LAKE PLACID – Elana Meyers Taylor and Lolo Jones were on top of the leaderboard after the women’s USA Bobsled National Team Trials race Monday in Lake Placid, while Codie Bascue, of Whitehall, and Adrian Adams were once again on top in the men’s field.

Meyers Taylor claimed a bronze medal in the 2016 World Championship to earn a bye onto the team this season. She’s spent the time on early ice to test equipment and work with various push athletes leading into the World Cup season.

“What we found in push championships is that we have a lot of really great brakeman, which is a good thing and a bad thing too,” Meyers Taylor said. “Everyone is pushing fast so it’s going to make the selection committee’s job a little difficult, but it’s a good problem to have. I know I’ll push fast with all of them, which is awesome.”

Meyers Taylor teamed with track and field and bobsled Olympian Jones for the fastest start times of the day, 5.46 and 5.45 seconds. Meyers Taylor threaded together the quickest runs of 57.90 and 57.91 for a total time of 1:55.81 to take the lead by 0.31 seconds. She said having the bye has been advantageous starting the season, especially since she had a rollercoaster year last season while rehabilitating from an injury.

“We’re using this opportunity to test equipment on race ice, and for me to test my lead-up to races in general,” Meyers Taylor said. “The last two years have been really rocky, so I’m getting back into the flow of things. I feel good, I feel healthy.

“The bye can hurt you in some respects because it’s hard to get that pump-up for races and that motivation, but at the same time it is nice to come in and be more relaxed and take some chances with equipment and brakeman and just worry about trying to see how fast we can go down the hill instead of beating people.”

Olympic bronze medalist Jamie Greubel Poser teamed with Lauren Gibbs for second place with a combined time of 1:56.12. The duo powered off the start line in 5.57 and 5.55 seconds for runs of 58.07 and 58.05 seconds, respectively.

Kristi Koplin and Briauna Jones posted the third and fourth fastest runs of the race, 58.60 and 58.74, for a two-run combined time of 1:57.34. With one spot on the national team already secured by Meyers Taylor, Greubel Poser and Koplin are in position to snag the second and third spots at the halfway point of selection races.

Bascue raced to his second win in as many days, posting individual downtimes of 56.37 and 56.04 en route to a 1:52.41 combined time. The 22-year-old topped the field of six sleds Sunday in the first USA Bobsled National Team Trials race, beating out Justin Olsen and Olympians Steve Holcomb and Nick Cunningham, who took second, third and fourth, respectively.

“There were a couple of moments where I was pretty nervous wondering if I can replicate what I did yesterday, but at the end of the day, I just got back to business and was ready to go,” Bascue said. “These guys have been awesome all week. They’ve been working so hard, Chris [Kinney] and Adrian have been pushing well all week. Tony Carlino and his crew have done amazing job on the track, and it was just an awesome week.”

Cunningham, pushing with Jimmy Reed, finished second with times of 56.39 and 56.28 for a 1:52.67, just ahead of Holcomb and Carlo Valdes, who finished with a combined time of 1:52.78. Olsen and Evan Weinstock crashed in The Heart as they neared the end of their first run of the day. The second-year pilot was unable to complete the race, but is expected to compete in the Park City, Utah portion of the competition.

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Antoine, Wesenberg victorious at skeleton trials

LAKE PLACID – Matt Antoine and Kendall Wesenberg won day two of USA Skeleton National Team Trials at Mount Van Hoevenberg Monday. The series will move on to Park City, Utah for the final two races before the team is named on Nov. 3.

“There was a lot of shuffling around for positions in day two and it shows the depth of our program,” said USA Skeleton Head Coach Tuffy Latour. “It’s anyone’s game as we head into the second half of races in Park City, and we’re really excited to see who rises to the top.”

Antoine was dominant again in the men’s race, winning by a wide margin of 1.83 seconds over Nathan Crumpton with a combined time of 1:50.82.

“I had the same approach for today, just doing what I know to do,” Antoine said. “I have 14 years of experience, so I know what needs to be done and it’s just a matter of executing and that’s what I was able to do.”

Antoine posted runs of 55.17 and 55.65 seconds and had the top push time of the final heat, 4.95 seconds. He said the depth of the men’s field keeps him motivated and helps push him to continue improving.

“There’s strength and depth to our field,” Antoine said. “I was having a bit of a down season last year and these guys were the ones that kept pushing me along, making me want to improve and get better again. If I get too relaxed or I’m not where I need to be, they could take my spot. I’m kind of using last season as motivation to get better.”

Crumpton had trouble in the first run and was only able to muster the seventh best time of the heat, 56.51 seconds. He rebounded with the second best time of the final heat, 56.14, to move into second position with a combined time of 1:52.65.

Kyle Tress was just 0.02 seconds off Crumpton’s pace to repeat his third place finish from Sunday with a combined time of 1:52.67 after clocking runs of 56.27 and 56.40 seconds.

After finishing eighth yesterday, Stephen Garbett put himself in contention for the team with a fourth-place finish with a two-run total of 1:52.86. Kyle Brown crossed the finish line with a combined time of 1:52.86 for fifth place, while Greg West rounded out the top six in 1:53.00.

Rookie Austin Florian posted an impressive fifth-place finish Sunday, but a hamstring injury prevented him from competing. He is expected to race in the second half of trials in Park City.

In the women’s race, Wesenberg finished fourth Sunday after struggling to navigate the labyrinth. On Monday, she threaded together runs of 57.32 and 57.69 seconds, first and fourth fastest of the race, respectively, to take the win by just 0.03 seconds. When asked what she changed overnight, she said it was her mentality more than what she did on course that shifted.

“I think I just tried not to be too perfect today,” Wesenberg said. “I let it go a little bit more and just let the sled run. We had a short week with the weather, and the track is in great shape considering, but it was constant slow ice, quick ice, testing sleds, so it was a lot. Sometimes it’s hard to do all of that and then just let it run.”

Wesenberg won the 2015 European Cup by a margin of more than 40 points, becoming the first American woman to win the overall cup and the first U.S. athlete to earn the title since Rob Murray in 2005. It was her first season competing. Wesenberg’s quick rise in standings from an unknown rookie to a fierce competitor made her a favorite to watch heading into 2018.

“I think I’m learning to be a little more confident in myself, I’m getting there,” Wesenberg said. “I think the team we have right now pushes each other a lot and it makes it fun to come out and race everyday. It’s not a given, anyone can beat anyone, which makes it intense and you kind of have to bring it.”

Three-time Olympian Katie Uhlaender was in third behind Wesenberg and Savannah Graybill after a first run of 56.60 seconds, but the veteran jumped into second place with a second heat of 57.44 for a combined time of 1:55.04. Uhlaender was third in Sunday’s opener, putting her comfortably in national team position.

Graybill, who was second to Annie O’Shea after Sunday, clocked a combined time of 1:55.12 to finish third Monday. Graybill’s second and third place finishes in Lake Placid put her in a competitive position headed into the second half of trials in Park City.

O’Shea secured her spot on the national team after finishing the 2015-2016 season ranked fourth overall in international standings, earning her a bye through trials. O’Shea bumped the wall out of the start groove in her first run and had just the sixth best time of the heat, but she moved up two spots into fourth with the fastest second run of the race. She said it was a good scenario to experience during trials because it “helped me throw down in the second run, which is often something you have to do on the World Cup.”

Kellie Delka was fifth with a combined time of 1:55.99, and Samantha Culiver’s time of 1:56.41 placed her in sixth.