Farquharson, West, Mueller/Haugsjaa and Forgan/Kirkby take Norton National titles
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by Gordy Sheer
PARK CITY, Utah—Norton National Championship titles were awarded today at the Utah Olympic Park, the venue for the 2002 and the upcoming 2034 Olympic luge races. Local athlete Ashley Farquharson won the women’s singles race, while Tucker West was victorious in the men’s race. Junior National team athletes Marcus Mueller/Ansel Haugsjaa took the men’s doubles title, while Chevonne Forgan/Sophia Kirkby won the women’s doubles competition.
The championships began with two runs for the singles competitors on Sunday, November 3, and concluded with two additional heats today. The doubles competition consisted of two runs, all contested today. This is consistent with the Olympic competition format.
In typical Wasatch Mountain fall weather, race conditions swung back and forth from sunny to intense snow squalls with temperatures in the mid-20’s F.
2022 Olympian Farquharson (Park City, Utah) took her second consecutive title in two minutes, 57.652 seconds. Going into today’s final heats, she sat .037 behind three-time Olympian Emily Sweeney (Lake Placid, N.Y.). The duo swapped places on the second day, with Sweeney finishing in second with a total time of 2:57.769. The bronze went to Summer Britcher (Glen Rock, Pa.), a five-time World Cup winner, in 2:58.947. Emma Erickson (Park City, Utah) placed fourth in 3:00.385, while Macey Schomaker (Park City, Utah) was fifth in 3:03.275.
The men’s competition saw West (Lake Placid, N.Y.), a three-time Olympian, win by a relatively comfortable margin over 2022 Olympian Jonny Gustafson (Massena, N.Y.). Their times were 3:04:310 and 3:04.575, respectively. Junior National Team athlete Aidan Mueller (West Islip, N.Y.) made his first appearance on the Norton National Championship podium by taking the bronze in 3:06.508. Hunter Harris (East Fairfield, Vt.) was fourth in 3:08.098, with two-time Junior World Championship medalist Matt Greiner (Park City, Utah) fifth with a time of 3:08.860. Logan Barnes (Clarkesville, Tenn.) did not finish the race.
In a somewhat surprising men’s doubles race, reigning Junior World Champions Mueller (Brookfield, Wisc.)/Haugsjaa (Framingham, Mass.) took gold. The young upstarts clocked a two-run combined time of 1:29.014, edging out 2024 World Championship team relay silver medalists Dana Kellogg (Chesterfield, Mass.) and Frank Ike (Lititz, Pa). Kellogg/Ike finished in 1:29.139. 2022 Olympians and 2023 Lake Placid World Cup winners Zack DiGregorio (Medway, Mass.) and Sean Hollander (Lake Placid, N.Y.) won the bronze in 1:29.280. Notably, all three teams posted times within .007 in the second heat.
Three-time World Championship medalists Forgan (Chelmsford, Mass.)/Kirkby (Ray Brook, N.Y.) won the championship title in 1:30.662 over the newly formed team of Maya Chan (Chicago, Ill.) and Sophia Gordon (Sussex, Wisc.). They finished in 1:31.457.
The past two competition days also served as seeding races to select the traveling National Team. Each day featured three runs. The first two determined the Norton National Championship, while the seeding race format featured a best two out of three heats to select the winner on each day.
Based on the seeding results, four men and four women will travel on the World Cup circuit. Gustafson, Aidan Mueller and Greiner will join the National Team on the road and will have an opportunity to qualify for the World Championships. Harris will have the opportunity to train and compete in select World Cup events this season. Barnes will travel with the Junior National Team.
Erickson will join the National Team, while Schomaker will travel with the Junior National Team this season.
West, Farquharson, Sweeney and Britcher were exempt from the seeding races based on last season’s international results. All doubles teams will travel, with the exception of Chan/Gordon, who will join the team later in the season after more training.
Results and standings can be found here.
The National Team could be further reduced in size as the season progresses.
The nine-circuit World Cup season will kick-off in Lillehammer, Norway, November 29-December 1, 2024, with the 53rd World Championships scheduled for February 6-9, 2025, in Whistler, Canada.
