abdul-Saboor (Powhatan, Va.), dropped back several places to 11th in 1:49.47, while Gadbois and rookie Dillon Schrodt (Lincoln, Neb.) were 13th in 1:50.47.

“Hakeem and I were on the wrong end of a snow storm and did not get the starts of finish that we were looking for, but that’s racing,” Cunningham said. “We cannot dwell on the weather and need to move on.”

Cunningham’s team rebounded in four-person competition, posting eighth and seventh-place finishes in the two four-person races. His crew, which included Gilsleider, Abdul-Saboor and Brent Fogt (Alpine, Utah), raced to an eighth-place finish in the first competition, posting a combined downtime of 1:45.65.

It was Russian sleds that once again earned the top two podium spots, as Kasjanov’s team took gold in 1:43.88 and his teammate Andrianov (1:44.13) drove to silver. Poloniato took third on his home track, recording a combined downtime of 1:44.49. Gadbois, the only other American pilot in the competition, finished in 11th with brakemen Cruse, Schrodt and DeAngelo Wilson (Richmond, Va.).

Cunningham drove to his best result of the week in the final four-person race. His team’s 1:45.44 combined downtime put them in seventh, but it was once again Kasjanov (1:43.76) and Andrianov (1:43.97) who secured gold and silver. Switzerland’s Rico took bronze in 1:44.12.

For the two-time Olympian Cunningham though, the races were a chance for his young team to gain experience and build chemistry. The team has already won two medals on the North American Cup circuit this season, but will be looking for more after the midseason break.

“We are still growing as a team as we only have 10 pushes together,” Cunningham said. “All of us feel as though we have been overlooked so we will be competing with a chip on our shoulder; eager to make a statement.”

The Whistler races concluded the first half of the North American Cup season, and competition will resume in January. Meanwhile, World Cup racing begins next weekend in Whistler. For media inquiries, please contact Amanda Bird, USABS Marketing & Communications Director, at amanda.bird@usabs.com, or at (518) 354-2250.

Results

Women’s Bobsled Race #1

1. Alysia Rissling and Genevieve Thibault (CAN) 1:50.07 (54.77, 55.30);

2. Aleksandra Rodionova and Yulia Shokshueva (RUS) 1:50.26 (55.20, 55.06);

3. Mica McNeill and Mica Moore (GBR) 1:50.44 (55.40, 55.04);

7. Brittany Reinbolt and Briauna Jones (USA) 1:51.78 (55.72, 56.06);

13. Kristi Koplin and Sable Otey (USA) 1:53.76 (57.05, 56.71);

14. Nicole Vogt and Bonnie Kilis (USA) 1:53.82 (57.06, 56.76)

Two-man Bobsled Race #1

1. Alexander Kasjanov and Aleksei Pushkarev (RUS) 1:46.56 (53.41, 53.15);

2. Rico Peter and Thomas Amrhein (SUI) 1:46.79 (53.28, 53.51);

3. Maxim Andrianov and Ilya Malykh (RUS) 1:46.79 (53.42, 53.51);

8. Nick Cunningham and Nathan Gilsleider (USA) 1:47.96 (54.13, 53.83);

12. Geoff Gadbois and JC Cruse (USA) 1:49.09 (54.53, 54.56)

Women’s Bobsled Race #2

1. Alysia Rissling and Genevieve Thibault (CAN) 1:51.59 (55.76, 55.83);

2. Mica McNeill and Anya Kay (GBR) 1:51.91 (56.09, 55.82);

3. Brittany Reinbolt and Briauna Jones (USA) 1:52.38 (56.14, 56.24);

10. Nicole Vogt and Bonnie Kilis (USA) 1:53.48 (56.76, 56.72);

16. Kristi Koplin and Veronica Clutter (USA) 1:56.18 (59.03, 57.15)

Two-man Bobsled Race #2

1. Nick Poloniato and Timothy Randall (CAN) 1:47.95 (54.00, 53.95);

2. Donghyun Kim and Junglin Jun (KOR) 1:48.28 (54.31, 53.97);

3. Alexey Stulnev and Andrey Lylov (RUS) 1:48.31 (54.31, 53.97);

11. Nick Cunningham and Hakeem Abdul-Saboor (USA) 1:49.47 (54.86, 54.61);

13. Geoff Gadbois and Dillon Schrodt (USA) 1:50.47 (54.74, 55.73)

Four-man Bobsled Race #1

1. Alexander Kasjanov, Alexey Zaitsev, Aleksei Pushkarev and Maxim Belugin (RUS) 1:43.88 (51.87, 52.01);

2. Maxim Andrianov, Petr Moiseev, Yury Selikhov and Ilya Malykh (RUS) 1:44.13 (52.08, 52.05);

3. Nick Poloniato, Timothy Randall, Derek Plug and Keenan MacDougall (CAN) 1:44.49 (52.08, 52.41)

8. Nick Cunningham, Nathan Gilsleider, Hakeem Abdul-Saboor and Brent Fogt (USA) 1:45.65 (52.99, 52.66);

11. Geoff Gadbois, JC Cruse, Dillon Schrodt and DeAngelo Wilson (USA) 1:46.22 (53.13, 53.09)

Four-man Bobsled Race #2

1. Alexander Kasjanov, Alexey Zaitsev, Aleksei Pushkarev and Maxim Belugin (RUS) 1:43.76 (51.83, 51.93);

2. Maxim Andrianov, Petr Moiseev, Yury Selikhov and Ilya Malykh (RUS) 1:43.97 (51.93, 52.04);

3. Peter Rico, Janne Bror van der Zijde, Simon Freidli and Thomas Amrhein (SUI) 1:44.12 (52.01, 52.11);

7. Nick Cunningham, Nathan Gilsleider, Hakeem Abdul-Saboor and Brent Fogt (USA) 1:45.44 (52.73, 52.71);

9. Geoff Gadbois, JC Cruse, Dillon Schrodt and DeAngelo Wilson (USA) 1:46.48 (53.17, 53.31)

About USA Bobsled & Skeleton

USA Bobsled & Skeleton (USABS), based in Lake Placid, N.Y., is the national governing body for the sports of bobsled and skeleton in the United States. USABS would like to thank its sponsors, suppliers and contributors for their support: BMW of North America, Under Armour, Kampgrounds of America, Thorne, Boomerang Carnets, Hudl Technique, Tesa Tape, PVS International, Ferris Mfg. Corp, Stress Engineering, Machintek, deBotech and Carpenter. For more information, please visit the USBSF website at www.usabs.com.

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