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Uhlaender paces American skeleton team

WINTERBERG, Germany — Katie Uhlaender once again led Team USA with an eighth-place finish this morning in Winterberg to kick off the first European World Cup of the 2017-2018 season.

Uhlaender was in sixth with a first run of 58.26 seconds, but fell back two spots after a second run of 58.54 to finish eighth with a combined time of 1:56.80. Her first run start time of 5.40 was fifth fastest in the field of 28 sliders.

“I’m a little bummed,” Uhlaender said. “I thought I had a better first run. It’s a balance between how much to steer and where to put my rock. I’m getting there. Part of the process is figuring out my equipment and staying consistent. Consistency is key.”

The three-time Olympian credited her teammates and other mentors for keeping her going during the long season as she continues to work on perfecting her equipment setup.

“Everything is preparation for Korea,” Uhlaender said. “I’m figuring it out, getting more consistent and creeping up on my competition. I’m going to keep plugging away, focus on each step, and I’ve been reaching out to the people that have never given up on me. Matt (Antoine) and John (Daly) have been amazing.”

Jacqueline Loelling of Germany won on her home track by nearly a quarter of a second, beating out silver medalist Elisabeth Vathje of Canada and Russian Elena Nikitina, who finished third. Loelling’s 57.85 and 58.01 downtimes were the fastest of each heat, while Vathje was able to move up from fourth to second in the final run to finish with a combined time of 1:56.10. Nikitina broke her own start record – 5.17 seconds, which she set in 2015 – in the second heat, recording a 5.12 second push en route to a 58.26 second downtime, the fifth fastest of the heat. She finished with a combined downtime of 1:56.11.

Americans Kendall Wesenberg and Savannah Graybill battled adverse weather conditions that began during the middle of the first heat, and posted downtimes of 1:00.35 and 1:00.58 seconds to finish 25th and 26th, respectively.

World Cup racing continued today with men’s skeleton at 1:15 p.m. local time (7:15 a.m. EST). Two-man and women’s bobsled compete Saturday, while four-man bobsled concludes the weekend on Sunday morning.

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