LAKE PLACID, N.Y. - During its annual meeting on June 9, the National Luge Committee of the United States Luge Association met at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, N.Y. The purpose of the meeting was to receive reports from various constituencies within the sport, vote on by-law changes, elect Executive Board members and approve the annual budget. Another important function of the Committee is to recognize outstanding achievements on and off the ice.

2012 Female Athlete of the Year honors went to Erin Hamlin of Remsen, N.Y., while Chris Mazdzer of Saranac Lake, N.Y. was named Male Athlete of the Year. The Team of the Year award was given to the members of the 2012 Youth Olympic Games relay, who took the gold medal at the inaugural event in Innsbruck, Austria. The team included Summer Britcher of Glen Rock, Pa., Tucker West of Ridgefield, Conn., Ty Andersen of Alpine, Utah and Pat Edmunds of Park City, Utah.

Emily Sweeney of Suffield, Conn. was named Junior Female Athlete of the Year, while West won Junior Male Athlete of the Year. The Most Improved Junior awards went to Brittany Arndt of Park City, Utah (west) and Theresa Buckley of Allentown, Pa. (east).

Three awards are given annually by the Committee to recognize positive attributes off the ice. Brett West of Ridgefield, Conn. and John Porter of Presque Isle, Mich. will share the 2012 Sam Venezia Volunteer Spirit Award winner. The John Jenkins Sports Passion Award went to Carl Schwarzer of Manlius, N.Y., while the Justin Matarese Award (the athlete who tries the hardest) was given to Gracie Weinberg of Middlebury, Vt.

In other election news, Pete Motta, who worked with USA Luge for most of the last decade as a coach before taking a position at Seamans Capital Management in Boston, Mass., will serve a second consecutive term as the Executive Board Secretary. His term will last two years.

Hamlin, Dr. Gerard Tate of Norwalk, Conn. (an expert from the field of education), 2002 Olympic luge Race Director John Mowery of Hope, R.I., and National Team athlete Shane Hook of Grapevine, Texas, all won two year terms as Members-at-Large on the National Luge Committee.

Hayward Sawyer of Sun Valley, Idaho was elected as a United States Luge Federation Foundation Trustee. The Foundation manages the assets generated from the 1984 Olympics, which were granted to Olympic sport national governing bodies over 25 years ago. National Team athlete Chris Mazdzer won a seat on the board, along with past USA Luge President and 1984 Olympian Doug Bateman of Bridgewater, N.J. Paul Covil of
Vero Beach, Fla. won an Emeritus position on the Foundation board.

The next major gathering in the luge world will take place this weekend in Riga, Latvia during the International Luge Federation (FIL) annual congress. U.S. Representatives at the meeting will include USA Luge FIL Representative and FIL Sustainability Committee member Dwight Bell, from Atlanta, Ga., 2010 Olympian and FIL Athlete Representative Chris Mazdzer, 1984 Olympian and USA Luge CEO Ron Rossi and USA Luge Marketing Manager Dmitry Feld.