LAKE PLACID — One only had to observe the conclusion of the men’s Norton Junior National Luge Championship Sunday morning to witness the vagaries of the sport. Tack on a demanding driver’s track such as Mount Van Hoevenberg’s, and a course made difficult by excessive cold leading to hard, fast ice and races are never decided until the very end.

In a four-heat event, Sean Hollander, of Lake Placid, had the second-fastest time in each of the first three runs, and found himself in first place.

Ian Smith, of Carlisle, Massachusetts, dominated to that point with two of the best three heats, and was third.

Zachary DiGregorio, of Medway, Massachusetts, posted the fastest third run and was tops in the field at each interval time of his final leg. He didn’t finish the race.

Keaton Jens, of St. Charles, Illinois, was out of the top three in two of four heats, yet left with the bronze medal.

Longtime USA Luge coaches and officials looked perplexed as the plot changed with each sled.

Smith, however, ended the matter in the final leg with the race’s only sub 52-second time coming from start number two.

“I just knew I was behind and I really wanted to go for it,” Smith said. “I had nothing to lose and I made sure I put my head back and fixed all my mistakes from that third run. That helped.”

Smith’s final run of 51.818 seconds gave him a two-day, four-run total of 3 minutes, 29.966 seconds. Hollander was next in 3:30.710, with Jens third in 3:32.180.

Again, in a three-races-in-two-days scenario, Smith took the second seeding event leading to the maximum 200 points. Jens second in the race and Hollander third, but on the points list, it was Hollander second at 155 and Jens third on 140.

The first-year youth doubles team of Dana Kellogg, of Chesterfield, Farquharson, and Duncan Segger, of Lake Placid, exacted a measure of revenge after Saturday’s disqualification for being overweight. At least that occurred in a seeding race, not on Norton Championship day.

“I tried to let most of it go,” Kellogg said. “It wasn’t what I wanted yesterday, but it was fine. (Today) they were great runs.”

The overall Youth World Cup gold medalists had a dual purpose: win nationals and do it with run times beneath 44 seconds from start number four.

Missions accomplished on both fronts as they clocked 43.949 and 43.917 for a combined 1:27.866 en route to the gold medal.

“We been going for it pretty much all week,” Segger said. “It was really nice to get that today. We’re just hoping we can put down better runs.”

Saturday’s winners, Eamonn Bottger and Jett Arp, both from Burlington, Vermont, were second in 1:33.253, but won the two-race seeding series with 185 points.

Luke Voegeli, of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, and Michael O’Gara, of La Crescenta, California, wound up third in the Norton Nationals race in 1:35.223 and scored 155 seeding points.

Ashley Farquharson, of Park City, Utah, left nothing in doubt as she posted the four best runs of the two days of action that began at the women and doubles World Cup start. Farquharson won both seeding events and the Norton crown in 2:59.233.

She finished third in the overall Youth A World Cup standings last month, and followed that with arguably the best weekend of her young career.

“It’s pretty close,” Farquharson exclaimed. “It’s always fun to win especially on a home track, so hopefully I can take this and go into (junior) World Cups next year.”

Grace Weinberg, of Pittsfield, Vermont., was the silver medalist in 3:01.179, while Sophie Kirkby, of Ray Brook, took third in a time of 3:01.545.

Race favorite Brittney Arndt, also of Park City, who swept all three competitions a year ago, has been a spectator as she recovers from a knee injury. But one Arndt did claim a victory when her father, Jesse, captured the USA Luge Masters Championship Saturday at the Utah Olympic Park.

For the two seeding races, Farquharson totaled 200 points; Weinberg and Kirkby each had 155.

After two weekends of youth and junior racing, the USA Luge national team, recently returned from an 11-medal World Cup tour and three more medals at the World Championships, will conclude the domestic racing season March 18-19. Daily start times are 9 a.m..

A pair of Norton seeding races officially begins the 2018 Olympic qualification period. Results will determine the summer national training group. The fall seeding races will identify the World Cup squad to compete in November and December.

Sochi Olympic bronze medalist Erin Hamlin, of Remsen, by virtue of her world championship performances in January, is the lone U.S. athlete exempted into the first five World Cup meets and has the option of participating next weekend. However, several juniors will move up into the field for Saturday and Sunday.

The Pyeongchang Olympic team is tentatively set to be nominated on Dec. 16 in Lake Placid, based on the results of the five November and December World Cups.